View of Norton Green and the Duck Pond. showing children by the waterpump erected 1870s. Pond was made in 1100sPicture of Norton Green showing duckpond made in 1100s with children feeding ducks and a pump in the background. Also an open topped tramA view of Norton duck pond showing open top tramcar. Also several children playing and a water pump 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
I vaguely remember visiting Aunt Elsie who lived on the Green when we were young. What sticks in my mind was how small, even then, her cottage was.
Roy from Bradbury Road will have been my father, he passed away 17 years ago now. He still went to the Malleable Club every Tuesday & Friday night and Sunday lunch time right up until his illness took over and prevented him from going.
I had an Uncle Harold (my dads brother) but he lived in Sunderland. Their sister Jean (Carter) lives in Trimdon Village.
The house to the right of the tram was Mr Geldart and family the coal merchant, they had a covered alley to the back where he kept his horse and cart. What is now Blackwells was Toulsons the butchers and I am led to believe they were there a long time, I certainly remember them being there before and after the war. There was an abattoir facing on to the Green, before the war I would sometimes watch an animal killed and butchered, we were only kids but unlike today’s kids knew where meat came from and what was needed to get it. Things did not always go to plan and one memorable day a Bullock escaped, dad lifted me up and I grabbed a meat hook as it broke loose, scattered the men and did a runner down the high street. I never saw it but believe the local Bobby who lived near the school shot it. To the left across the Green can be seen the big house knocked down before the war by Kendrew to build the houses down Bradbury Road. The house I lived in, 5 Mill Lane, was the Carriage house and stables for the owners of that house, the cook also lived there. I too new one of the Dietz boys from Bradbury road among the Green boys and girls. Last Thursday I went to have a sit on the Green and eating a sandwich from Blackwells remembered the sights and sounds of those times, mainly leather on wood as we played our wild games of cricket. Everything was for us outside the house, our parents let us run free, to us an ideal childhood though for so many it was not a good time, I sat there wondering if we were some of the last children to have such freedom that the outdoor life gave us.
The house directly behind the tram is what is now Blackwells (the best) butchers in Norton and to the left which is now Natwest Bank.
Hi Paul. I do not remember your Father Fred but your Mother yes. Does she live at Fairfield. If so my sister used to keep in cotact with her. You can obtain my E-mail address from the Stockton.gov/picture. I have a document on the Walkers which includes your side of the family when your Mother lived in Beaconsfield Road. Mind you it is very long and needs a lot of browsing.
Hi Bob, My dad was Frederick Thomas Dietz – he married Margaret Walker – part of your family. They are the family mentioned by Dennis as Jack and Minnie. If you wish to contact me directly please use Regards Paul
My father, George Edmund Dietz was manager of Newmans in Norton High Street. We lived in Station Road as did my father”s brother Jack and his wife Minnie with their family of 4 boys, Frederick, Norman, Kenneth and John and 1 girl, Mary. Norman was the son who married the girl next door. My Father”s youngest brother who lived at 3 The Green was Leonard, his wife was Elsie; they had one son also called Leonard. Harold was the Dietz who lived in Bradbury Rd. As far as I am aware, I was the only Dietz at that time to emigrate to Australia (1964). I am putting together a family tree and would be pleased if any of the Dietz family, that do not already communicate, would contact me by e-mail :- tobytoby50@hotmail.com
Paul Dietz. Now I”ve got my thinking cap on the names are as follows, Len Dietz lived overlooking the pond. His house was 2 up from Reeds Shop. His son was also called Leonard. He would be a couple of years younger than me at 67. The one living in Bradbury Road was Roy. How could I forget his name. He used to play Snooker with me at the Malleable Club.
Paul Dietz. I am a Walker. My mother was the eldest child of Jackson Walker the Market Gardener. I remember the Deitz families. There was the one who”s house faced the duckpond on the Green. He was a Joiner and finally worked for the ICI. He had one son, can”t remember his name at the moment. Another was the Manager of Newmans Grocery in Norton High Street who lived in Bradbury Road. He had a son Ron I think and then there was a family living in Station Road. I was a friend of one of the sons called Jack. I believe he had a brother who emigrated to Australia. I think he married the girl from next door called Thompson. Which family do you belong to?
The girl in the picture holding the pram is Hilda Dietz, my Great Aunt. The ducks were known locally as Dietz”s ducks. My family, both the Dietz”s and the Walker”s have a strong bond to Norton and it is nice to see the old pictures.
This is a great website. I am really enjoying seeing all the old pictures again. I used to live in Norton and take my daughter there when she was little. We now live in Australia and everything is so different here.