A view of Blairs Engine Works in Norton Road, Stockton. c1901
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A view of Blairs Engine Works in Norton Road, Stockton. c1901
Picture Stockton Archive 
The Godfrey reprint map for Stockton North in 1899 does indeed have the building, above right, on the corner of Bell Street and Norton Road marked down as P.H., ie public house. Directly opposite would be Tilery Road. It is a shame that Norton Road is now only a shadow of its former self.
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The address of the Mechanics Inn was some time given as Crosby Terrace, Norton Road. If this is the building which stood on the opposite side of the road to the ‘Wild Ox’ in the 1990`s it was occupied by an electrical supplies business called Expandlight Trading Ltd.
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I concluded this was the old Victorian pub on the right of the photo some time ago. I seem to remember it was marked so on an old map (possibly the Godfrey re-print) and mentioned in the old trade indexes. I used to pass it most days in the early 1970’s when it was painted white with bright red and green lining, and bright red neat lettering on the panel above the door indicating it was Stockton Communist Party HQ. Otherwise the building looked similar in structure to the above photo. I never saw anyone use the building and it always had an abandoned look, certainly not plastered with political posters or slogans. Sometime after its political days I seem to re-call it was painted very dark red, and again looked unused. During the 1970’s most windows were blanked out or internally whitewashed so it was difficult to get a feel of what it was like inside.
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There was a pub on the corner of Norton Road/Bell Street which I believe was called the ‘Mechanics Inn’. It may be the building in the foreground on the right hand side of the photo. This pub lost it`s licence in the early 1900`s. Does anyone have any information on it?
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There were two Bell Streets in Stockton. One almost opposite Riley’s Boiler Works, but on the other side of the railway off Ewbank Street, and the other off Norton Road above. Both were small streets. Presumably one had to add Tilery to the address for the above street, but still ample scope for confusion and wrongly delivered letters and parcels. In the 1970’s I seem to remember the shop seen on the right in the above photo had become the brightly painted local offices of the Communist Party. I think the panel above the door (see t2867) had Stockton Communist Party painted on it in red for a number of years, then ownership may have changed as the whole shop was later painted neutral white as seen in t2867.
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This photo is of Bell Street which later became the main entrance to Hills factory, more recent photos of Bell Street can be seen on the 2nd & 4th photos in Ref:-t2864-2867.
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