Shopping area aound the Five Lamps at Thornaby before redevelopment. c1970 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Shopping area aound the Five Lamps at Thornaby before redevelopment. c1970
Picture Stockton Archive 
Does anyone remember my Uncle’s shop selling TVs Radiovision? Arnold Broadey.
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I remember Mr Broadey’s shop. My dad bought our first transistor radio from his shop and possibly where he got our Dansette record player also. Your uncle took my first passport photograph in 1968 for my first girls trip abroad to Majorca; late hubby kept it in his wallet for years.
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I used to help when I was about 6 years old.I have a photograph of the parade of shops and picture house. Arnold went on to take wedding photographs.
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Does anyone remember the Penny Ride, the boat on wheels pulled by a big white horse. You climbed up the steps at the back of ride and went round the streets. There was one man at the front directing the horse and one stood at the back. All the kids used to scramble to get to the front. Happy days.
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I remember in 1972 buying a racing bike from Round’s for 50p a week that was my pocket gone for two years. In 1976 when I was working for I.C.I I bought the first of three bikes from Tillstones a Suzuki 250 for which Tillstones stayed open late one night whilst I nipped along the road to the Yorkshire Bank and borrowed the £600 to pay for the bike
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Anyone remember Bell’s grocery shop on north side Mandale Road, prop C(?) Bell, 1950s-60s?. Family perhaps still local? I knew David Bell the eldest of 3 sons, as a classmate at St Mary’s grammar in Middlesbrough well, but lost touch after different university paths. He’d be 71-72ish now.
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Michael Duggan, I remember you and David Bell from SMC – I was a classmate as well. If I remember right you lived in Acklam near the school. I remember David Bell as an exceptionally bright, very eccentric boy who I’m sure did well in life after university.
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Here are five shops in George Street, Thornaby that no one seems to recall. All five shops are opposite Toulson the butchers and Blooms: Mr Mrs Howden t/as Howden the Fruiterers, the cobblers and shoe repairers shop which closed and became “Speedy Wonders gents and boys hairdressers”, a man unkindly alleged to be the world’s fastest barber, then you had the very small cigarette shop next door to Speedy’s, who sold mostly Wild Woodbine cigarettes (Childs Quip: “Have you any Wild Woodbines”, Answer, “Yes”, child’s reply: “Well tame em”) Famous cigarette brands then would be: Woodbines, Capstan, Senior Service, Craven A, Gold Flake, Players, Kensitas (the Kensitas packet was printed with a butler carrying a tray) Cadets and Black Cat cigarettes. Then next to Paleschis Ice Cream shop you had “The Pet Shop” whose enamel signs outside advertised *Spratt’s Dog Food, and *Spillers chicken food. I once bought our greyhound dog Gypsy, noted for her good taste in these matters, a bag of Spratt’s dog biscuits and she refused to eat them, so bang went a 1/-, then on Barnard Street corner you had Mr Bell & Sons, paperback book shop, it closed when Thornaby Police took great exception to some of the titles he sold under-the-counter, all duly reported in the Evening Gazette, soon after closure this became Hogan Flower shop. A tradesman who frequented this area often was the window cleaner who seemed to have everyone’s custom, he was famous for falling off his ladder whilst cleaning the Police Station windows and landing on the steel fencing spikes outside it, children attending the National school that day had to be kept in after hours because it was quite proving a difficult job freeing him from the spikes he’d landed on without causing further injury.
(1*) SPRATT’S: James Spratt (?–1880) from Cincinnati, Ohio who became the first to manufacture dog biscuits and other products for canines on a worldwide scale circa 1860. The creation of Spratt’s – the “Patented Dog Cake” – was inspired after his observation of street dogs devouring ship hardtack on the docks of Liverpool, England. His company was established in Holborn, London and his first dog cake, a concoction of blended wheat meals, vegetables, beetroot and meat, was prepared and baked on the premises of Walker, Harrison and Garthwaite, a firm which then claimed to have baked the first dog biscuit. Spratt was not only the first to manufacture pet foods but the first to farm out his production. His “Dog Cakes” were initially sold to English country gentlemen for their sporting dogs.
(2*) SPILLERS: Spillers Ltd is a defunct British company that owned flour milling operations in the United Kingdom, operated bakeries and also sold pet food. It went bankrupt. Winalot is a popular brand of dog food sold by Spillers. The name was first used in 1927 for dog biscuits. They were initially marketed as a food for racing greyhounds, but soon gained popularity with pet-owners and became a brand leader in the 1930s. In 1964, Spillers took over the Kennomeat dog food brand with its acquisition of a subsidiary of Robert Wilson & Sons, Scottish Animal Products Ltd.
The Spillers business was expanded by Nestlé, and the Winalot brand was extended to include a range of dry and tinned dog foods and snacks.
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My dad worked in Blooms pawn shop when he was a lad his name is Barrie Dickens for a guy named Mr Laurence I think
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Is this the Barrie Dickens who played football for Whitby Town & Stockton F.C., who had brothers Davie, Alan & Bobby.
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My grandad John ‘Jack’ Russell had the cycle and motorcycle shop in Mandale Rd. He also had a workshop on the industrial estate…… which I can just about remember. Jack was married to Dorothy and they had three daughters – Hilary, Thelma, and Jill. When Mandale Rd was cleared Dorothy and Jack moved to Humber Rd
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In the late fifties my older brother, Richard had a job as a delivery boy job working for Charles Ingle after school and at weekends. He delivered the printed products to local businesses on a heavy, sit-up and beg bike with a large basket attached to the front for carrying the parcels.
It was hard work but he loved it, especially being able to earn a bit of money, and wanted to work as a compositor on leaving school. Alas, there were no openings for that profession at the time so he took the alternative route of training as an electrician
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My late mother and I often laughed at the time we went to Easiphit to get me a new pair of shoes when I was around seven or eight years old. I tried them on, as you do, and I walked around the shop to see how they felt.
Mam said “How do they feel”. Not being sure, as I suspect one shoe may have been nipping a bit, I replied “I don’t know”. The somewhat impatient salesman exploded at that point and almost shouted, “Well, if you don’t know – nobody else knows”. We were both taken aback by his manner and hastily left the shop, shoeless. To this day my husband and I use his phrase whenever either of us is dithering about making up our mind about something.
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Does anyone remember Brian Foster? He was the son of Harry Foster, the barber from George Street.
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The scooter shop is just beyond Archer Street (coming from Stockton). Wasn’t the Yorkshire (Penny) Bank nearer Five Lamps, just past Prospect Place? (See picture 3835). But then, if it was, whose was the bank that is now the scooter shop? (Did anybody have a definite answer to John Patterson’s question of two years ago?)
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So was this photo taken looking towards Stockton from the corner outside the old Yorkshire bank, now a motorbike shop?
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I”ve just found this site but what happy memories it has brought back. I used to live just off Mandale Road in Gladstone Street. My father worked in Metcalfe butchers but was killed in the war. I spent many happy hours in the picture house in Mandale Road and the one in Westbury Street. We had everything so central in those days, the doctors, butchers, chemists, fruit shops, and a walk along mandale road was always so interesting. This is a great site – thank you for bringing back so many memories. I went to the Robert Atkins school -Pop Allen, the headmaster- now thats a memory. I was terrified of him.
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Hi, I’ve just found this site. Does anyone remember Doug & Edie Gray from Gladstone street Thornaby, my dad Doug was a tanker driver, my brothers were Keith and Norman, my sisters were Maralyn, Joan, and Janice.
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I used to work at Blooms when I was young as a delivery boy. I used to go to school with Terry Dicken both Westbury/Robert Atkinson also in the same form. Does anybody remember Harry Foster the barber in George St? You had to kneel on the wooden chair, used to play hell with your knees. Congratulations on this site which I have just discovered, brings back some wonderful memories.
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How wonderful to read about Thornaby and the Mandale rd area. I used to be a paperboy at Scots in the late 1950s and used to take our radio batteries down to Rounds to get them charged up. My mother worked at Metcalfs the butchers for a while, sure did get sick of eating faggots and Pease and what ever else they sold. The best pies in Thornaby used to be Harry Gaunts in Eldon street next door to Tommy Reas the funeral director. Great Days of childhood in THORNABY.
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Some time ago Terry Dicken mentioned in his list of shops in Thornaby, Metcalfe the butchers. I well remember that shop. They used to make their own pork pies and black puddings on the premises both delicious to eat. During the late 1950s early 60″s the manager”s name was Dick Sharp.
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hello I too remember blooms being in george street.Blooms had 2 shops ,the other one was next door to the carpet shop and it was a pawn shop.
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yes there were a few more shops between the saddlers and the methodist church corner of eldon street/mandale rd the chemist the doctors a hairdresses shop and a sort of second hand shop a shoe shop
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Blooms shop which sold carpets furniture etc, was in George Street, not Westbury Street. Rounds the Saab agent had his shop front in Reed Street.I remember a lot of shops in Thornaby, when I get my memory jogged.
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There was a shop called Blooms, they used to sell lino, carpet etc on the end of Westbury St near the Windmill pub. There was the paper shop on the corner, I remember it as Scotts, there was also a garage in the area that sold Saabs I believe it was called Rounds. We used to hang around Pacittos ice cream “factory in the back Street between Westbury St and Barnard st, the old man used to gives us the broken hard cornets, no wonder my teeth fell out. I also bought a British army tin hat and gas mask fom the Surplus stores
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The shop you thought was Viners, was the Surplus stores ownned by Mr Bert Smith, it was next to Harry Tanfields the decorators and undertakers, he also had a big warehouse at the mile house, down by a railway, he had everything in army surplus goods.
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Hi, re the army surplus store, I think it was called “Viners”. I used to go there on a Saturday with a few school mates, it seemed like a “treasure trove”, I can remember buying, among other tools and things, a one man ex RAF rubber dinghy that we all took down to the South Gare at the mouth of the Tees and had great fun in the surf with it. Then a little later, around about the mid 60″s my girl friend at the time, used a ladies hairdressers called “Sonjas” which was on the opposite side of the road to Viners.
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Dear A Latif. Our shop 54 Mandale Road had a double shop front, we were next door to Sparks cake shop, and we had all sorts of hardware outside, but cannot recall the horse, unless another shop had the horse. Terry Dicken.
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Hi Brian Reed I also remember the army stores my dad used to shop there.I used to work at gallons grocery shop next door to the sadlers pub.My dad sam hobson used to repair televisions for people,picture valves and sound valves his parts for tvs were all over the house.i still live close by.what memories.Mandle road and george street was a pleasure,it was our own little town.
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On the Army Surplus store, my friends and I bought tank aerials from this shop in order to make three-piece fishing rods.
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I bought a tank aerial from Viners warehouse somewhere in Middlesbrough in about 1953/4. Converted it into a fishing rod and went fly fishing in Scotland near Ullapool. Break your wrist heavy….. caught nothing with it, but lots with the help of Gillie McCloud.
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a question – either Mandale road or George street there was a double fronted shop and it sold everything always had mops and buckets outside if i remember rightly and i am sure it had a huge old horse playground ride outside can anyone shed any light?
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Don”t forget the Army Surplus Store! What a Mecca that was. You could find all sorts of useful things (and loads of what can only be described as junk), all at reasonable prices. I particularly remember buying large spanners, grease % radio valves there. They also had a large number of WWII gas-masks, I don”t know that they sold many though. I really wanted a No19 communications set but it was out of my price range & you had to have a licence for the transmitter. There were many other “treasures” that could be unearthed with a bit of effort. Brian Reed, Salisbury Street.
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hello j. norman kidd There are so many familys with the same surname.being a resident of thornaby all my life i dare say i know your family too.My family used to go to the garage a lot,so my dad and older brothers will have known them well ,but as you say a lot of them have passed away .i have been looking through some of your entries about the war.my dad and all my uncles were in the war and some of my oldest brothers.they are all gone now exceept for my brother george who was in the air force at thornaby.
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Joyce Teasdale, Sorry to say Jimmy and Kathy Kidd are not in my branch of the Kidd family. We originated from Weardale and the Borders. My Thornaby relatives were Jack and Sally (Kidd) Watson, Alice mother of Marjory,Harry and Joe Kidd, and Alf, Annie, Irene, Brian and David Kidd it was Alf that had the garage at the bottom of Thornaby Bank. Unfortunately most have passed away mow. If you trawl through quite a lot of my entries into the site, you will find bits about the war and how it affected my family.
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Joyce Teasdale, Sorry to say Jimmy and Kathy Kidd are not in my branch of the Kidd family. We originated from Weardale and the Borders. My Thornaby relatives were Jack and Sally (Kidd) Watson, Alice mother of Marjory,Harry and Joe Kidd, and Alf, Annie, Irene, Brian and David Kidd it was them that had the garage at the bottom of Thornaby Bank. Unfortunately most have passed away now. If you trawl through quite a lot of my entries into the site, you will find bits about the war and how it affected my family. Regards, J.Norman Kidd
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hello norman can i ask you if you are related to jimmy and kathy kidd,they used to live in oxford road thornaby. best wishes joyce
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hello norman yes i remember the shop,thats my problem i remember a lot of places especially shops in thornaby.i looked on them all as a great community.all the old parts of thornaby like mandale road george street thornaby road and all surrounding areas were our town ,so we never needed to stray far to go shopping,it had every business ,clothes shoes ,food shops ,butchers etc.etc.etc.what a shame its all gone.i still live not far off in langley ave were the streets were cobbled and the bus service ran.we had trees too,but no more.my memory will always be there. best wishes joyce
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Joyce Teasdale, Do you remember my Uncle Alf Kidd”s Garage shop and petrol pumps, at the bottom of Thornaby Bank. The building sustained quite a bit of damage when I think the building opposite was bombed. I can never tell where it was now with the road alterations, I think it is under a roundabout. He served Thornaby for many years with bicycles, cars, Radios, repairs of all kinds accumilators recharged and puctures repaired. His wife Annie served in the shop. All gone, but it would be nice to hear they were remembered as part of Thornaby.
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i remember these shops etc rounds mandale rd tv and electrical shop,his brother had a garage in reed st.the carprt shop and bloomes the pawn shop.the windmill pub opposite the sadlers .bonners plumbing shop bathrooms etc.yorkshire bank on one corner the york county on the opppsit corner.and the coop on george street.little chapel then boothbys battery shop mandale road.there was pumphreys jam factory and tate and lyle munros butchers.shoe shops 2 one was styloes.scotts paper shop.wet fish shop.george st was library,fire station police station and opposite side rd was the clinic.pub short name black bobbies.the flying dutch man mandale rd.the bakeries sparks and hills.also tilsons these are some i remember at hand as i use to shop a lot in this area before it was demolished.i live not far off.the central picture house westbury street near the bus stop.i can go on for ever more will come back to me later.happy times
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ernie for more information see photo t5538
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There was a motorcycle shop in Mandale Road as mentioned by A Latif it was owned by a man called Jack something and was situated between the Saddlers and Harewood pubs
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The motorcycle shop belonged to Jack Russell. He had three daughters and I went to the same schools as the middle daughter, Thelma.
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John ‘Jack’ Russell was my grandad. He was married to Dorothy and they had three daughters – Hilary, Thelma and Jill
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Mary”s wool shop on the right hand side of George Street
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My mother’s family lived in “Back” Mandale Road and I have some memories of this area as a small child. My uncle worked in Kaufman’s the carpet shop and for a time my mother in the woodworkers. I have a memory of sitting at the back of a long bench on the floor in soft wood dust as my mother served; I think an old man had it? My uncles were reknowned for their motorbikes. I can also remember visiting a garage often with my uncle Peter and it was a small place very oily and dirty. Any ideas? WOULD LOVE to see more varied photos of Mandale Road.
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We had a shop in Mandale Rd from 1951, some of the shops I remember in approx order were Scotts, Bartlets, A little cafe, Broady”s book shop, Queen”s, Snaith”s Plumber, Easiefeet, Crofts, The flower shop, Round”s,Ingle”s, The social club, Dicken”s, Spark”s, Meadow Dairy,Thompson”s, Nimon”s, Icecream shop, Pot shop, Cleaner”s,Tiltson”s,Cobbler”s{bag shop]Sheldon”s Garage,Metcalfe”s Butcher”s ,Fruit shop, Paper shop, Pub on corner New St, Paper Shop, Gas Board Showroom, does anybody know of any shops I have missed out, I think there was an odd one.
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Rounds electrical shop in Mandale Road, Thornaby, recharged wireless accumulators (batteries) for radios because private homes in those days did not have electricity, they had gas, so discharged radio batteries were taken to the nearest hardware shop or garage to be recharged for 6d. Bakelite radios in those days ran on low voltage 2V batteries used to heat the radio valves. Radio maker’s names I recall were Pye, Murphy, Philco, Bush and Ecko.
The most popular radio program was Wilfred Pickles “Have A Go” quiz show”, if, on the show as a contestant, you answered some general knowledge questions accurately you won a small cash prize, normally a “fiver”, with, at the very end of it, the compere Wilfred Pickles shouting out to the stage stooge, the immortal words “Give Him the money Barney” (Barney correct name was Bernard Colehan of Leeds, who in the late 1960s was the producer of the famous TV Program called “The Good Old Days.”), other favourite radio programs was Workers Playtime, Family Favourites, the Forces Program introduced for some queer reason with the half-barmy-sounding tune of “Oranges and Lemons”, then you had Al Read, Billy Cotten, Mrs Dales Diary, Music Whilst You Work, and Down Your Way. Radio stars are too numerous to mention but George Formby, Gracie Fields, Josef Locke and the impressive German opera singer Richard Tauber were prominent. If I close my eyes I can recall as if it was only yesterday Mr Tauber singing “My Heart and I”, whose first verse went:
We are in love with you, my heart and I
And we are always true, my heart and I
When you are far away each smile’s a tear
But it’s a lovely day when you are near
Maybe that love is blind when passion rules
And that my heart and I are just two fools
And yet my darling if you ever say goodbye
I know we both should die, my heart and I
A few doors up from Rounds was the National Wartime canteen, opened to serve cheap 3 course meals to families and workers. This being a canteen were you took a tray to be filled by servers with a cooked meal for modest cost. The soup spoons used to fascinate me, also the sweets. Those were the days my friends, I thought they’d never end…………
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There was also Fletchers the Dentist further round nearly opposite Rounds chemist
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