Just a small correction Kevin – my dad’s first gym was actually a much smaller affair in West Row, not the much larger second one in Dixon Street you mention. He moved there in the late 60’s when I was very young! Still remember going down there with him and meeting lots of famous people who would perform at the Club Fiesta and the manager would send them on to the gym! I have a signed photo of Mike Yarwood for example and might still have pictures somewhere of me sat on an exercise bike with Freddie (of “The Dreamers”) Garrity, who also came to our house…! PS – Hello Lesley – mum sends her love!
Bill Boyds first Gym was in west Row on the site were Boyes is at the moment. I knew Bill and his wife Patty who lived next door but one to me in Camden Street.
Bill Boyd’s first gym was on the corner of Dixon and Bakery St and this building still exists. It is brick built, whereas the one in the picture appears to have a stone facade.
Also, the pavement in the foreground is much too wide to be in Dixon St.
My recollection (and it’s hazy) of the location of the Dixon St Co-op is that it was possibly on the corner of Dixon St and the street that ran behind the almshouses.
There seems to be a lot of discrepancy over where the Co-op in Dixon Street was. Some people can’t remember where it was but, although willing to be corrected, I think it was at the corner of Dixon St and the small street that run round to California Street Bill Boyd bought it and ran his first Gym from the premises. It stood almost opposite Scarth Street.
Does anyone remember the coffee bar which was on West Row, about where Boyes car park is now, was that called Newmans? Coffee was served in glass cups. Talking about late 50s early 60s.
Yes Irene, I remember Dovecot Street Newman’s very well. Agree about the smell of ground coffee just like Hinton’s on Yarm Lane as I have already posted.
I’m still using my Meliitta filter coffee system. Bought more coffee ferom the Rington’s tea man here in Halifax – in his van and not with pony and cart!
It is Holly Street Frank. Remember the local Midwife who lived there? Brought many of us into the world. Nurse Knight. Later moved into Albany Road. She was a bit late for me. After my Father had to cycle to her house in an emergency I was born by the time she arrived at our house.
Since I first saw this reference I have being trying to remember the name, now the bell has rung, thanks to Linda.
Mrs George and her daughter Millie. I lived in Bute Street and used to be sent there to buy vinegar which was brewed by Wren’s Vinegar Brewery in Yarm (see references elsewhere). It was in a small wooden barrel and you took a jug to have it decanted into and I was under dreadful threats from my mother not to drink any of it one the way home. “It would dry up your blood, etc” Needless to say this had little effect. I seem to remember that the dog in the early 1950’s was a collie. I think the majority of their business came from the girls in the Coop Laundry.
For all that I lived in Dixon Street I never went into the little shop which was run by Milly George. I don’t remember any other member of her family but I do remember that in later years she drove her mini car to Preston Park every day – took her dog for a run in the park. She always seemed like a very pleasant lady.
Not a Co-op I know but Broughs’ on Yarm Lane opposite Holy Trinty School had similar “sights and smells” to the Dixon Street Co-op. It also had a flying cash containers system.
Just along the road Hinton’s had a more ‘upper’ sights and smells. Very pervasive coffee odour. Lovely!
Remembering my life saver Co-op store outside the Richard Hind School, the corner of Dennison Street and Richardson Road, they must have all been fitted out to a pattern. They did all look much of a sameness to me apart from the one on the corner of High Street Norton and the Street up to Norton Workman’s Club, (can never remember the name).
Why life saver. In my first year at the Richard Hind a potato shortage meant we had to eat boiled rice with the school dinners. A more unsightly grey gluey mass could not be imagined and it tasted worse than it looked. The eagle eyes of the Teachers at the top table in St Peters Hall saw me push it aside uneaten and that brought down on my head the wrath of the Headmaster, not the benign Mr Webster, he had left, it was Mr Rawlins who tormented us lads before Mr Rosser who tormented us even more.
So accused of losing the war all on my own not eating the rice the Sailors risked their lives for I got the usual beating. I became adept at whisking the glue into a brown paper bag in my pocket and dumping it outside and quite often my pal Peter Bailey’s too. The reason for the paper bag was having snatched the stuff off my plate into my pocket it made such a stain I got another belt off my Mother so being quick to learn I always had brown paper bags in my pocket, it made a change from frogs or the odd worm to scare the girls with. Then with a penny or so in our pockets we would rush to the co-op and with luck buy an iced bun. They were still available during the war but few and far between, I am sure the ladies serving put a couple away for us. If they were out of buns a fast backtrack to Northcote Street where another bakery would have something even if it was just fresh baked bread buns. My wife also at Richard Hind told me she never did like the school dinners so would be in the Co-op before us lads buying up any off ration buns, had I known that she would have been run off by showing the weird things I kept in my pockets.
At the school back then the twain shall never meet. A tall brick wall with a small gate in the middle kept us apart although there was only one set of air raid shelters so the odd time the siren went in daylight we were all shunted into the same shelters. It took the Teachers with chairs and whips to get us all out again. Happy days even in wartime but as remarked on here those stores were a bit dark and dull.
I don`t ever remember any CO-OP shops in Dixon Street.There was the bakery and laundry,the shops were round the corner from the Almshouses in Dovecote Street
Talking about the sights and smells of shops in our town, does anyone remember the grocery store in Dovecote Street called Newmans?The wonderful smell of ground coffee still lingers in my nostrils!!Delicious.Irene
Yes,Brian I too remember the sights and smells of the Dixon Street Co-op.
One of the sights that intrigued most was the two part cash containers,referred to many times on the site. The twang of the sending lever and the sight of the projectile flying round ceiling to a receiving hole somewhere I knew not where.
Re the house convertion, it was owned and run by the George family. There seemed to be two daughters about fifteen or twenty years older than me.
On a visit to Durham Road Cemetery just before Christmas I again noticed a headstone with a George family name on it.
I don’t know whether you remember the shop, Brian, but I found it a bit gloomy and therefore a bit sinister, like Dicky Jordison’s at the corner of your Street!!
I, for one, recall the Dixon St store. Many of us passed it on our way to school. I remember particularly watching (what seemed at the time) ‘giant’ blocks of butter and cheese being cut up into manageble/ affordable portions. Also, the all pervading smell such shops had: some combination of cheese and vinegar? (Now marketed, no doubt, as a crisp flavouring)
What about the small shop converted from the front room of a house, same side of Dixon street to the north of the Co-op, opposite the Co-op laundry?
The Co-Op in this pic reminds me of the one in Dixon street off Dovecot street, Mam shopped there. Does anyone remember it and is it mentioned anywhere on this site?
Things must have changed over the years. I remember the No 2 servicing Yarm. The service ran through to Billingham. That was in the 1950s. Can anybody confirm that?
The 8A went to Willey Flatts through Yarm. I think the terminus was there before the turn around and back to Primrose Hill via Appleton Road, but my memory fails me here.
Sorry Jack but you are wrong, the No5 turned into Grays Road where the first stop was just round the corner, second stop was adjacent to Grange Avenue and third stop adjacent to Windermere Road. It turned right into Grangefield Road stopped at the Co-Op, turned immediate Left and on to its terminus and then turned round and came back.
The No.4 went past the end of Grays Rd on its way to Fairfield. I am talking about the time before all those estates were built at Fairfield. Jack, you are referring to Eva Raine who lived in the end house just across from the Rec. She went to Newtown and Newham Grange along with one of my sisters and did do well financially.
Ken Sawyers memory is correct.
Uptons did have shops in Bishopton Lane and Yarm Road, Bill Beatties shop was in Church Road and the cycle shop in Yarm Rd was Matt Newtons.
and Newham Grange along with one of my sisters.Eva did make a lot of money.
Thanks for all the “memory jogging” the latest batch of comments have brought back to mind. The number 3 did in fact turn into the 7 at the terminus in Ragpath Lane, I should have remembered Dad turning the handle to change the number – I was sometimes allowed to do it. Dad’s first driver was Paddy McAllister, who later became Chief Inspector, he was in that post when Dad died in 1969 at the age of 52, the funeral cortege went along the High Street, and Paddy had all the buses stop and the crew stood next to their buses as a mark of respect, and he also arranged for a “guard of honour” all in their uniforms to line the church path.
Keith Roberts was fully correct the 4 & 5 service running to Oxbridge Avenue where it then turned around and parked at it’s terminus in Aysgarth Road. I lived the first few years of my life at 3 Aysgarth Road, although I think those few houses were later renumbered.
Further to Granville Cooper’s comments I must disagree about the bus ‘slowing down’ for the gradiant, it made the turn into Grays Rd and the stop was about 30 yards along. If you lived on Newham Grange then the jump saved one that walk from the stop…. I know Granville, I did it many times but not with much finesse. Hoping for support here friends.
I remember the shop Granville refers to when it was a Wine shop ran by a very charming man (David) and in the very end house lived a very glamorous hairdresser, Eve, who drove an even more glamourous convertible car.
Further to comments by Jack Stevenson and Keith Roberts about the No5 service, I used it during the 40s & 50s and Keith is correct about it terminating at Aysgarth Road from where it returned via Grays Rd.
Jack is correct about passengers stepping off the bus at the end of Grays Road but that was the no4 bus slowing down on the gradient to stop at the bus stop midway between the ends of Grays Rd and Stanhope Rd. In those days the No4 terminated just over the Cuckoo railway bridge.
I was brought up in Grays Rd, living next door but one to Pollocks shop. One of the people who had previously lived in the house was Will Hay.
Note for Bob Irwin, David Birch and wife live in Wamberal N.S.W. Susan his sister lives in Oxfordshire.
You are right about the bus stops outside the Co-op in Bishopton Lane, Keith, but the No5 bus terminus was finally at Sparkes Bakery near to where our old mate Mally Heath lived. The bus stops for the Corporation buses on the other side of Bishopton Lane were Arrowsmiths (corner of Alma Street) & Budgen & Hare (Allison Street).
The terminus for the No 4 was Brookfield Rd in Fairfield. My dad was a bus driver and we lived in No 9. He and his clippie would come to the house for a quick cuppa if they had time.
The 3 and 7 changeover was on Ragpath Lane between Rosslare Rd and Rostrevor Avenue. This stop was called “The Terminus” by some and “Kiora Hall” by others. Anyhow, when we lived in Roseneath Avenue it was handy for catching the bus home from town as we could catch either the 3 or the 7 from the Town Hall bus stop area, whichever came first.
Seem to remember when we lived in Hardwick many moons ago the number nine bus went there, and didn’t the number 3 change to the number 7 somewhere on Ragpath Lane for its journey into Norton?
In response to Keith Roberts, the orginal routing for the No5 bus was that it turned left into Grays Rd (off Bishopton Rd) then Grangfield Rd, Aysgath Rd then turned right past the cricket club and the Grammar school to the terminus which was opposite Sparks Bakery. There was a very macho game played as the bus turned left into Grays Rd as guys would stand on the open platform and jump off before the bus made its turn because the bus stop was some yards along Grays Rd. Top marks were awarded for the earlier you made your jump and bonus points if you jumped looking straight ahead and not where you were to land.
Imagine that being allowed these days! So any Grays Rd ‘jumpers’ out there?..
Keith – you mention being able to catch the 8a going along “Bishy Lane” – where did it go to? I can only remember it going out to Leven, through Thornaby and not going anywhere else. I think my memory is fading!!
Yes Pat – you are correct! The 3a did go along Appleton Road into Eastbourne Estate. In my time as a “clippie” or “duck”, the number 8 went up to Roseworh, then back to the town for Thornaby. The whole trip took and hour and the faster you got to your terminus the longer you had for a smoke! When Ragworth was built, there was also a number 10 bus which went from town, Bishopton Lane, Durham Road, Appleton Road and Dover Road, having its terminus at Ragworth Shops.
I seem to remember the number 3 bus ran from Hartburn to Roseworth via the High St, once it got to the top of Ragpath Lane it changed to the number 7 bus and carried on to Thornaby via Norton High St and Stockton High St then returned to Roseworth via that same route. Once it got back to the top of Ragpath Lane, it changed back to the number 3 bus and carried on to Hartburn via Stockton High Street.
At any busy period trying to catch a bus to Roseworth or Ragworth from the stop at Bishopton Lane /Leeds Street was a complete waste of time as they were almost always packed leaving town and sailed past. Better to walk into the High Street. Wasn’t the 3/7 an interchangeable service both to Hartburn and Thornaby via Norton? They always had a break at the top of Ragpath Lane, Roseworth outside of the police houses and I seem to remember changed over the numbers here.
The number 8 service went up Durham Rd, turned right into Appleton Road and then left up Myrtle Road, along Laurel Road right into Dover Road and then left into Dumbarton Avenue, Darlington Lane, Rochester Road, Ryde Road then Romford Road, with the terminus at the top. Prior to this and before the building of Roseworth the No 8 terminus had been Dumbarton Avenue shops, Ragworth. The service did not actually run through Eastbourne Estate, as Appleton Road and Myrtle Road are part of Primrose Hill Estate. The 8 also went over to Thornaby. The 3A was the Eastbourne bus.
It was the number 8 that turned right into Appleton Road, then it went through Eastbourne estate, Ragworth, and on to Roseworth where it turned round and came back again. I used to watch for it passing our house which was a few stops from the terminus and then go out to catch it into town on it’s return journey. The number 3 went straight on up Durham Road, turned in at the Mile House, and up Ragpath Lane to the terminus at the top just past Kiora Hall. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, my father Bert Beard was on this route and I used to share his bait with him at the terminus. The 3 then carried on down Junction Road back to Stockton and then to Hartburn, where the terminus was at Elmwood, then it was back down Yarm Road, past Denshams Corner and into Stockton to repeat the Roseworth journey. I found this a very useful bus when I was courting my husband, as he lived at Oxbridge and we used it for years “commuting” between our houses. I seem to remember there was also a 3A which turned in at Appleton Road and served Eastourne estate – no doubt Irene McLean will verify this or correct me!
There were two bus stops situated outside the Co-op on Bishopton Lane. The 1st bus stop serviced the 3, 3a, 8, and 8a. The second bus stop was for the 4 & 5 which ran to Oxbridge Avenue the terminus being Aysgarth Road via Wensley Rd.
If we got on the No3, 3a or 8 bus, Newtown & St Bedes pupils got off at Lustrum Beck Bridge, Durham Rd & Newham Grange pupils at Newtown Rec or Appleton Rd. The No4 & 5 buses we got off at Browns Bridge for Newtown or St Bedes & St Pauls Church(Grays Rd or Bishopton Rd)for Newham Grange. We would then walk across the fields at the side of St Pauls(now Patterdale Ave)to school. I only mentioned a means of getting to school, not buses servicing any areas.
Re Anon comments of the bus stop outside the Coop on Bishopton Lane, may I correct the bus number routes. The 4&5 did service the areas named but not the 3&8 which went to Eastbourne/Ragworh and Roseworth, both services great if you lived anywhere off the Durham Rd till you got to Appleton Rd where one of them turned right into Eastbourne. I believe the number 3 was always the Roseworth bus and yes, when these buses made their first stop after the High Street in Bishopton Lane they were always full at peak times with people heading back to ‘the estates’. Anyone out there to support me regarding the bus numbers?
I agree with Keith Roberts about this Coop branch being on Bishopton Lane but can anyone tell me the Branch number?
I have asked the ‘Picture Stockton’ team to try and find a complete listing for all the Coop branch numbers but maybe I am being a tad presumtious.
The bus stops were in front of this shop for the No 3,4,5 & 8 which carried the pupils of Newtown, St Bedes & Newham Grange, the buses were always well full.
does anybody remember the icecream parlor owned by a mary jane story later oxley in the late 1940s early 1950s i would love to hear about this as this was my grandmother my grandfather frank story had a butchers shop in vane street can anyone help
This is the co-op on Bishopton Lane at the junction with Leeds Street. At the other end of the block to the right of the picture used to be Anderson”s the green grocer. I used to frequent the Co-op for my mothers divi. 15112. Does one ever forget????
has anyone got any photos of millbank st i lived there all my live with my nana &grandad there name was wilf&edith franklin we lived at no 28 i went to mill lane
I don’t mean to contradict but I am sure Asda was sited before Boyes for years before moving to Portrack so Bill Boyds could not have been there!
Just a small correction Kevin – my dad’s first gym was actually a much smaller affair in West Row, not the much larger second one in Dixon Street you mention. He moved there in the late 60’s when I was very young! Still remember going down there with him and meeting lots of famous people who would perform at the Club Fiesta and the manager would send them on to the gym! I have a signed photo of Mike Yarwood for example and might still have pictures somewhere of me sat on an exercise bike with Freddie (of “The Dreamers”) Garrity, who also came to our house…! PS – Hello Lesley – mum sends her love!
Patty, Bill Boyd’s wife, was my dad’s sister. Bill died a few years ago, but Pat is still with us and living with her son, Martyn.
I stand corrected and assume Dixon St was the second location?
Bill Boyds first Gym was in west Row on the site were Boyes is at the moment. I knew Bill and his wife Patty who lived next door but one to me in Camden Street.
Bill Boyd’s first gym was on the corner of Dixon and Bakery St and this building still exists. It is brick built, whereas the one in the picture appears to have a stone facade.
Also, the pavement in the foreground is much too wide to be in Dixon St.
My recollection (and it’s hazy) of the location of the Dixon St Co-op is that it was possibly on the corner of Dixon St and the street that ran behind the almshouses.
There seems to be a lot of discrepancy over where the Co-op in Dixon Street was. Some people can’t remember where it was but, although willing to be corrected, I think it was at the corner of Dixon St and the small street that run round to California Street Bill Boyd bought it and ran his first Gym from the premises. It stood almost opposite Scarth Street.
Does anyone remember the coffee bar which was on West Row, about where Boyes car park is now, was that called Newmans? Coffee was served in glass cups. Talking about late 50s early 60s.
Yes Irene, I remember Dovecot Street Newman’s very well. Agree about the smell of ground coffee just like Hinton’s on Yarm Lane as I have already posted.
I’m still using my Meliitta filter coffee system. Bought more coffee ferom the Rington’s tea man here in Halifax – in his van and not with pony and cart!
It is Holly Street Frank. Remember the local Midwife who lived there? Brought many of us into the world. Nurse Knight. Later moved into Albany Road. She was a bit late for me. After my Father had to cycle to her house in an emergency I was born by the time she arrived at our house.
Since I first saw this reference I have being trying to remember the name, now the bell has rung, thanks to Linda.
Mrs George and her daughter Millie. I lived in Bute Street and used to be sent there to buy vinegar which was brewed by Wren’s Vinegar Brewery in Yarm (see references elsewhere). It was in a small wooden barrel and you took a jug to have it decanted into and I was under dreadful threats from my mother not to drink any of it one the way home. “It would dry up your blood, etc” Needless to say this had little effect. I seem to remember that the dog in the early 1950’s was a collie. I think the majority of their business came from the girls in the Coop Laundry.
For all that I lived in Dixon Street I never went into the little shop which was run by Milly George. I don’t remember any other member of her family but I do remember that in later years she drove her mini car to Preston Park every day – took her dog for a run in the park. She always seemed like a very pleasant lady.
Not a Co-op I know but Broughs’ on Yarm Lane opposite Holy Trinty School had similar “sights and smells” to the Dixon Street Co-op. It also had a flying cash containers system.
Just along the road Hinton’s had a more ‘upper’ sights and smells. Very pervasive coffee odour. Lovely!
Remembering my life saver Co-op store outside the Richard Hind School, the corner of Dennison Street and Richardson Road, they must have all been fitted out to a pattern. They did all look much of a sameness to me apart from the one on the corner of High Street Norton and the Street up to Norton Workman’s Club, (can never remember the name).
Why life saver. In my first year at the Richard Hind a potato shortage meant we had to eat boiled rice with the school dinners. A more unsightly grey gluey mass could not be imagined and it tasted worse than it looked. The eagle eyes of the Teachers at the top table in St Peters Hall saw me push it aside uneaten and that brought down on my head the wrath of the Headmaster, not the benign Mr Webster, he had left, it was Mr Rawlins who tormented us lads before Mr Rosser who tormented us even more.
So accused of losing the war all on my own not eating the rice the Sailors risked their lives for I got the usual beating. I became adept at whisking the glue into a brown paper bag in my pocket and dumping it outside and quite often my pal Peter Bailey’s too. The reason for the paper bag was having snatched the stuff off my plate into my pocket it made such a stain I got another belt off my Mother so being quick to learn I always had brown paper bags in my pocket, it made a change from frogs or the odd worm to scare the girls with. Then with a penny or so in our pockets we would rush to the co-op and with luck buy an iced bun. They were still available during the war but few and far between, I am sure the ladies serving put a couple away for us. If they were out of buns a fast backtrack to Northcote Street where another bakery would have something even if it was just fresh baked bread buns. My wife also at Richard Hind told me she never did like the school dinners so would be in the Co-op before us lads buying up any off ration buns, had I known that she would have been run off by showing the weird things I kept in my pockets.
At the school back then the twain shall never meet. A tall brick wall with a small gate in the middle kept us apart although there was only one set of air raid shelters so the odd time the siren went in daylight we were all shunted into the same shelters. It took the Teachers with chairs and whips to get us all out again. Happy days even in wartime but as remarked on here those stores were a bit dark and dull.
I don`t ever remember any CO-OP shops in Dixon Street.There was the bakery and laundry,the shops were round the corner from the Almshouses in Dovecote Street
Talking about the sights and smells of shops in our town, does anyone remember the grocery store in Dovecote Street called Newmans?The wonderful smell of ground coffee still lingers in my nostrils!!Delicious.Irene
Yes,Brian I too remember the sights and smells of the Dixon Street Co-op.
One of the sights that intrigued most was the two part cash containers,referred to many times on the site. The twang of the sending lever and the sight of the projectile flying round ceiling to a receiving hole somewhere I knew not where.
Re the house convertion, it was owned and run by the George family. There seemed to be two daughters about fifteen or twenty years older than me.
On a visit to Durham Road Cemetery just before Christmas I again noticed a headstone with a George family name on it.
I don’t know whether you remember the shop, Brian, but I found it a bit gloomy and therefore a bit sinister, like Dicky Jordison’s at the corner of your Street!!
I, for one, recall the Dixon St store. Many of us passed it on our way to school. I remember particularly watching (what seemed at the time) ‘giant’ blocks of butter and cheese being cut up into manageble/ affordable portions. Also, the all pervading smell such shops had: some combination of cheese and vinegar? (Now marketed, no doubt, as a crisp flavouring)
What about the small shop converted from the front room of a house, same side of Dixon street to the north of the Co-op, opposite the Co-op laundry?
The Co-Op in this pic reminds me of the one in Dixon street off Dovecot street, Mam shopped there. Does anyone remember it and is it mentioned anywhere on this site?
The number 2, I seem to remember, went to the Transporter and the 2a went to Leven but as you say it’s a long time ago.
Things must have changed over the years. I remember the No 2 servicing Yarm. The service ran through to Billingham. That was in the 1950s. Can anybody confirm that?
I think you have got that wrong about the 8A going to Willey flats, it was the 10 and 10A that whent to Yarm and Willey flats.
The 8A went to Willey Flatts through Yarm. I think the terminus was there before the turn around and back to Primrose Hill via Appleton Road, but my memory fails me here.
Sorry Jack but you are wrong, the No5 turned into Grays Road where the first stop was just round the corner, second stop was adjacent to Grange Avenue and third stop adjacent to Windermere Road. It turned right into Grangefield Road stopped at the Co-Op, turned immediate Left and on to its terminus and then turned round and came back.
The No.4 went past the end of Grays Rd on its way to Fairfield. I am talking about the time before all those estates were built at Fairfield. Jack, you are referring to Eva Raine who lived in the end house just across from the Rec. She went to Newtown and Newham Grange along with one of my sisters and did do well financially.
Ken Sawyers memory is correct.
Uptons did have shops in Bishopton Lane and Yarm Road, Bill Beatties shop was in Church Road and the cycle shop in Yarm Rd was Matt Newtons.
and Newham Grange along with one of my sisters.Eva did make a lot of money.
Ken, he certainly did! Never heard him called Big Jim Heselwood before.
Thanks for all the “memory jogging” the latest batch of comments have brought back to mind. The number 3 did in fact turn into the 7 at the terminus in Ragpath Lane, I should have remembered Dad turning the handle to change the number – I was sometimes allowed to do it. Dad’s first driver was Paddy McAllister, who later became Chief Inspector, he was in that post when Dad died in 1969 at the age of 52, the funeral cortege went along the High Street, and Paddy had all the buses stop and the crew stood next to their buses as a mark of respect, and he also arranged for a “guard of honour” all in their uniforms to line the church path.
Keith Roberts was fully correct the 4 & 5 service running to Oxbridge Avenue where it then turned around and parked at it’s terminus in Aysgarth Road. I lived the first few years of my life at 3 Aysgarth Road, although I think those few houses were later renumbered.
Further to Granville Cooper’s comments I must disagree about the bus ‘slowing down’ for the gradiant, it made the turn into Grays Rd and the stop was about 30 yards along. If you lived on Newham Grange then the jump saved one that walk from the stop…. I know Granville, I did it many times but not with much finesse. Hoping for support here friends.
I remember the shop Granville refers to when it was a Wine shop ran by a very charming man (David) and in the very end house lived a very glamorous hairdresser, Eve, who drove an even more glamourous convertible car.
Big Jim Heselwood always liked a good cup of tea. Cheers Lesley.
Further to comments by Jack Stevenson and Keith Roberts about the No5 service, I used it during the 40s & 50s and Keith is correct about it terminating at Aysgarth Road from where it returned via Grays Rd.
Jack is correct about passengers stepping off the bus at the end of Grays Road but that was the no4 bus slowing down on the gradient to stop at the bus stop midway between the ends of Grays Rd and Stanhope Rd. In those days the No4 terminated just over the Cuckoo railway bridge.
I was brought up in Grays Rd, living next door but one to Pollocks shop. One of the people who had previously lived in the house was Will Hay.
Note for Bob Irwin, David Birch and wife live in Wamberal N.S.W. Susan his sister lives in Oxfordshire.
You are right about the bus stops outside the Co-op in Bishopton Lane, Keith, but the No5 bus terminus was finally at Sparkes Bakery near to where our old mate Mally Heath lived. The bus stops for the Corporation buses on the other side of Bishopton Lane were Arrowsmiths (corner of Alma Street) & Budgen & Hare (Allison Street).
The terminus for the No 4 was Brookfield Rd in Fairfield. My dad was a bus driver and we lived in No 9. He and his clippie would come to the house for a quick cuppa if they had time.
The 3 and 7 changeover was on Ragpath Lane between Rosslare Rd and Rostrevor Avenue. This stop was called “The Terminus” by some and “Kiora Hall” by others. Anyhow, when we lived in Roseneath Avenue it was handy for catching the bus home from town as we could catch either the 3 or the 7 from the Town Hall bus stop area, whichever came first.
Seem to remember when we lived in Hardwick many moons ago the number nine bus went there, and didn’t the number 3 change to the number 7 somewhere on Ragpath Lane for its journey into Norton?
In response to Keith Roberts, the orginal routing for the No5 bus was that it turned left into Grays Rd (off Bishopton Rd) then Grangfield Rd, Aysgath Rd then turned right past the cricket club and the Grammar school to the terminus which was opposite Sparks Bakery. There was a very macho game played as the bus turned left into Grays Rd as guys would stand on the open platform and jump off before the bus made its turn because the bus stop was some yards along Grays Rd. Top marks were awarded for the earlier you made your jump and bonus points if you jumped looking straight ahead and not where you were to land.
Imagine that being allowed these days! So any Grays Rd ‘jumpers’ out there?..
Keith – you mention being able to catch the 8a going along “Bishy Lane” – where did it go to? I can only remember it going out to Leven, through Thornaby and not going anywhere else. I think my memory is fading!!
Yes Pat – you are correct! The 3a did go along Appleton Road into Eastbourne Estate. In my time as a “clippie” or “duck”, the number 8 went up to Roseworh, then back to the town for Thornaby. The whole trip took and hour and the faster you got to your terminus the longer you had for a smoke! When Ragworth was built, there was also a number 10 bus which went from town, Bishopton Lane, Durham Road, Appleton Road and Dover Road, having its terminus at Ragworth Shops.
I seem to remember the number 3 bus ran from Hartburn to Roseworth via the High St, once it got to the top of Ragpath Lane it changed to the number 7 bus and carried on to Thornaby via Norton High St and Stockton High St then returned to Roseworth via that same route. Once it got back to the top of Ragpath Lane, it changed back to the number 3 bus and carried on to Hartburn via Stockton High Street.
At any busy period trying to catch a bus to Roseworth or Ragworth from the stop at Bishopton Lane /Leeds Street was a complete waste of time as they were almost always packed leaving town and sailed past. Better to walk into the High Street. Wasn’t the 3/7 an interchangeable service both to Hartburn and Thornaby via Norton? They always had a break at the top of Ragpath Lane, Roseworth outside of the police houses and I seem to remember changed over the numbers here.
The number 8 service went up Durham Rd, turned right into Appleton Road and then left up Myrtle Road, along Laurel Road right into Dover Road and then left into Dumbarton Avenue, Darlington Lane, Rochester Road, Ryde Road then Romford Road, with the terminus at the top. Prior to this and before the building of Roseworth the No 8 terminus had been Dumbarton Avenue shops, Ragworth. The service did not actually run through Eastbourne Estate, as Appleton Road and Myrtle Road are part of Primrose Hill Estate. The 8 also went over to Thornaby. The 3A was the Eastbourne bus.
It was the number 8 that turned right into Appleton Road, then it went through Eastbourne estate, Ragworth, and on to Roseworth where it turned round and came back again. I used to watch for it passing our house which was a few stops from the terminus and then go out to catch it into town on it’s return journey. The number 3 went straight on up Durham Road, turned in at the Mile House, and up Ragpath Lane to the terminus at the top just past Kiora Hall. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, my father Bert Beard was on this route and I used to share his bait with him at the terminus. The 3 then carried on down Junction Road back to Stockton and then to Hartburn, where the terminus was at Elmwood, then it was back down Yarm Road, past Denshams Corner and into Stockton to repeat the Roseworth journey. I found this a very useful bus when I was courting my husband, as he lived at Oxbridge and we used it for years “commuting” between our houses. I seem to remember there was also a 3A which turned in at Appleton Road and served Eastourne estate – no doubt Irene McLean will verify this or correct me!
There were two bus stops situated outside the Co-op on Bishopton Lane. The 1st bus stop serviced the 3, 3a, 8, and 8a. The second bus stop was for the 4 & 5 which ran to Oxbridge Avenue the terminus being Aysgarth Road via Wensley Rd.
If we got on the No3, 3a or 8 bus, Newtown & St Bedes pupils got off at Lustrum Beck Bridge, Durham Rd & Newham Grange pupils at Newtown Rec or Appleton Rd. The No4 & 5 buses we got off at Browns Bridge for Newtown or St Bedes & St Pauls Church(Grays Rd or Bishopton Rd)for Newham Grange. We would then walk across the fields at the side of St Pauls(now Patterdale Ave)to school. I only mentioned a means of getting to school, not buses servicing any areas.
Re Anon comments of the bus stop outside the Coop on Bishopton Lane, may I correct the bus number routes. The 4&5 did service the areas named but not the 3&8 which went to Eastbourne/Ragworh and Roseworth, both services great if you lived anywhere off the Durham Rd till you got to Appleton Rd where one of them turned right into Eastbourne. I believe the number 3 was always the Roseworth bus and yes, when these buses made their first stop after the High Street in Bishopton Lane they were always full at peak times with people heading back to ‘the estates’. Anyone out there to support me regarding the bus numbers?
I agree with Keith Roberts about this Coop branch being on Bishopton Lane but can anyone tell me the Branch number?
I have asked the ‘Picture Stockton’ team to try and find a complete listing for all the Coop branch numbers but maybe I am being a tad presumtious.
The bus stops were in front of this shop for the No 3,4,5 & 8 which carried the pupils of Newtown, St Bedes & Newham Grange, the buses were always well full.
does anybody remember the icecream parlor owned by a mary jane story later oxley in the late 1940s early 1950s i would love to hear about this as this was my grandmother my grandfather frank story had a butchers shop in vane street can anyone help
This is the co-op on Bishopton Lane at the junction with Leeds Street. At the other end of the block to the right of the picture used to be Anderson”s the green grocer. I used to frequent the Co-op for my mothers divi. 15112. Does one ever forget????
has anyone got any photos of millbank st i lived there all my live with my nana &grandad there name was wilf&edith franklin we lived at no 28 i went to mill lane