This is a view of St Annes Terrace, Portrack taken in October 2008. The picture was taken close to the junction with Portrack Lane looking down to Portrack Primary School. To the left, out of view, is The Portrack public house. Courtesy of George Clement.
Some interesting names here. My family go back as far as my Gt Gt Grandad Thomas Hatton and his son, Gt Grandad John Hatton then to my Grandad Griff born in Lumley Street I believe and my Dad his son Thomas (Tommy Hatton) born in 3 Cambridge Street.I was born in the Robson Maternity Home, we lived then in Kingsport Close moved to the new estate at Victoria then we moved back to Maryport Close when I was about 13. I still wish the bloodtub was still there as I loved going there with my Dad, as well as the Cons and the Buffs. One final thing I believe my Gt Auntie Rebecca Sterling (Hatton) ran the Royal Hotel on Dugdale Street but I think after John her husband died she ran a shop on the little parade in Portrack alas long before I was born.
Loved living on St Annes Terrace, used to play on the building site when they were building the new houses, had so many friends on that street and still in contact with them, happy days.
Went to Nursery school in St. Anne’s Tce, mid 1940’s from Herbert St. Lovely naps in afternoon, a peg of one’s own to hang stuff on. Onwards to Carlisle Memorial en route to St. Mary’s Junior then St. Mary’s Grammar, Darlington then St. Mary’s College, Strawberry Hill. Best of starts at nursery!
Like Derek Casey, I too remember the Mannions and the Larges who lived on opposite sides of Portrack Common. The Larges lived in a big old style house, which had seen better days, just off Portrack Lane, with a bit of a street in front. The street on the opposite side of the common, where the Mannion’s lived was quite short. Both families seemed to be quite hard up. I hope that they had a better life when they moved out of Portrack.
Some of you may remember Fred Hart his sisters Penny and Pat. His dad Tommy worked at Schums that did sausage skins in Portrack
I remember my mum talking about the Schums. She was born as was I in the Royal on Dugdale Street. Now long gone.
I lived across from the Hearts on Stourport Close in the early 50’s to mid 60’s. My uncle Joe was a friend of theirs and he lived 2 doors up on our side with my gran.
I lived across from the Heart’s on Stourport Close in the early 50’s to mid 60’s. I don’t remember there being a dad just the mum she worked at the tripey behind us and Penny had a boyfriend and worked some place they must have made clothes she used to make little doll clothes out of leftover fabric and give them to me for my dolls. My uncle Joe was a fried of theirs and he lived 2 doors up on our side with my gran. My family migrated to Australia and I believe the Heart’s moved some time later my uncle Joe was upset according to the letters I received from my gran. I have very fond memories of my childhood there and remember most of the names of families I still to this day tell stories to my beautiful grandchildren of the penny long ride man and the rag and bone man, the winkle man and the strawberry man and potato picking week and rummaging through the old houses when they were being knocked down and the treasures we found I still have some bits of costume jewellery I found back then. The Lee’s lived next door to us the Dunn’s just up from the Heart’s and the Hearn’s up from Dunn’s
As regards the “modern” houses in St Annes Terrace, built around 1936, as well as the anachronism of a coal shed and outside toilet, the original fireplace in the back room was of the Victorian range type. It was of cast iron construction with a cast iron oven alongside the fire. It was taken out in the early 1950s. But there was some kind of arrangement at the back of the fire for heating up hot water for the bath. I suspect it was the only row of houses in Portrack with a bath and running hot water.
If you look at the picture of the Portrack Hotel (t12541) supplied by Derek Wade you will see the actual spelling of the name is St Ann’s Terrace.
The picture number, EPW049491 in the “Britian from Above” series taken in 1935 shows this group of houses under construction. It also shows the three storey houses at the Lane end of the street and some of the local shops.
A feature of the “Britain From Above” is that you have to sign up to the website to be able to use the magnification button. The quality is good enough to show people (as dots). .
Hi does anyone remember or have any photo’s of the wall paintings done by the kids of Tilery juniors circa 1970’s? The wall ran along the path from Portrack to the Tilery side of the school. The wall as long been demolished!
My father Michael Mannion was bred ann born at Portrack, his father was Joe and his mother was Mary. His brothers were Joe, Jimmy, Billy, Martin and sisters Margaret, Mary, Pat, Ann, Lou Lou.
Joy Mannion, Jimmy was one of my best mates, he lived up Norton me in Swainby Road, we met up every night, we would meet up in Mrs Larges, stand at the top of Swainby Road for hours laughing. Jimmy was a great lad, we never saw each other for years then we would bump into each other, a big man hug of Jimmy and the biggest smile in the world came my way, I remember Jimmy’s siter Lou Lou.
All the best Derek
The only shop in St Annes Terrace was a very small general store run by Mr Sims. This was on the old side of the street and was knocked down under slum clearance in 1964/65.
My mam and dad lived in no.59 Cambell Street next to the Closes and the Fernies. I went to St.Annes school until 1963 then we got rehoused to Walworth Road, Hardwick. My dad, Sid Turnbull worked at the Malleable Pipe Mill for about 15 years.
So glad I found this site, I’m looking into family history and my dad’s family all lived around St Anne’s Terrace. His name was Ronnie Hiles (born 1927), he had a brother called Alf who was a couple of years older and was brought up by his 2 aunts who had a shop on or near St Annes Terrace, they were Mary(Pol) Hiles and Rhoda Hiles and he had a cousin called Gwynneth. Would be brilliant if anyone had any info on the shop or my family.
Each chimney has six stacks, three for each house. The two downstairs rooms (in No 17 the front room was kept as parlour for special occasions) both had fireplaces. The bedroom at the front also had a small fireplace, which was never used in my memory. Too big a fire risk! The heating by modern standards was inadequate with frost forming on the inside of the windows overnight in winter. On average we used about one and half sacks of coal a week in winter, around about 75kg… a shovelful of coal about once an hour. 01/03/2012 14:50:43
Ref Mr Jim Woods comment about some of the families that lived in st Ann’s. He may be interested to learn that my father Keith McDermont still lives in the same house and is a very fit and well 74 years old. I have very fond memories of growing up there and of course I know most of the people he mentions.29/02/2012 23:10:10
We lived at 17 St Annes and I still see your father around the area.
Hi Peter, I have just returned to this site after a long break and found you post re your father. I hope that your father is still enjoying good health. I remember him very well from my time living there and he introduced me to aeromodelling. Please give him my regards
Peter I remember your dad running k/b taxis from there I lived at 27 I think you were related to the Tuckers next door to you .
Hi Dennis, this is Judith Butler nee McDermont we weren’t related to the Tuckers we were very close next door neighbours and called them aunty Maureen and uncle Bob. My Dad is 80 this year and is in good health.
I am the local postman of St Annes Terrace, my aunty and uncle lived at number 27 for years. As for the numbers, the left hand side looking down from Portrack Lane are all odd numbers starting from no9, the other side are evens. I hope this clears up any misunderstanding.04/02/2012 20:35:10
Hi Dave I am your aunty/uncles son Dennis nice to know Kightlys are still in area.
Joseph Street was just before St. Annes Terrace off Portrack Lane. My paternal grandparents brought up their family at 39 Joseph Street. My Aunt Dolly Robson lived there until the street was eventually demolished.
Please can any one tell me if Joseph St was in old Portrack? In my family tree we have Comaskey relatives, the Comaskeys (spelt many ways) were very close to my early Casey family, a Comiskey family lived in Josph st before 1900. Are their any Comaskeys in and around Stockton today? If so please ask picturestockton for my e-mail address – would love to hear from anyone who can connect with Comaskey.
Spike and Doris Robson are the parents of my mother in law, Audrey. If you would like more info let me know.
Strange about famous named people in Portrack,Ken,there was a Stanley Matthews who went to St Annes School in the early fifties,he was presented with a pair of football boots by the original Stanley in the Jubilee Hall on the Saturday morning when Blackpool played at Ayersome Park.
I served my time at Pickerings Lifts after leaving school and worked with a gentleman called Wilf Mannion who lived in St Annes Terrace Portrack.I turned up for work on my first day at the normal time in those days at seven thirty.The bench opposite mine was empty and remained empty till twelve fifty eight when this middle aged man walked in and took his coat off and introduced himself as Wilf Mannion, not the famous footballer with the same name but Wilf from Portrack.I worked with Wilf for five years and he always joked that he came from the posh end of Portrack which was St Annes Terrace.Compared to Camden Street in Parkfield were I lived he was right.
Don’t forget the tin bath hanging up on the wall in the back yard, F Starr !!
I don’t know about the demolition of other houses in Portrack, the bin men and Tommy Burr had no problem with our street, but I believe ours were demolished because the drains had collapsed! Hey Ho! Off to our lovely 3 bedroom council house on Browns Bridge with electricity, proper bathroom and garden.
There were no proper back-to-backs in Portrack. Even the poorest houses had a small back yard. This contained the ‘coal house’, and invariably alongside this would be an outside toilet, closed with a rickety door. There would be a ‘copper’ in one corner of the back yard which was used for boiling up dirty clothes. A coal fire was used for heating the copper as only cold water was available in most houses. In general access to the backyards was through a very narrow passage which went between the two houses, or as in Barrett Steet there was a sort of tunnel through the houses to the back yards. In St Annes Terrace, some of the houses had the tunnel which ran through to the next street, but half way along there were small alley ways going off at right angles to the back yards. I guess one of the main reasons for demolition of these old houses was the problems the bin men had in carrying the bins to the refuse carts. The coal men, like Tommy Bear, must have loved it too!
Many thanks to all who responded to my question. I will assume the name change to be somewhere between 1913 and 1939. Keep up the good topics people and well done Picture Stockton for a great site.
I believe Frank Mee to be correct. The 1913 Ordnance Survey map shows St Annes Road. This may have turned into somekind of unpaved lane just after Portrack Infants school and then carried on past some allotments, or small holdings. There were then some buildings on the left hand side of the road, which may have been sheds. After that the road carried on until it met with a road bordering the North End Recreation Ground (Tilery Rec). Nearly all of St Annes Hill was dug out for clay for Blacketts Brickworks.
You need to go back to the 1899 Map of Stockton, the library reference section have a copy. It is definitely St Anns Road. It also shows only six or seven houses on the left as you go from Portrack Lane East, and then what looks like a long clay pit for almost the rest of what is St Anns Terrace. On the right there are rows of back to back showing yards but no back street and then a further row of back to back continuing down St Anns Road on the other side of Raisbeck Street. From Portrack Lane East you had St Anns Road, Lumley Street, Leonard street, Lambert Street, Nicholson Street and Campbell Street. The cross streets being Raisbeck Street and Edith Place. All now long gone. I know that when I went with my father on his truck to St Anns Brick Works it was 1939 and through the war. It was St Anns Terrace back then so the change must have been sometime before that.
I have four street maps featuring Stockton, bought in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s and they all state ‘St. Annes Terrace’.
St Anns Road went to St Anns Hill passing the allotment gardens on one side and a clay pit on the other. It continued as a foot path to the North End Recreation ground. If you turned left from St Anns Hill you came to Law Street then Headlam Street and on to Tilery Road. Joseph Street had a path through the allotments to St Anns Hill. The back lane between Lambert Street and Leonard street also led down from Portrack lane to St Anns Hill. All fell out of use when the Tilery and other works closed down, it was known as St Anns Terrace when I went there on my Fathers truck to pick up loads of bricks from St Anns brickworks, I would play with the local kids while the bricks were hand balled onto and stacked on the truck. I knew Billy McGlade well and Josy before they married a long time later.
There is apparently a small town near Hexham in Northumberland called Allendale, and I suppose that whoever lived in No 3 first of all came from that area. I definitely think that the street was always named St Annes Terrace. I believe that a ‘terrace’ represented a row of upper class houses, joined together, and not necessarily with gardens. After the Victorian era was over, houses were built without provision for servants, and any spare land could be used for gardens.
F.Starr, I have a couple of questions that you or other readers may be able to assist me with.
1/ Our house at No3 St Anns Terrace had a glass panel over the inner door which had the name ‘Allendale House’ (I hope the spelling is correct). Would you have any idea why it was named this way?
2/ I have seen a map recently of Portrack and it shows St Ann’s Road. I remember a sign on the corner wall of Wades/Clements house that definitely stated St Anns Terrace. This subject was pointed out to me by Mr Grainger at Portrack Primary school. Do you have any idea why and or when the name change?
I certainly appreciate your knowledge of the area.
Thanks for the correction George, but in my defence, it was a long time ago and maybe the Australian sunshine has effected my brain cells.
To F Starr, I have been trying to remember names from that part of the street that you mention, I remember Stephen Tucker and his family, Keith McDermott and family, the Morgans, the McNallys and the McGlades but I have no idea what their house numbers would have been. On the other side (the side of the Baptist chapel) I remember Mrs Perry, Walkers (related to Manions next door to us), a gentleman I believe was locally known as ‘Eddie the Belgian’, McCurlys (related to Symmingtons) and further down was Symmingtons who owned the shop near and opposite Portrack Primary school.
Come on then you Portrack people – does anyone remember Spike and Doris Robson? Spike used to do a bit of boxing. Then there was a Russian called Ozzy, he always wore a brown suit and a big trilby type hat. I only met doris once when I was young, she was my aunty. They are all deceased now but it would be nice to hear any stories of people who might have known them.
Just a small correction to the names mentioned by Jim Wood as to the residents of St Annes Terrace. Certainly the Wade family lived in No1 but the moved out in the late 1950s, possibly 1960. We, the Clement family moved into No 1 after the Wades, and lived there until rehoused to Hardwick in, I guess, 1964. I was living in No 1 when I moved away from Portrack, and Stockton, in September 1963.
We lived at No 17 st Annes Terrace, which I believe is the house with the white painted frontage just after the first parked car. That is why I thought all the houses on that side were odd numbered. The house was owned by my grandmother, Mrs Florence Starr. She moved out in about 1960 and moved to one of the old houses on the right hand side of the street. This was a clever move. She sold 17 St Annes Terrace for £1100, and bought the older house for £200. After about four years that house was demolished by the Council and she was rehoused in a flat at Campbell Court on the new Portrack Estate. The house that my Gran moved into was transfomed from a semi-slum to a very nice house indeed, although lacking a bathroom and inside toilet. If the house had been left these shortcomings would have been eventually rectified. Places like this, without a garden are now sold as ‘town houses’ in London.
I lived at 17 St Annes Terrace in the sixties and seventies with my mam (Connie Taylor, nee: Binks) and dad (Ken Taylor). There was me, Philip, Paul and twins, Michael and Dawn.
Olivers lived at 15 and Tuckers at 19.
Re No.4 St Ann’s Terrace.
The numbers of the houses in St Ann’s Terrace started with No.1 opposite the Portrack Hotel, No.2 was next door to the Hotel, adjoined by No’s 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. I lived at No.3 until relocation to Hardwick around 1965.
As I remeber the residents they were No.1 Wade family, 2 Mannion family, 3 Wood family (us), 4 Mr Spacy, 5 Wood (my grandfther), 6 Herdman family and 7 Brady family.
I lived at No 5 with my grandparents from birth in 1948 then my parents bought No3 around 1952. We lived there until 1965 as mentioned earlier. These were beautiful Victorian houses with 3 stories plus a cellar and attic.
In our back yard was a stable type door leading into a storage building used by Johnny Mckenna, a grocery merchant in Portrack Lane on the corner of Elliott Street.
Hope this clarifies your query, Fred Starr and Lin Moody.
The houses on the side of the street, which are shown, are odd numbered. So the house that Lin Moody’s relative would have lived in was on the opposite side. Unfortunately there do not seem to be any pictures of these, but the house would have been at the end of the street close to Portrack Lane. It is just possible that the Evening Gazette might have some pictures, since a man who lived alone in one of the houses near No 4, committed suicide in the early 1950s.
Thank you for posting this picture – just found out that I had a relative in 1912 living
in this street – at no 4. I love what people keep finding – please keep them coming!!
These houses were constructed in 1936 and in the town development plans for about 1955, would have been demolished along with the rest of Portrack in the early sixties. Fortunately common sense dawned and the houses were left standing. Each house had a proper garden with a fence about six feet high. The main shortcoming was that although the houses had a bathroom and hot and cold running water, they just had an outside toilet, along side the coal shed… a small hut of similar size suitable for hold about two hundred weights of coal (100kg).