An image of Jubilee Gardens on Norton High Street c1902. The only building missing today is the old Police Station, as it was demolished to make way for the road leading to the supermarket.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
The police house was not there in the late 1960s when I was at Norton Board School. I can recall a temporary classroom where the police house would have been. It is a bit misleading to suggest that it was demolished to make way for the access to the supermarket.
Bob, my main memory of the Police house in Norton High Street would be up to me leaving the Board School in 1940, it was part of my daily life and the Policeman always seemed to be about at the start and finish of the school day. My Father who was a friend of the Bobby told me it was a single post, I did see the Sergeant cycle in at times.
During the war years I do know the Policeman was armed, he had a 303 rifle he kept with ammunition, if more men were posted at the house during that time I could not be sure and would not guess at what I cannot verify, you could very well be right, lots of things changed during the war.
We knew he was armed as on a couple of occasions when animals broke loose from the local abottoirs the Policeman would get his rifle and shoot the animal.
We would tear out of school as Mr Fisher told us without fail like wild animals in a manner unbecoming and one day chasing one of the Lukes who had tormented me I was beating his brains out when a big hand gripped me hauled me up and shook me. It was the Bobby, we fight on our feet he said not on the floor like alley cats, up the yard to Mr Fisher and we both got to choose the cane he would use on us, a lesson learnt.
I remember one of the Bobbies called Watson. He lived in Stanley Street who often came to my g/dads house for a cuppa.
Bob, although there was only one Norton Bobby living in the Police House on the High Street there were a couple who lived in Norton but worked in Stockton. One was Bobby Guard who lived off Cottersloe Road, Fernie Road his Son John Guard was older than me another who’s name has left me lived somewhere on Station Road. All the Police in my time rode the bus platform and had free rides and sometimes on the last bus from Town there would be a Policeman riding the platform, probably made the lady duck feel safer although they could handle themselves the few times I saw trouble on the bus, I saw one slip of a girl bundle two big lads off the bus at Danby Road one night, mind some of the male passengers were standing behind her just in case.
As I said in the earlier post, people did not stand by watching and taking photo’s as they would today, how sad is that?
Frank, although it was a sergeant posting to Norton they also had a couple of coppers as well. I can remember finding a dog which was roaming on my g/dads fields, we got a bit of rope and led the dog to the police station at Norton. We handed the dog in and there were 2 officers there. When we left we saw these officers let the dog loose at the back door of the police house.
Jubilee Gardens had lost some of its ornamentation even pre-war when I went to the Board School. Mr Fisher and Mr Thompsons classes would go up the yard with the arched canopy and other classes up the narrow alley to the school yard between the Police House and Greens Cobblers, one of the Greens girls was in my class The Police House had a good garden and as with most in those days helped feed the household.
There was a single Policeman who knew everyone in the village, a Sergeant would cycle from Stockton once a day for a walk round and a check now and then we would see a new face as a relief gave the village Bobby some time off not that it happened often.
All us kids were in awe of the Policeman who handed out his own punishment most of the time often with his glove full of dried beans, very painful and we said nothing to parents as that would have got us more for showing them up, no suing anyone in those days you owned up and took the rap.
He did a lot of other work around the village, children being neglected, wife beaters, drunks and bullies all had visits and it usually cured the problem as we all knew what was going on. The odd punch up on a Saturday night at closing time he would break up always with the help of the locals they were not left on their own as would happen today.
He would come round selling the tickets for the always well attended Policemans Ball and it was always a cup of tea and some of Glady’s home made cake often leaving with a few slices of bacon in his pocket, another reason my mother got out of a driving offence when she had no licence or in fact had any lessons, a piece of bacon settled the case and the removal of the rotot arm from the car.
When my Grandchildren ask about “the Olde Days” they cannot even picture the kind of life I tell them about and write about on here, it is beyond their belief a single man kept law and order in the village, that we went into each others houses freely, that help was at hand if a family were in trouble, that was village life, long gone and sadly missed by some of us.
Frank: A fabulous description of the respect, that working people held the local policeman in, at one time. The last I saw of this concept, was in Great Broughton in the late 70’s, where ‘Phil’ the local-bobby, was welcome in everyone’s front room, as he too also turned a blind-eye to many minor ‘country life’ infringements, whilst always being quickly there, for the more serious matters requiring assistance.
Frank do you remember the big fat policeman at Norton? Maybe when going to and from court at Stockton he travelled on the ‘O’ bus. Not taking a seat but standing holding the upright rail on the platform at the rear of the bus. I know he would be to big to sit down but also I think it was a free ride for him.
I lived in Norton for a short time and whilst I fully realised that this celebratory-garden site had long ago been turned into a car-park, I often wondered what had stood at the entrance to the supermarket access road. Particularly as an exposed brickwork gable-end to a house can clearly still be seen. I now see that the block terminates at the premises with it’s sun-awning down (currently a charity-shop) and the final section (with 3no. windows showing) has been effectively ‘chopped off’ to the alleyway,or wynd, which would have separated it from the lower building, which is now a takeaway premises.
The charity shop that is there now was Pickersgills shop which was a plumbers. Next door which was pulled down to expose the gable end now shows what was once the old Police Station. On the opposite side of the supermarket exit was a cobblers shop.
I remember the old police station in the early 1950’s. I was a friend of the son of the local “bobby”. I remember watching TV series at their house e.g. War in the Air and War at Sea. There was a single cell in the station if I remember correctly, probably the only occupants were the odd poacher or the local drunk!