A view of Billingham Town Centre. Does anyone remember Dewhursts, Meadows or the Chain Library?
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A view of Billingham Town Centre. Does anyone remember Dewhursts, Meadows or the Chain Library?
Picture Stockton Archive 
Delivered orders for the Meadow in 1960. Paid me £1 a week for 3 nights after school at Henry Smiths, Hartlepool. When it got too busy they got a second delivery boy and then paid us 10s each. As I worked the same hours as before it seemed a bit unfair to give me a 50% wage cut. The delivery bikes weighed a ton.
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My mam worked in the rendezvous cafe late 60s
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My Mam worked at the Stockton Chain Library during the 1960’s, didn’t realise Billingham had one too!
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Did the Chain library ever sell pea shooters? I remember buying them during the 1950s, and the only shop that comes to mind in that part of the centre is the chain library
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My granddad was manager of Dewhurst butchers from day one and my mum worked for him there. I spent all my school holidays and Saturdays there!
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Or Martin’s Bank in the background. When we started work in the Forum we had our wages paid into the bank, and of course many of us had never had a bank account and had to stand in line to receive our brown envelopes of cash from the bank counter. Of course now that we all have bank accounts the country is much better managed isn’t it!!
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I remember the shops well use to get books from chain library.
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Can anyone remember Home and Colonial, Eves, Sharps, Meridiths and Charles Marsdens?
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I can remember home and colonial, Eves hairdressers, Sharps and Merediths also Macfisheries ,Liptons. Broughs, Finlays, Miles, Elliots for fruit and veg, and when the town centre had a bus route through the middle.
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I remember that Broughs used to have a delivery service, my mam used to take me every Saturday morning (we would walk from our house in Hardwick Road, Low Grange) and then we’d pack the week’s shop into a basket each and it would be packed in a box for delivery. Mam used to have her hair set every week, for years at Eve’s (still there I think) and later years Simon French, upstairs, opposite the Rendezvous cafe. I used to spend my 6d pocket money in Miles’ newsagent. Chris Miles went to my dancing class at Smith/Jacques on Marsh house Avenue.
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I can’t remember Home and Colonial or Charles Marsdens, what businesses were they? Were they on the same block as Eves and Menhennets? I’m trying to compile a list of shops in the town centre in the 60’s.
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Maynards Sweet shop
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I don’t remember Maynards but I do remember Findlay’s Tobacconists which sold sweets on one side and records on the other.
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Marsdens I think was a butchers and was near Woolworths. Or is my memory playing tricks on me? I’m pretty sure the Chain Library was just near where Asda is now. My mum used to use it before Roseberry library opened.
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