A photograph of the back yard of J Rounds and Sons Garage located on Reed Street, Thornaby.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A photograph of the back yard of J Rounds and Sons Garage located on Reed Street, Thornaby.
My cousin used to work at Rounds in the 60’s he was Ken Ashman.
This will be Roseberry Place then. You can see the front of J Rounds and Sons Garage here: http://picturestocktonarchive.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/reed-street-demolition-thornaby-c1975/
Sometime in the late 1950s a woman staggered into the Nash Club (the National Club, Bonlea, Thornaby) this woman was carrying a bed mattress on her back, she threw it down at her husbands feet, he was drinking in the club, and told him “he spent so much time in this club that he could sleep there”, she then walked out in disgust to a roomfull of mens cheers.
I used to walk through this back alley often, it led onto where the illegal bookies were stood in Reed Street nearby, amongst the bookies there was ‘Old Tally’, Joe Mallen, and another whose name I forget, there was always a Police lookout stood outside the Nash club working for the bookie, who’d whistle if the Police where seen approaching, if they were then the bookies would pack up and duck inside someones house to hide away from them, in the end the Police give up and a no go area truce was called. I do know the bookies runner used to go to Thornaby Police Station in George Street to collect the Police bets and deliver the winnings. It was all good fun and everyone turned a blind eye to illegal bookmaking. My brother used to put 3 penny (3d) roll ups on, doubles and trebles, and one day he had me running like a madman to go and collect his winnings for him before the bookies went home for the day, he drew 1/6d, other bettors used to place 6d each way, and a 2/6 bet was at one time serious money. I once heard someone won over £100,00, and the bookie refused to pay out, he said it would ‘bust him if he did’, and give the lad a tenner, £10.00…
Notice all the bikes outside the rear of Tilsons, they would arrive in big box crates usually marked Nippon (Japan) and be put together by the mechanic’s. Bonnar’s I think was a builder/developer and local councillor/Prospective MP. The tall building was the old “Nash” club.