A photograph of H Dobson, Glass Merchant on the corner of West Row and what used to be Albion Street (no.26-28), Stockton.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A photograph of H Dobson, Glass Merchant on the corner of West Row and what used to be Albion Street (no.26-28), Stockton.
My uncle Bernard (Pattison) worked here until about 1959ish. He was taught wonderful skills and made superb leaded light windows and mirrors. When he came to put windows in for us I used the putty like plasticine and made all manner of shapes. We still have some samples of his work.
Billy Blackwell,Johnnie Franklin (the old manager of the Head Wrightson’s Machine Shop,Thornaby), Alan Rigg and Arthur Jackson were in the domino school in the back-room of the Unicorn, the late Ken Sheraton remembered them all well. One of the Dobson’s window fitters was Stephen Brockbank.
This is the site of number 30 West Row which was a Lodging House in the 1880s. The proprietor was Duncan Turner who had six children (one of them my Grandmother) and about sixteen lodgers from all over the British Isles as well as America. The evidence of this can be seen in 1891 census on Ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.
Hewey Dobson had a shop in Prince Regent Street when I first knew them, that was when the street was not a through road to Yarm lane so that would put the move to the corner store in West Row sometime in the late 1940’s 48-9 or very early 1950’s.
The shop was stocked from top to bottom with glass you could hardly move, the lads often cut the glass outside on trestles when it was too big to lay down inside. Those were not busy streets back then.
Hughie Dobson was the brother of Albert Dobson who was the Landlord of the ‘Top House’ Unicorn on the corner of the High Street, Norton Green.
Thanks for that Bob I knew it was wrong but could not think how to spell Hughie, whom I thought a real nice chap, he showed me how to put a window in properly.
Having broken a window upstairs at Browns I went down and told Arthur what I had done, you did back then no trying to hide things, he said go get some glass from Hughie and put it back.
Measuring the pane I got the glass cut and some putty then made all the mistakes, not enough clearance on the glass, did not remove all the old putty, tried to force the pane in and used too large a hammer for the pins, a loud crack and one broken pane.
Going back over the road to Hughie and telling him what had happened he came over showed me how to clean the frame, that you should leave a clearance all round the glass so with the new pane he then showed me how to line the frame with putty fit the glass, pin it and then seal it smoothing the putty with a wet knife, lessons I still use when needed today.
I have no memory of having my wages docked, Arthur Brown was a nice chap too.
The Top House (Unicorn) was one of my watering holes when on leave usually with some of the green lads, the Carrigans, Ken Sheridan, Eddy Winchester and quite a few more, Nelly was always on the bar and it was quite jovial at times. Fading memories these days although very vivid when I sit on the Green remembering those times.
I remember Hughie Dobson having a contract with Head Wrightsons at The Friarage, Yarm. He would arrive at the premises on a Wednesday afternoon after a session boozing with the gentry in the town on market day. He told his workmen that he was going to get each of them a van for their work. One of them said he only had a motor cycle licence in which Hughie replied, “well then you can have a motor bike and sidecar”. Always a character.
When I worked at mill garages I used to service his car in the 70’s.
I remember in the ’50’s a family actually living in what now looks like the garage. There was a mother & father with I think 3 or 4 children. The shop opposite was John Tucks, and then Ellis the baker..