Long demolished, but who remembers having a drink or two at The Windmill on the corner of Westbury Street and George Street, Thornaby?

The Harewood Arms stood on the top of Brewery Bank across the road from the Bon Lea Hotel in Thornaby.

A view of No. 95 Wellington Street (corner of Wellington Street and Dixon Street) which looks like it was an off-licence. I couldn’t see it in any directories, but a 1914 directory showed: (Mrs.) Sarah Strathern, beer retailer, 93 Wellington Street (which is pretty close?)

Behind it are the buildings of the large Laundry and Dye works on Dixon Street. This area can be seen on the Britain from Above website. (If you zoom in you can even see a similar Vaux advert painted on the wall)

Photograph and details courtesy of Jonathan May.

A view of the Leeds Hotel, Bishopton Lane in Stockton with a nice glimpse of the Indoor Market on John Street.

In the 1950s and 1960s “Dickie Smiths” newsagent shop was known by practically every person living in Billingham.

I was brought up on the Junction Estate on the north side of the railway but my Mother paid a weekly visit to the Co-op on Belasis Avenue for the shopping, this was because we were registered there for our food that was still on ration, she continued doing that even when the rationing came to an end, when the new town centre started to come on line she switched to Broughs, this will have been in the late 1950s, during our visits to the Co-op we passed Dickie Smiths, I had a year at Billingham South Modern School and visited either Dickie Smiths on the Green or Jack Bruces in Mill lane for my sweets.

During those times there were quite a few newsagents in Billingham but “Dickie Smiths” was probably the best known, its location on the Green close to St Cuthberts Church, the Methodist Central Hall, the main Co-op and the Picture House on Belasis Avenue as well as three pubs and a social club meant there were always people in the area.

The whole area was thriving, there were more shops close by in Mill Lane and Station Road as well as on the North and South sides of the Green.

The catchment area for newspaper deliveries was very large, stretching from the Railway Station in the North to the Green in the South, I knew about half a dozen of my peers who delivered newspapers for “Dickie Smiths”.

The road outside of the shop was known as West Row, since renamed West Road, there was also a North Row and an East Row, the latter housing the brewery, I believe the buildings on the South side were just known as The Green, they backed on to a row of very old cottages known as South View, these were built long before ICI appeared so they had an uninterrupted view down to the River Tees.

At the far end of the shops was the Half Moon Cafe, we had a couple of family get togethers in the room above the cafe.

The two bus shelters have since been replaced by a single shelter and been moved nearer to the church lych gate, I don’t know why there were two bus shelters outside this parade of shops, during the 1960s there were two operators stopping at the Green, United and Durham District Services, United went from Hartlepool to Middlesbrough and DDS from Sedgefield to Stockton, most of the other services ran along Belasis Avenue.

I think this photo is from the mid 1960s, the cigarettes being advertised are from that period, the YZ chewing gum machine is also typical of that time as is the weighing machine on the pavement, does anybody else remember trying to weigh a bunch of mates for a single penny?, the first would get on and put the penny in, the next would put his foot on the platform and press down while the first got off, this continued until we had all been weighed, when the last one stepped of the scales would lock until another penny was put in.

Kids never miss a trick do they?.

Photograph and details courtesy of Bruce Coleman.

Warren and Wellstood paper merchants at number 16-17 Brunswick Street, Stockton c1985.

Fashion Girl, ladies and children’s wear shop on Yarm Lane, Stockton c1985.

A recent query by Anthony Ayres about one of his relatives being the landlord of Ayres Inn in Yarm brought to mind a photograph I have in my collection showing Ayres Saddlers in Yarm. It is possible that the man in the shop doorway is the same person who was landlord at Ayres Inn, Cliff Thornton discovered that J. Ayre was an innkeeper as well as being a saddler, Cliff also said that Ayres Inn was in fact the Cross Keys, now known as The Keys. I was wondering if the group of people standing by the trestle table may possibly be the Ayre’s family. The person with the child is standing in the entrance to Danby Wynd, the Wynd is still there but the entrance has been widened, the Wynd is on the West side of Yarm High Street, the same side as the Cross Keys with about eight buildings between them.

Photograph and details courtesy of Bruce Coleman.

A photo of The Turks Head public house c1946, taken from outside St Mary’s RC Church. It was on the corner of Thompson Street and Norton Road and survived when everything around it was demolished. This section of Norton Road was at one time known as Clarence Terrace.

Photograph and details courtesy of Jonathan May.

The tastiest in town… a view of Alan’s Traditional Fish & Chip Bar, Queensway, Billingham c2006.

The old premises of J Wolsey & Son and The Sun Inn on Knowles Street, Stockton. Photograph by Roz Prichard, courtesy of Carole Prichard.

A view of the Dolphin on Bath Lane, Stockton c2005.

Two photographs showing the Thornaby Lad in Thornaby c1989. Many others may also remember it as the Commercial Hotel.