A photograph  showing Faraday Hall L2 with the Art teacher Mrs. Perot, she was a gorgeous person in all ways. When I left school at 15, she invited the whole class to come over for dinner. Only myself and Mike Bennington (Benny) went. We were both madly in love with her, as young boys of 15 would be.

Photograph and details courtesy of Derek Appleton.

A photograph of the ‘Parkwood Tipplers’ training for the first Great North run in 1981. The ‘Tipplers’ all lived in the Hartburn and Fairfield area of Stockton. They attended a keep-fit class at the Sixth Form College, Stockton on Monday evenings followed by a ‘put the world to right discussion’ over a pint in the Parkwood on Darlington Road, Stockton.

Photograph courtesy of Jack Cuthbert (third from the left), details courtesy of Richard Scott.

This photograph was taken in the school yard of Newtown School before we all went our separate ways some to Newham Grange and other schools.

With the help of a couple of school friends some years ago we managed to identify all but one face, can anyone help? He is standing on the back row between David Barrett on the left and Brian Crawford.

Here are a full list of the other names:-
Back row from left to right:- Joe Simpson, Vincent Costello, Kenneth Lake, David Hebron, Keith McQuade, Douglas Baker, Mervyn James, Albert Simpson, Earnest Allen, David Barret, (??), Brian Crawford, Michael Morgan, Tommy Mooney, Brian Swales, George Lambert, Mr Harker.
Middle row:- Miss Patterson, Raymond Walker, Judith Turner, Ann Hall, Maureen Burns, Cora Hall, Audrey Ferguson, Sybil Titterington, Margaret Grainger, Nancy Clark, Betty Doidge, Glenda Ellis, Beryl Bailey, Doreen Kerr, Beryl Kett, Linda Hart, Kenneth Harris, Brian Savage.
Front row:- Edith Oram, Pauline Ward, Carol Simmons, Norma Fenton, Catherine Hall, Kathleen Plummer, Headmaster Mr Wynn, Carol Storey, Mavis Clark, Brenda Ridley, Ann Matson/Lofthouse, Valerie Robson, Audrey Oliver.
Two sitting on the floor Tommy Ballantyne, George Steel.

Photograph and details courtesy of Brian Swales.

Reading the many comments about Grangefield Grammar School rules, there was a rule about cyclists only using the north driveway, we used to call it the back drive. I remember when I first got a car and for a dare, took it up the back drive one evening with two fellow students whose names I think were Ken Hornby and Brian Braithwaite.

Photograph and details courtesy of Garth McLean.

A class photograph from 1952 showing pupils at Robert Atkinson School. These are the names I can remember…

Front Row (L to R): Kathleen Spens, Olga Thompson, Sheila Smith, Nancy Dale, Jean Hatfield (teacher), Eileen Brander, Dorothy Maynard, Pauline Gray, Eileen Dawson, Margaret Thomas.

Second Row (L-R): Marian Jones, Beryl Scott, Marlene Hunt, Lilian Southgate, Eileen Raine, Marian Lamb, Margaret Snowdon, Margot Jones, Sheila Thornburn, Mary Spence, Rita Underwood.

Third Row (L to R): Billy Tate, Jim Instone, Eric Fordy, Derek Worn, Allan Sanderson, Barry Chesser, Maurice Grey, Randolph McCartney, John Beeston, Keith Barker.

Back Row (L to R): Arthur Lynas, Graham Henderson, Donald Morrison, Geoff Dunwell, Don Mclaughlin, Jim Black, Maurice Thornton, Gavin Swainston, Joe Notman.

Photograph and details courtesy of Jim Black.

This photograph was taken by a street photographer who knocked on the door of 17 St. Annes Terrace and asked my mother if she would like a picture of her little boy. Virtually no one in Portrack at would have had a camera, so it was a real opportunity for her to have a good picture of me. It was such an unusual event I remember it clearly, being aged about seven.

The photograph shows how a reasonably well off boy from the working classes would dress at the time. Shorts, cotton shirt, jersey and leather boots. Rationing was still in force, so I would not have had underpants and probably not a vest. The jersey would have been home knitted by my grandma, who owned the house. The jersey would have been a much better quality and warmer than what could be bought off a market stall. The socks would have been made of wool, tending to wear out quickly and would have needed darning at least once. Quite literally, a housewife’s work was never done.

The house still exists and was built in 1935. At the time it had a wooden fence and gate. Like all the other houses in this short “modern” block we also had a privet hedge which completely overshadowed the postage stamp of a front garden and was a pain to cut. Modern pictures show the fence and the hedge to have vanished. The house was sold for £1100, very roughly, a very good annual wage at the time.

Photograph and details courtesy of Fred Starr.

I think this photograph was taken before the war (?) and shows L to R: Fred Robinson (Garage owner), George Winpenny (Gents outfitter), Hunter Martin (Tailor). In front on the hobby horse is S.D. Thorn (Manager of Kinnells Foundry, Thornaby). Taken in the Metropole Hotel.

Photograph and details courtesy of Anthony Bonner.