Felling History
Welcome to Felling History the web page that brings you a few facts and lots of old pictures about The Felling area. If you really want to know The Felling's history you need
Joan Hewitt. Click the link to read her writings
"If London hadn't been London, The Felling would have been"
John Batie, a long time resident and fan of The Felling.
Most of the pictures on this web page are from Gateshead Council's fantastic photographic collection now available online at
isee
Lots of old photos of Felling/Bill Quay can also be found on Norman Dunn's website
Felling means the place where trees have been felled, a clearing in a wood.
Why am I doing this web page about Felling? Because it was originally on 39steps.com the website about my family because my Dad was raised in Holly Street, now a play park behind the nursery (formerly dole office) on Holly Hill, High Felling
Welcome to The History of Felling
For bits about Felling, High and Low
Windy Nook and Heworth,
That's Nether, Shore, and High also
There's Friar's Goose, Felling Shore and Wardley
And the Quay belonging to Bill
White Mare Pool and Follonsby
And should I include Carr's Hill?
Jon Bratton 2009
Left click to enlarge
Let's start with Heworth Common in 1766, basically fields owned by Charles Brandling and others. Apart from
Felling Hall (seen here after it was turned into the Mulberry Tree pub) and
Left click to see them in 2009
Crow Hall
there's only a few houses clustered around the bottom of Split Crow Road, then called Sunderland Lane as that was the main route from Newcastle to Sunderland.
This is the former Felling UDC Council Offices, now used as a refugee lodging.
Above the main door is a crest which was adopted by the Council but was originally the crest of the Brandling family, lords of the manor since the 16th century. The crest comprises an oak log with leaves and acorns attached, and flames coming out the top. Left click the above image to see the detail of the crest
The Urban District of Felling, preceded 30 years earlier by Felling Local Board lasted a mere 80 years, 1894 until 1974 when Local Government Reorganisation resulted in Gateshead being expanded to include Felling in the East, Birtley in the South and all the way to Crawcrook in the West
Left click to see it from the back today
1836 August 8. The Brandling Junction Railway was commenced
at the Felling. The first turf was cut in the
presence of R. W. Brandling, esq., and a party of gentlemen, who
had assembled to witness the first effort to forward this desirable
undertaking.
The Brandling Station was built in 1842. One of the oldest passenger stations in England
Left click the image to see another view
The Car Lines on Sunderland Road
Left Click to enlarge
The High Street about the time my Dad was about the age of these kids. He told me he used to look over the wall at the butchers and watched animals being slaughtered
Left click to enlarge
The original St Patrick's RC Chapel was at Felling Shore, built 1842 to satisfy the needs of the huge influx of Irishmen.
This is the replacement church. St Patrick's RC Church, opened on St Patrick's Day 17th March 1895
This scene is looking smarter nowadays
I remember Father Bernard Stronge who reigned from 1946-1985. Indeed I now compete for a golf trophy named after him
To be even handed, denominationally speaking, here's St Mary's Church, Heworth
Left click to enlarge
along with Heworth School which stood where the Metro Interchange now stands. Thrown in for good measure are a couple of trams, one of which is advertising Calders 90/- Ales, which leads me seamlessly from the churches to...
THE PUBS
The oldest remaining pub building, The Half Way House on Felling High Street of about 1835 said to be half way between Low and High Felling. It is still there but closed. This pic shows the start of the revitalisation of the High Street which failed. Left click the image to see how it looks today
Opposite this was the Greyhound at 62 High Str., it was demolished and is now at the base of Crowhall Towers.
The name was changed by the proprietor called Gray to the Gray Hound. He was long gone but the name stayed...so why have a picture of a greyhound? Not very helpful to kid's with their spelling. It is now correctly spelled
In Davison Street there was the Oddfellows Arms and the Durham Ox and at the bottom of Coldwell Street there was, and is, but for how much longer, the Bay Horse, not forgetting the Shakespeare, where the Portland is now
In 1851 the Barley Mow was occupied by Thomas Dixon. It was acquired by John White in 1887, the year of the Queen's Jubilee and renamed Victoria Jubilee
Isn't this one, The Bluebell, a magnificent looking Art Nouveau building rebuilt by Newcastle Breweries in 1905. This is a very early brewery owned pub site. The map of 1766 shows the parcel of land, then owned by Robert Whinny,but by 1836 it was in the possession of John Barras. Who was John Barras? Then he had a brewery in Gateshead but in 1884, he was the leading light in establishing Newcastle Breweries
Left click to enlarge
Now let's away down onto Sunderland Road where at Felling Gate there was the Duke of Connaught,
And also The Pear Tree, The Speed the Plough, The Brandling Arms, The Turf, the resited Duke of Cumberland, ( formerly up near the Fiddler's at Heworth Colliery )
The Swan at Heworth
And the following....
...The Blink Bonny pub (opposite Felling Park) about 1910
Named after the 1857 Epsom Derby winner
Left click to see it as now
The Bee's Wing as it was first shown, later The Beeswing Hotel then Durty Nellies and now houses refugees
Named after Bee's Wing, foaled in 1833, This great mare (nicknamed the miner's friend) won the Newcastle Gold Cup 6 times, the Doncaster Gold Cup 4 times and the Ascot Gold Cup in 1842.
Left click to enlarge
The Lord Collingwood pub, and at one time, brewing house, this one shown built 1898, now a Decorating Contractors office. There was a previous because this is a news item for 1862 September 2. This afternoon Thomas Pigg, landlord of the Lord
Collingwood Inn, Felling, met with an untimely death. The
deceased took a gun out of the house, saying that he was going into
the stable to shoot rats. Shortly after his departure the report of
a gun was heard, and on the domestics proceeding to the stable
they found the deceased lying dead, the contents of the gun having
been discharged into his mouth, and shattered his head severely.
The deceased had been formerly a tailor in Newcastle, and had
lost his wife only a short time previous. Whether this sad event
was the result of accident or intention remains yet to he discovered.
and BELOW THE CAR LINES, more pubs than you can shake a stick at
The Mulberry Tree public house emerged in the 1850's by converting Felling Hall, the former seat of the Brandling family. The subsequent Mulberry is now no more..the building has been converted into flats
The whole road from Sunderland Road to Felling Shore was Brewery Lane and the name lives on in the Brewery Lane Industrial Estate. The Felling Shore area certainly had it's fair share of pubs, some of which eg Lord Collingwood and the
Malting House (John Humble's Brewery) brewed on the premises.
Left click to enlarge
In what is now Carlisle Street there was the Station Hotel, now the Old Fox, a smashing real ale pub
Left click to see it as it used to be
This one, almost next door, the Wheatsheaf is another smashing real ale pub
and the Malting House. Left click to see it now
Left click to enlarge
This one, The British Lion is still there but closed and other pubs, all of which are now long gone, were The Railway Tavern, The Anchor and the Grindstone in Tyne Street, The Unicorn, The Old Engine, The Wherry, The Moulders Arms, The Brandling Arms, The Ship, The Ferry Boat and the Ferry Hotel (once called The Ferry House) at Friars Goose
In Brewery Lane there was The Bee Hive and
Left click to enlarge
The Green Tree
Slater's Directory of 1855 also lists the Oak Tree..perhaps that was the previous name of the Green Tree
Left click to enlarge
This, The Wise Man's Public House was in Crowhall Lane. A temperance bar in Felling... you wouldn't credit it!
Heworth Lane had the Black Bull and The Squire's Arms
Heworth Shore had The Ellison Arms, The Yarmouth Arms, The Ship Inn, The Shiplaunch and The Red Lion
And then there was the whole of Bill Quay
Here's the pubs listed in Slater's Directory of 1855
Bill Quay had the Albion Inn, The Ship, The Board Inn, The Mason's Arms, The Cricketer's Arms, The Staith House, The Slipway Inn, The Bottle House, The Lamb, The Letter Board and The Shipwright Arms.
This building is clearly The Cricketer's. Was it originally called The Cricketer's, then in 1980 became the Quay Tavern and then revert back to the original name? Can anybody help?
(Of those listed in Slaters only the Cricketers survives. Albion converted to a house and The Wardley either not built then or had a different name)
Thomas Dixon at Windy Nook had the Crown and Thistle and the Waggon, shown as the Coal Waggon in a map of 1862 but now called the Black House.This directory also lists, at Windy Nook,The Hope and Anchor and the Horse and Hounds. Later there was also the Engine House and the Bay Horse
The Ship, famous for being run, in the mid sixties, by one of Mrs Smiths five little boys.
The Five Smith Brothers were locally based but nationally known recording artists eg "When It's Evening" 1947 and "I'm in Favor of Friendship" 1955
The O.S. Map of 1897 shows the Paragon Theatre..little is known about it. Ward's directory of 1899 lists it as the People's Theatre and it was demolished sometime before 1905 so that takes us to
THE PICTURES
Left click to see the same scene today. Who thinks the Felling's gone backwards
Here's the Corona Picture Hall in Coldwell Lane, opened in 1911 and closed in 1960
Left click to see it bigger
The Imperial Cinema was built in 1910, in Wellington Str.. destroyed by fire in 1929,..
and rebuilt in 1930 at Victoria Square where the Paragon Theatre used to be, ..later a Palais de Dance was added. Folks referred to the Cinema as the Pally
The Palais and Imperial Cinema are now an Amusement Arcade and Bingo Hall respectively
Left click to enlarge
Felling Lodge as it is today
It was built for the surgeon Mr Lammas in 1827.Subsequently it was the home of the surveyor at Felling Colliery and later
Left click to enlarge
Doctor Kelly, then Dr Millar and then Dr Cosgrove. This is Dr Kelly, in the top hat, along with other big wigs from Felling Colliery
SHOPS ON THE HIGH STREET
Thomas Sisterson's Drug Store on the High Street, Nos 92-96, next one down to what was Woolworth's
John M. Costelloe had a number of pawnshops in Gateshead and he built Costelloe's Building in 1907 (No 56). This was until 2008 occupied by Sauls, the wallpaper and paint people,
Left click to enlarge
but the ornate support, that used to carry the three gold balls of the pawnbrokers sign is still in place. It should be taken to Beamish Museum, in my view, where it will be seen, appreciated and preserved.
I would like my great grandkids to be able to see where my Grandma pawned my Grandad's best suit
Almost opposite this pawnshop was another run by Ernest Walters (No 35)
Walter Willsons shop was converted from a chapel
CUBE PIT Area...
or "Q" Pit as some called it (wrongly)
This is Split Crow Road in the area known by Felling folk as Cube Pit or "Q" Pit. This puzzled me since the pit was called William Pit,
the other was John Pit named after the two Brandling brothers who owned Felling Colliery. I think I have found the answer in a dictionary of mining terms. It was, a ventilation shaft, a cube defined as follows
CUBE, OR CUPOLA. — A shaft sunk near to the top of a furnace upcast (a ventilation shaft with a fire at the bottom), and holed into the shaft a few fathoms below the surface, with a wide chimney erected over it, rising 30 or 40 feet above the surface. It relieves the pit top from smoke
See the chimney shown on the map
Elsewhere I have seen the whole ventilation arrangement of using a furnace to create rising heated foul air and descending cold clean air as the cube or even calling the furnace fire itself the cube as in "the explosion occured because the cube had been allowed to go out"
Many people used to say "Q" Pit but that was almost certainly a mishearing of Cube Pit
The Felling Colliery had a major explosion
on 25th May 1812. A fire broke forth with two heavy discharges from the John pit, which were almost instantaneously followed by one from the William pit. A slight trembling, as from an earthquake, was felt for about half a mile around the workings; and the noise of the explosion, though dull, was heard three or four miles away. Immense quantities of dust and small coal accompanied these blasts, and rose high into the air in the form of an inverted cone.
There were ninety-two victims including two boys aged seven and eight. The safety lamp was developed following this tragedy
On 22nd May 1847 an explosion took place at the Felling
Colliery, now the property of Messrs. Carr and Co.,
by which four men, two boys, eighteen horses, and two ponies
were killed. Only four persons in the mine escaped unhurt.
The Streets adjacent to Cube Pit (Q) running down towards the Quarry were Kenmir Street, Elsdon Street, Fox Street, George Street, Ann Street, Osborne Terrace, Thomas Street, Ladysmith Street, Buller Street, Norman Street, Catherine Tce, Christies Lane,
FELLING SHORE
left click to enlarge
WARDLEY
Click on the banner to visit Bill Hartmann's great new site about Gateshead, which will include much of the material previously on the Wardley Colliery site
Pubs in Wardley were the Colliery Inn,
this one, the Railway Inn, the low section on the left being a temperance bar and ...
...The White Mare Pool Hotel was a listed building which, when being converted to the Dixielanders, conveniently fell down. It was rebuilt and after a spell as the home of the Dixielanders Concert Party is now The Green
VISIT FELLING IN 1862
Go Here and select Felling...then magnify and pan
Note the old Poor House on the High Str. and
Left click to enlarge
the posh houses, still there along Holly Hill. Note the Traveller's Rest pub on Sunderland Road... look back at Slater's directory and see there was no such pub in 1855. Could it be the then Lord Collingwood? The Battle of Trafalgar was 1805 and Cuthbert Collingwood, the Northumbrian hero of the battle was no doubt honoured in his name being given to the pub.
FELLING STAITHES
Left click to enlarge
A long wooden waggonway led to Felling Shore Staithes. This was the Washington Waggonway or Great Grindstone Way. It was seven miles long, extending from Washington, via Usworth, crossing Leam Lane, between Springwell Inn and Wallace Village and ran north of the Fell Dyke past White House. From there it followed Battery Lane to Stone Street, crossed Windy Nook Road to the present Black House Inn (then called the Waggon Inn) and went down Coldwell Terrace and Felling High Street to Brewery Lane. Just beyond Felling Hall it turned westward to the staithes.
THE HISTORY OF HIGH HEWORTH / WINDY NOOK
Left click to enlarge
White House was for many years left derelict. The White House, or Old Hall, occupied 'the high road betwixt the vales of the Wear and Tyne, commanding a very varied and extensive prospect over the estuary of both rivers, with the parishes of Tynemouth and Hylton in the distance' It was one of the oldest habitations in Heworth, appearing in the Durham Priory Household Book of 1530. During the English Civil War, it was the seat of the staunchly Catholic Jennison family. Edward Colvin or Colvil, a butcher, grazier and import merchant lived there until his death in 1750. The house was then owned by John Stafford
It is still shown on the map below which is dated about 1970 just before the new road and Whitehills Estate was built
Left click on image to enlarge
This also shows Albion Street and the Windynook Quarries
Windynook Quarry...wasn't it deep?
It was all backfilled and that's why to this day it is not built on.. which is great. Indeed all the nice pockets of green are because of quarries.
Left click to enlarge
Felling Cricket pitch, the Cemetery on Watermill Lane and the adjacent "dene" was Low Burn Quarry (aka Brown's Quarry) and the "Bankies" was Carrhill Quarry and the big landscaped area off Sunderland Road to the right of the High Street (looking upwards) was Felling Quarry
Left click to enlarge
Albion Street, Windy Nook
Well down the street at High Heworth there was the Duke of Cumberland,(now on Sunderland Road) and the Ravensworth Arms, but known as Finnigan's and now named the Fiddlers Three
Hare and Hounds, Windy Nook. (originally called Horse and Hounds)
There was also the Bay Horse, the Crown and Thistle, the Engine House, the Hope and Anchor (known for the last landlord as Perry Norman's.. when demolished the licence was transferred to the newly built Eagle on the Leam ) and the Black House (originally called the Coal Waggon)
Before leaving Windy Nook the "ancient fortress" is worth a mention
It's actually a colliery slag heap to which sculptor Richard Cole, in 1986, added earth and 2500 tons of granite stone salvaged from the pillars supporting the old Scotswood Bridge to form this 'Public Work of Art'...a real asset... to glue sniffers and underage drinkers, unfortunately
And, finally, a brief mention of some of the Felling characters, real or mythical.
1836 April 2. Mr. William Falla, nurseryman, of Gateshead, left
his home, and was never afterwards seen alive. On the first of
May his body was accidentally discovered in a very shocking
state in Ravensworth Wood, near Ladypark farm. It was then
found that the deceased had committed suicide by piercing his
windpipe with a pen-knife, an instrument which he had closed and
replaced in his pocket after committing the act.
**
Certainly real was a zany friend of my Grandma called Joe Forsyth but known as Joe Bleak. I'm not sure if he was touched or just eccentric. And then, who was Nanny Figgy? And what about Cat Nancy who killed cats and sold the meat as rabbit
Well, that's it...the sun sets on canny Felling
Left click to enlarge
The sun has set on Felling so that's yer lot, except for this. Felling, for the most part supports those in red and white and just for those here's a magnificent view from Felling
Joan Hewitt. Click the link to read her writings
"If London hadn't been London, The Felling would have been"
John Batie, a long time resident and fan of The Felling.
Most of the pictures on this web page are from Gateshead Council's fantastic photographic collection now available online at
isee
Lots of old photos of Felling/Bill Quay can also be found on Norman Dunn's website
Felling means the place where trees have been felled, a clearing in a wood.
Why am I doing this web page about Felling? Because it was originally on 39steps.com the website about my family because my Dad was raised in Holly Street, now a play park behind the nursery (formerly dole office) on Holly Hill, High Felling
Welcome to The History of Felling
For bits about Felling, High and Low
Windy Nook and Heworth,
That's Nether, Shore, and High also
There's Friar's Goose, Felling Shore and Wardley
And the Quay belonging to Bill
White Mare Pool and Follonsby
And should I include Carr's Hill?
Jon Bratton 2009
Left click to enlarge
Let's start with Heworth Common in 1766, basically fields owned by Charles Brandling and others. Apart from
Felling Hall (seen here after it was turned into the Mulberry Tree pub) and
Left click to see them in 2009
Crow Hall
there's only a few houses clustered around the bottom of Split Crow Road, then called Sunderland Lane as that was the main route from Newcastle to Sunderland.
This is the former Felling UDC Council Offices, now used as a refugee lodging.
Above the main door is a crest which was adopted by the Council but was originally the crest of the Brandling family, lords of the manor since the 16th century. The crest comprises an oak log with leaves and acorns attached, and flames coming out the top. Left click the above image to see the detail of the crest
The Urban District of Felling, preceded 30 years earlier by Felling Local Board lasted a mere 80 years, 1894 until 1974 when Local Government Reorganisation resulted in Gateshead being expanded to include Felling in the East, Birtley in the South and all the way to Crawcrook in the West
Left click to see it from the back today
1836 August 8. The Brandling Junction Railway was commenced
at the Felling. The first turf was cut in the
presence of R. W. Brandling, esq., and a party of gentlemen, who
had assembled to witness the first effort to forward this desirable
undertaking.
The Brandling Station was built in 1842. One of the oldest passenger stations in England
Left click the image to see another view
The Car Lines on Sunderland Road
Left Click to enlarge
The High Street about the time my Dad was about the age of these kids. He told me he used to look over the wall at the butchers and watched animals being slaughtered
Left click to enlarge
The original St Patrick's RC Chapel was at Felling Shore, built 1842 to satisfy the needs of the huge influx of Irishmen.
This is the replacement church. St Patrick's RC Church, opened on St Patrick's Day 17th March 1895
This scene is looking smarter nowadays
I remember Father Bernard Stronge who reigned from 1946-1985. Indeed I now compete for a golf trophy named after him
To be even handed, denominationally speaking, here's St Mary's Church, Heworth
Left click to enlarge
along with Heworth School which stood where the Metro Interchange now stands. Thrown in for good measure are a couple of trams, one of which is advertising Calders 90/- Ales, which leads me seamlessly from the churches to...
THE PUBS
The oldest remaining pub building, The Half Way House on Felling High Street of about 1835 said to be half way between Low and High Felling. It is still there but closed. This pic shows the start of the revitalisation of the High Street which failed. Left click the image to see how it looks today
Opposite this was the Greyhound at 62 High Str., it was demolished and is now at the base of Crowhall Towers.
The name was changed by the proprietor called Gray to the Gray Hound. He was long gone but the name stayed...so why have a picture of a greyhound? Not very helpful to kid's with their spelling. It is now correctly spelled
In Davison Street there was the Oddfellows Arms and the Durham Ox and at the bottom of Coldwell Street there was, and is, but for how much longer, the Bay Horse, not forgetting the Shakespeare, where the Portland is now
In 1851 the Barley Mow was occupied by Thomas Dixon. It was acquired by John White in 1887, the year of the Queen's Jubilee and renamed Victoria Jubilee
Isn't this one, The Bluebell, a magnificent looking Art Nouveau building rebuilt by Newcastle Breweries in 1905. This is a very early brewery owned pub site. The map of 1766 shows the parcel of land, then owned by Robert Whinny,but by 1836 it was in the possession of John Barras. Who was John Barras? Then he had a brewery in Gateshead but in 1884, he was the leading light in establishing Newcastle Breweries
Left click to enlarge
Now let's away down onto Sunderland Road where at Felling Gate there was the Duke of Connaught,
And also The Pear Tree, The Speed the Plough, The Brandling Arms, The Turf, the resited Duke of Cumberland, ( formerly up near the Fiddler's at Heworth Colliery )
The Swan at Heworth
And the following....
...The Blink Bonny pub (opposite Felling Park) about 1910
Named after the 1857 Epsom Derby winner
Left click to see it as now
The Bee's Wing as it was first shown, later The Beeswing Hotel then Durty Nellies and now houses refugees
Named after Bee's Wing, foaled in 1833, This great mare (nicknamed the miner's friend) won the Newcastle Gold Cup 6 times, the Doncaster Gold Cup 4 times and the Ascot Gold Cup in 1842.
Left click to enlarge
The Lord Collingwood pub, and at one time, brewing house, this one shown built 1898, now a Decorating Contractors office. There was a previous because this is a news item for 1862 September 2. This afternoon Thomas Pigg, landlord of the Lord
Collingwood Inn, Felling, met with an untimely death. The
deceased took a gun out of the house, saying that he was going into
the stable to shoot rats. Shortly after his departure the report of
a gun was heard, and on the domestics proceeding to the stable
they found the deceased lying dead, the contents of the gun having
been discharged into his mouth, and shattered his head severely.
The deceased had been formerly a tailor in Newcastle, and had
lost his wife only a short time previous. Whether this sad event
was the result of accident or intention remains yet to he discovered.
and BELOW THE CAR LINES, more pubs than you can shake a stick at
The Mulberry Tree public house emerged in the 1850's by converting Felling Hall, the former seat of the Brandling family. The subsequent Mulberry is now no more..the building has been converted into flats
The whole road from Sunderland Road to Felling Shore was Brewery Lane and the name lives on in the Brewery Lane Industrial Estate. The Felling Shore area certainly had it's fair share of pubs, some of which eg Lord Collingwood and the
Malting House (John Humble's Brewery) brewed on the premises.
Left click to enlarge
In what is now Carlisle Street there was the Station Hotel, now the Old Fox, a smashing real ale pub
Left click to see it as it used to be
This one, almost next door, the Wheatsheaf is another smashing real ale pub
and the Malting House. Left click to see it now
Left click to enlarge
This one, The British Lion is still there but closed and other pubs, all of which are now long gone, were The Railway Tavern, The Anchor and the Grindstone in Tyne Street, The Unicorn, The Old Engine, The Wherry, The Moulders Arms, The Brandling Arms, The Ship, The Ferry Boat and the Ferry Hotel (once called The Ferry House) at Friars Goose
In Brewery Lane there was The Bee Hive and
Left click to enlarge
The Green Tree
Slater's Directory of 1855 also lists the Oak Tree..perhaps that was the previous name of the Green Tree
Left click to enlarge
This, The Wise Man's Public House was in Crowhall Lane. A temperance bar in Felling... you wouldn't credit it!
Heworth Lane had the Black Bull and The Squire's Arms
Heworth Shore had The Ellison Arms, The Yarmouth Arms, The Ship Inn, The Shiplaunch and The Red Lion
And then there was the whole of Bill Quay
Here's the pubs listed in Slater's Directory of 1855
Bill Quay had the Albion Inn, The Ship, The Board Inn, The Mason's Arms, The Cricketer's Arms, The Staith House, The Slipway Inn, The Bottle House, The Lamb, The Letter Board and The Shipwright Arms.
This building is clearly The Cricketer's. Was it originally called The Cricketer's, then in 1980 became the Quay Tavern and then revert back to the original name? Can anybody help?
(Of those listed in Slaters only the Cricketers survives. Albion converted to a house and The Wardley either not built then or had a different name)
Thomas Dixon at Windy Nook had the Crown and Thistle and the Waggon, shown as the Coal Waggon in a map of 1862 but now called the Black House.This directory also lists, at Windy Nook,The Hope and Anchor and the Horse and Hounds. Later there was also the Engine House and the Bay Horse
The Ship, famous for being run, in the mid sixties, by one of Mrs Smiths five little boys.
The Five Smith Brothers were locally based but nationally known recording artists eg "When It's Evening" 1947 and "I'm in Favor of Friendship" 1955
The O.S. Map of 1897 shows the Paragon Theatre..little is known about it. Ward's directory of 1899 lists it as the People's Theatre and it was demolished sometime before 1905 so that takes us to
THE PICTURES
Left click to see the same scene today. Who thinks the Felling's gone backwards
Here's the Corona Picture Hall in Coldwell Lane, opened in 1911 and closed in 1960
Left click to see it bigger
The Imperial Cinema was built in 1910, in Wellington Str.. destroyed by fire in 1929,..
and rebuilt in 1930 at Victoria Square where the Paragon Theatre used to be, ..later a Palais de Dance was added. Folks referred to the Cinema as the Pally
The Palais and Imperial Cinema are now an Amusement Arcade and Bingo Hall respectively
Left click to enlarge
Felling Lodge as it is today
It was built for the surgeon Mr Lammas in 1827.Subsequently it was the home of the surveyor at Felling Colliery and later
Left click to enlarge
Doctor Kelly, then Dr Millar and then Dr Cosgrove. This is Dr Kelly, in the top hat, along with other big wigs from Felling Colliery
SHOPS ON THE HIGH STREET
Thomas Sisterson's Drug Store on the High Street, Nos 92-96, next one down to what was Woolworth's
John M. Costelloe had a number of pawnshops in Gateshead and he built Costelloe's Building in 1907 (No 56). This was until 2008 occupied by Sauls, the wallpaper and paint people,
Left click to enlarge
but the ornate support, that used to carry the three gold balls of the pawnbrokers sign is still in place. It should be taken to Beamish Museum, in my view, where it will be seen, appreciated and preserved.
I would like my great grandkids to be able to see where my Grandma pawned my Grandad's best suit
Almost opposite this pawnshop was another run by Ernest Walters (No 35)
Walter Willsons shop was converted from a chapel
CUBE PIT Area...
or "Q" Pit as some called it (wrongly)
This is Split Crow Road in the area known by Felling folk as Cube Pit or "Q" Pit. This puzzled me since the pit was called William Pit,
the other was John Pit named after the two Brandling brothers who owned Felling Colliery. I think I have found the answer in a dictionary of mining terms. It was, a ventilation shaft, a cube defined as follows
CUBE, OR CUPOLA. — A shaft sunk near to the top of a furnace upcast (a ventilation shaft with a fire at the bottom), and holed into the shaft a few fathoms below the surface, with a wide chimney erected over it, rising 30 or 40 feet above the surface. It relieves the pit top from smoke
See the chimney shown on the map
Elsewhere I have seen the whole ventilation arrangement of using a furnace to create rising heated foul air and descending cold clean air as the cube or even calling the furnace fire itself the cube as in "the explosion occured because the cube had been allowed to go out"
Many people used to say "Q" Pit but that was almost certainly a mishearing of Cube Pit
The Felling Colliery had a major explosion
on 25th May 1812. A fire broke forth with two heavy discharges from the John pit, which were almost instantaneously followed by one from the William pit. A slight trembling, as from an earthquake, was felt for about half a mile around the workings; and the noise of the explosion, though dull, was heard three or four miles away. Immense quantities of dust and small coal accompanied these blasts, and rose high into the air in the form of an inverted cone.
There were ninety-two victims including two boys aged seven and eight. The safety lamp was developed following this tragedy
On 22nd May 1847 an explosion took place at the Felling
Colliery, now the property of Messrs. Carr and Co.,
by which four men, two boys, eighteen horses, and two ponies
were killed. Only four persons in the mine escaped unhurt.
The Streets adjacent to Cube Pit (Q) running down towards the Quarry were Kenmir Street, Elsdon Street, Fox Street, George Street, Ann Street, Osborne Terrace, Thomas Street, Ladysmith Street, Buller Street, Norman Street, Catherine Tce, Christies Lane,
FELLING SHORE
left click to enlarge
WARDLEY
Click on the banner to visit Bill Hartmann's great new site about Gateshead, which will include much of the material previously on the Wardley Colliery site
Pubs in Wardley were the Colliery Inn,
this one, the Railway Inn, the low section on the left being a temperance bar and ...
...The White Mare Pool Hotel was a listed building which, when being converted to the Dixielanders, conveniently fell down. It was rebuilt and after a spell as the home of the Dixielanders Concert Party is now The Green
VISIT FELLING IN 1862
Go Here and select Felling...then magnify and pan
Note the old Poor House on the High Str. and
Left click to enlarge
the posh houses, still there along Holly Hill. Note the Traveller's Rest pub on Sunderland Road... look back at Slater's directory and see there was no such pub in 1855. Could it be the then Lord Collingwood? The Battle of Trafalgar was 1805 and Cuthbert Collingwood, the Northumbrian hero of the battle was no doubt honoured in his name being given to the pub.
FELLING STAITHES
Left click to enlarge
A long wooden waggonway led to Felling Shore Staithes. This was the Washington Waggonway or Great Grindstone Way. It was seven miles long, extending from Washington, via Usworth, crossing Leam Lane, between Springwell Inn and Wallace Village and ran north of the Fell Dyke past White House. From there it followed Battery Lane to Stone Street, crossed Windy Nook Road to the present Black House Inn (then called the Waggon Inn) and went down Coldwell Terrace and Felling High Street to Brewery Lane. Just beyond Felling Hall it turned westward to the staithes.
THE HISTORY OF HIGH HEWORTH / WINDY NOOK
Left click to enlarge
White House was for many years left derelict. The White House, or Old Hall, occupied 'the high road betwixt the vales of the Wear and Tyne, commanding a very varied and extensive prospect over the estuary of both rivers, with the parishes of Tynemouth and Hylton in the distance' It was one of the oldest habitations in Heworth, appearing in the Durham Priory Household Book of 1530. During the English Civil War, it was the seat of the staunchly Catholic Jennison family. Edward Colvin or Colvil, a butcher, grazier and import merchant lived there until his death in 1750. The house was then owned by John Stafford
It is still shown on the map below which is dated about 1970 just before the new road and Whitehills Estate was built
Left click on image to enlarge
This also shows Albion Street and the Windynook Quarries
Windynook Quarry...wasn't it deep?
It was all backfilled and that's why to this day it is not built on.. which is great. Indeed all the nice pockets of green are because of quarries.
Left click to enlarge
Felling Cricket pitch, the Cemetery on Watermill Lane and the adjacent "dene" was Low Burn Quarry (aka Brown's Quarry) and the "Bankies" was Carrhill Quarry and the big landscaped area off Sunderland Road to the right of the High Street (looking upwards) was Felling Quarry
Left click to enlarge
Albion Street, Windy Nook
Well down the street at High Heworth there was the Duke of Cumberland,(now on Sunderland Road) and the Ravensworth Arms, but known as Finnigan's and now named the Fiddlers Three
Hare and Hounds, Windy Nook. (originally called Horse and Hounds)
There was also the Bay Horse, the Crown and Thistle, the Engine House, the Hope and Anchor (known for the last landlord as Perry Norman's.. when demolished the licence was transferred to the newly built Eagle on the Leam ) and the Black House (originally called the Coal Waggon)
Before leaving Windy Nook the "ancient fortress" is worth a mention
It's actually a colliery slag heap to which sculptor Richard Cole, in 1986, added earth and 2500 tons of granite stone salvaged from the pillars supporting the old Scotswood Bridge to form this 'Public Work of Art'...a real asset... to glue sniffers and underage drinkers, unfortunately
And, finally, a brief mention of some of the Felling characters, real or mythical.
1836 April 2. Mr. William Falla, nurseryman, of Gateshead, left
his home, and was never afterwards seen alive. On the first of
May his body was accidentally discovered in a very shocking
state in Ravensworth Wood, near Ladypark farm. It was then
found that the deceased had committed suicide by piercing his
windpipe with a pen-knife, an instrument which he had closed and
replaced in his pocket after committing the act.
**
Certainly real was a zany friend of my Grandma called Joe Forsyth but known as Joe Bleak. I'm not sure if he was touched or just eccentric. And then, who was Nanny Figgy? And what about Cat Nancy who killed cats and sold the meat as rabbit
Well, that's it...the sun sets on canny Felling
Left click to enlarge
The sun has set on Felling so that's yer lot, except for this. Felling, for the most part supports those in red and white and just for those here's a magnificent view from Felling
