
Hello again.
I was given these two photographs by Jean Clarke ( as she was then) taken of her at different times outside her home in Grant Street Broompark. Its the second one that is dated 1971, the date is on the back of the photo, and shows Jean and her younger sister Sandra.
She also had an older sister Maisie. Jean is age about 16 or 17 here. We think she is about 10 in the other one. Where she is outside the gate, its a James street gate as these yards were level with the street. The yards in Grant Street were below the street level.
We lived in James street first, well after we lived at the Farm, and we thought at first that the car might be my dads at its about where we lived, six houses from the end, but the date is wrong. We were in Esh Winning in 1971!
The little window behind Jean in the earlier photo is the pantry window, right next to someone’s back door. The little windows you can see higher up in both sides of the street in the other photos were at the top of the stairs. The out buildings on these houses were the coal houses, where there were small doors so the coal could be tipped straight in from the sacks when it was delivered on those flat bed lorries. Was the coal-man called Hardy, or did that name come later?
Its Albert Street isn’t it that shows between the two, the street where the Ditchburn and the McGarr families lived. We used to get in trouble with the woman who lived there when we played ball against that wall, but it was tempting. I suppose the constant noise of a ball hitting your wall over and over must have been irritating.
This back street was the scene of all those games of ”kicky the tin” that I remember
Jean knows I am putting the photos on this site, she still has the same curly hair.
We had planned to do the Broompark walk a couple of weeks ago, over the line and then the bridge over the beck and on to Langley Moor but were told that the path is closed. The bridge was wooden so maybe it has rotted away now. I doubt anyone would be too bothered about replacing it – too low a priority for a council these days.
Durham Miners Gala was held a couple of weeks ago, the Big Meeting – do you remember that Ron?
It was really good and very well supported with lots of banners from all over the country, including unions and workers groups. The city was full of people, maybe helped by it being a sunny day. I went into town early to see it all. It always makes me cry, the banners for villages where the pit was closed years ago, the brass bands, the small bands of folk following their banner keeping a tradition going, all those miners we had in this area and the hard, horrible way they earned their living, and how they were treated. Luckily I was able to cry behind the sun glasses this year, instead of showing myself up. There will be photos on-line if you want to check it out Ron.
I will keep looking for more photos that show the village as it was – trouble is I might be on them!!
Hope my usual contacts, that you Frank and Ron, are both ok, no more illnesses to contend with.
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