Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Christmas Deliveries: If you placed an order on or before midday on Wednesday 18th December for Christmas delivery it was despatched before the Royal Mail or Parcel Force deadline and therefore should be received in time for Christmas. Orders placed after midday on Wednesday 18th December will be delivered in the New Year.

Please Note: Our offices and factory are now closed until Thursday 2nd January when we will be pleased to deal with any queries that have arisen during the holiday period.

During the holiday our Gift Cards may still be ordered for any last minute orders and will be sent automatically by email direct to your recipient - see here: Gift Cards

Great Smeaton, St Eloy's Church c.1955
Photo ref: G114002
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A Selection of Memories from Great Smeaton

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Great Smeaton

Sparked a Memory for you?

If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?

A little bit of history about the Black Bull. My GGG Grandfather Thomas Banks (1791-1869) was the inn keeper during the 1850's and possibly for a short period before that. He also ran the slaughterhouse and the butchery business behind the pub which is referred to by Malcolm in his memory. Thomas died in 1869. The Black Bull and butchery was then run by his son Thomas, until his death in 1887 when ...see more
In this picture I lived in the house with the porch sticking out, just past the pub THE BLACK BULL (white building). Up the side of my house, or country cottage as it was termed, was a slaughter house at the back.  I worked in Patons & Baldwins in Darlington textile mill as a woolsorter. Malcolm