Walker Folk

A Memory of Byker.

I lived at 40 Church Street at the bottom of Hexham Avenue from the 1950s, in my mind's eye I can still see me ma black leading the big black fire range, she made the most wonderful bread in its big cast iron oven. In the yard we shared with Mary Dickson was the outside netty and wash house with a copper and a big mangle, me ma would be working for hours soaking the washing, dolly blueing it, washing it then rinsing it before putting it all through the mangle, my 2 big sissters would catch it and fold it before hanging it on the line in the back lane. Me ma had a big family and 4 of us young uns shared a bed, me, Lilly and Nelly at the top and Spider who wet the bed at the time slept at the bottom. People were poor but happy and I don't know how many of us would have managed without uncle George The Pawn Shop, I remember ma pressing me da's suit, hoping to get as much as she could for it. You always seemed to get a bit more off George than off Gerty who also worked there. I also used to go to the flea pit, a bloke called Domnick used to walk along the queue and push all the big kids in line, every one called him 'tomato lips'., he was harmless really but kids being kids they were being cheeky. We used to go to the Sally Army a few weeks befor Chrismas so we'd get to go to the Chrismas party. A man used to sell fish cakes door to door from a basket. Another man had a horse and trap, kids would pay a penny a ride. The ragman would give you a goldfish in exchange for rags. Lads would play football in the Lane or liggies, the lasses played skippies or 2 ball, buttons, top and whip. We'd take Puro milk bottles back for the penny or if we were really lucky a pop bottle and get thrupence. We had every shop you could ever need on Church Street, it was the best place to live. I rememer the Thomas family and Granny Fisher, the Wakenshaws, Cathy Bell and Horrus, the Hilldreths, the Ropers and the Allens.

I remember Rodchester Dwelling, I know many good folk lived there, who took the many jokes about the place well, it used to be said that the wall and fence were there to keep them in, lol, many of my best mates came from the Dwellings and if their mas gave your mate a slice of bread and jam you always got one as wel,l they like the rest of us might be poor, but we shared.

I can remember getting a new coat from Lottie's secondhand shop ... well it was new to me lol ,mind, I don't know how she managed it but me ma always managed to get all us kids a new rigout for Easter and Whit Week and new sand shoes. I loved going to Walker Park all dolled up at Easter to roll my pace egg down the hill till it cracked, it didn't matter to me that it was coverd in dirt, it still tasted lovely. I couldn't wait to get tall enough to be able to see in Kelvin's window, I loved going into the Cobberlers to get secondhand comics, it's funny we didn't have much, but I think we were all rich, it's just that we didn't know it. I think Walker folk were hard-working, we made the best of very little. I loved Walker baths and a penny loaf from b=Berth Henzil shop.

I went to the Catholic School, it always made me smile that they made us take pennies in for hungry kids when a lot of kids in Walker were hungry, I know I was. One time we were asked to take pennies in to buy a black baby, when I told me da he said "I can't afford no more kids, but tell the school they are welcome to have one of wors free eh", ....well....I didn't know at the time he was joking, I have to admit I was a bit worried just incase he meant it!

I'd love to here other Walker folks' memories.