Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum'

Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum'
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A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by Norman Dunn on 1/11/2025, 12:20 pm

A familiar view even to our ex pats especially if you used the 'Northern Bus service' to Worswick St

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by Carol in hampshire on 1/11/2025, 12:34 pm, in reply to "A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

Odeon cinema had a lovely restaurant down stairs scampi in the basket was a favourite

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by Stan Wears on 1/11/2025, 1:03 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

Carol, the restaurant was called The Northumbrian. I remember it well ! Outside the fire station doors many nights was the hot dog man with the unbeatable smell of food! Great days eh?!

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan

Posted by Mac C on 1/11/2025, 1:10 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

......and hands as "black as your hat" Stan. Somehow we survived!!

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan

Posted by Carol in hampshire on 1/11/2025, 1:26 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan"

Ha ha Mac I wouldn't have anything from him as my late husband once joked that he wiped his nose on his sleeve yuk yuk

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Carol

Posted by Mac C on 1/11/2025, 1:32 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan"

He only started wiping his nose on his sleeve when someone told him it was more hygienic.........

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Carol

Posted by Carol in hampshire on 1/11/2025, 1:42 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Carol"

Ha ha ha love it

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan

Posted by Liz Dance on 1/11/2025, 1:56 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan"

My late mum always told me never to buy anything from him as you didn’t know if he had washed his hands when going to the loo!
,

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan

Posted by Mac Hardy on 1/11/2025, 2:30 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan"

Used to be in the Air Scouts at Newcastle and looked forward to my Hot Dog from the stand every Friday night.

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan

Posted by George on 1/11/2025, 2:53 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan"
Edited by board administrator 1/11/2025, 3:21 pm

On a cold winters afternoon with slush up to your nether regions, Seppy, the hot dog man was drying his socks. They were hanging inside the heating cabinet alongside the hot dogs.

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan

Posted by Steve in Australia on 2/11/2025, 1:47 am, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s for Stan"

Yes, My7 Parents said the same thing, he had filthy hands and a permanently runny nose.

The Trolly bus’s when were they taken off

Posted by Allan C. on 1/11/2025, 3:20 pm, in reply to "A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

What year did they stop running?

Re: The Trolly bus’s when were they taken off

Posted by Michael Arbon on 1/11/2025, 4:35 pm, in reply to "The Trolly bus’s when were they taken off "

Origins & early years
• The system was introduced by Newcastle Corporation Transport on 2 October 1935.
• It was part of a transition away from the earlier tramway network run by Newcastle Corporation Tramways which dated from 1901.
• The trolleybus service was seen as cleaner (electric power via overhead wires) compared to petrol-buses and the older trams.

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Expansion & peak
• Over the years the network expanded. The system eventually had 28 routes, and a maximum fleet of about 204 trolleybuses.
• Major fleet renewal: Between 1946 and 1949, an ambitious order of 186 new trolleybuses (100 three-axle, 86 two-axle) was placed to modernise and expand.
• The network length reached around 37 route miles at peak.
• The vehicles were distinctive: yellow-liveried, operating on electricity through twin overhead wires (as typical for trolleybuses).

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Route-replacement of trams
• The trolleybus system gradually replaced the tram system: for example, the trams finally ended on 4 March 1950 for the Newcastle tramways.
• From the start, the trolleybuses took over several routes originally served by trams, for instance the Westgate to Wallsend route conversion in 1937.

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Decline & closure
• In the 1960s the system began to be wound down. The shift away from trolleybuses was part of broader trends (diesel buses, motor-buses becoming more flexible, cost pressures).
• The final day of trolleybus operation in Newcastle was 2 October 1966.
• At closure the system had been operating for just over 31 years.
• After closure many of the trolleybuses were scrapped; one notable preserved vehicle is No. 501: a Sunbeam S7 three-axle trolleybus delivered July 1948, now preserved at Beamish Museum.

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Legacy & significance
• The system was one of the larger UK trolleybus systems outside London.
• Electrically-driven public transport like this is part of Newcastle’s transport heritage, linking the tram era to later bus and rapid-transit systems.
• Preserved vehicles like No. 501 help keep the memory of the trolleybus era alive for enthusiasts and the public.

Re: The Trolly bus’s when were they taken off

Posted by Allan C. on 2/11/2025, 1:31 am, in reply to "Re: The Trolly bus’s when were they taken off "

Thanks Michael.

I started to work in Pilgrim St. 8th August 1966 two days after our son was born. That was at Merz & McClellan moved to Harrogate in December 1968, more money.

I had been working in an office in Milburn House near the Black Gate for about 3 months having left Hebburn Palmers around April.

I don’t think that I was ever on a. Newcastle Trolley bus just one’s in South Shields.

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by shaun on 1/11/2025, 6:26 pm, in reply to "A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

Some angle on that lens - looks like almost 180 degrees of vision.

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by Joseph on 1/11/2025, 7:12 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

When your 12 or 13 coming out the stoll on a Sunday night you. Don't give a monkeys if his hands are the mankiest dirty hands on earth all you want is that lush tasting hot dog covered in mustard, two if you had the dosh.

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by Stan Wears on 1/11/2025, 8:28 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

Joseph I couldn't agree more. When I used to drive to London every Monday there was a diner van in a lay-by in the midlands. Bacon, egg and sausage butty and the grease running up your arm! Even that had a breakfast flavour! Couldn't get in sometimes for 18st truckers!!! So nowt wrong with hot dig Joe at the fire station!

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by Colin Thompson on 1/11/2025, 9:01 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

As far as I am aware there is still a greasy spoon about a mile south of Morpeth just off the A1 (used to be on it until the road was re routed) I used it a lot when I was a driving instructor - - a full English and a big mug of tea set you up for the day.

Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s

Posted by Malcolm on 1/11/2025, 9:58 pm, in reply to "Re: A well known Newcastle view in the 1950s"

That reminds me of the food we got whilst on exercise with the RAF in Germany...

Alert went off at a daft hour, dive into work, launch 8 or 10 aircraft, and into the trenches, ready to defend..

3 hours in, and starving, cooks working hard, and then..

the "hot-locks" would appear; a 2 foot x 18" x18" insulated box..and the contents?

Thick slice of bread, thick slice of ham, and a fried egg, and bread...

The rookies would dive in, grabbing from the top layer, but some of us waited a moment..

'cos the grease would descend through the layers...

3 layers down....WOW

As you said, Stan, you could feel the grease running down your arms!

Manna from heaven!!

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