Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum'

Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum'
[ Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum' ]

Rules! No Bad language or derogatory remarks Please or we will delete. Anyone sharing our content on Face Book must credit 'Hebburn and our Neighbours'.

Friday's Header

Posted by Norman Dunn on 6/2/2026, 10:11 am

This photo shows part of the most easterly lake & it shows younger people who never saw the lakes see how large they were.The view shows probably just half of the lake.
At the far side of the Lake on the left are the last houses on Quarry Rd & still there today.
The Pavilion on Leslies Sportsfield can be seen on the left of the electricity Pylons.That field is a Housing Estate called 'Sullivan Walk'.

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Joseph on 6/2/2026, 1:33 pm, in reply to "Friday's Header "

Such a shame they couldn't have kept at least one lake for wildlife and leasure, but soon as HUDC was taken over by (you know who) Hebburn was just used as a building site.

The 4 lakes from the air 1956

Posted by Norman on 6/2/2026, 3:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

Joseph is right! our Council could have kept a piece of our history & retained the lake alongside the Park as a boating lake.A bit like the one in Saltwell Park.
As usual Ive added locations to help people 'get their bearings'.

Re: The 4 lakes from the air 1956

Posted by Malcolm on 6/2/2026, 10:46 pm, in reply to "The 4 lakes from the air 1956"

I DO love this photo, from 1956.

If you look closely, just above the left arm of the letter "H".....

That's ME being born !!!!!!!

You MAY have to zoom in a bit!! LOL

Re: The 4 lakes from the air 1956

Posted by Mac Hardy on 7/2/2026, 1:25 pm, in reply to "The 4 lakes from the air 1956"

Got it now Norman, no F on my copy ?

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by MacC on 6/2/2026, 9:54 pm, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

Yes they could have kept one of them but I remember in my mid teens that there was great concern in the papers because over the years children had drowned in them.
So they drained the lakes but couldn't work out how to empty the River Tyne and the sea at Shields even though many more people had drowned in those locations.

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Malcolm on 6/2/2026, 10:41 pm, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

Good point, well made, MacC, how DO you empty the Tyne!!
A case of short-sighted quick fix, as often happens.

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Elizabeth Baker (Tindle) on 9/2/2026, 5:25 am, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

The lakes were important for our biology class. I collected my spirgyra from them.

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by AJG on 6/2/2026, 7:15 pm, in reply to "Friday's Header "

That's a great photograph. I added the version you sent me to my piece about the Park, so people can see what the lakes looked like. I also added the information about the Dene.

I find Hebburn Lakes fascinating because I remember my mam's generation talking about them, but they were long gone by the time I was around.

Vikki Holt's book about the Lakes is also excellent.

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Elizabeth Baker (Tindle) on 6/2/2026, 10:17 pm, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

I thought the lakes were originally tailing ponds from the coke ovens at Monkton and the slag heap was also coke oven waste.

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Steve in Australia on 6/2/2026, 11:01 pm, in reply to "Friday's Header "

In the description underneath the photograph is a reference to the ""Lakes School""....is that what I attended as ""Clegwells New Building"" now called ??

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Keith on 7/2/2026, 8:28 am, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

The Lakes School is a fairly new school , about 10 years old I think. It is a primary school which encompasses both Infants and Junior school aged kids.

Hebburn Comp for Steve

Posted by Norman on 7/2/2026, 9:48 am, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

Here is a snip from Google Earth to show Campbell Park road left to right across the photo with centre of photo Hebburn Comp a replacement for Clegwell & the newer Lakes School on the left.

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Mac Hardy on 7/2/2026, 10:12 am, in reply to "Friday's Header "

Can’t get my head around this, seems to be upside down and a lot of letters missing !

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by David Henley on 7/2/2026, 11:41 am, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

When were the lakes drained?

Re: Friday's Header

Posted by Norman on 7/2/2026, 11:42 am, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

Hi Mac,
I dont know what you mean.
Campbell Park Rd runs from Victoria Rd East to Lukes Lane & that's it running across the photo.
As you drive up Campbell Pk Rd from Victoria Rd you pass Bedewell Care Home on the right, then further on there is a Left into Cambridge Ave, then Pedestrian Traffic Lights with the entrance to Hebburn Comp on the right.
Then 50 yds further on the right is the entrance to 'Hebburn Lakes School' with the Windermere Cres Estate over on the left.

Draining of our four lakes

Posted by Norman Dunn on 7/2/2026, 11:59 am, in reply to "Re: Friday's Header "

I was still at School 1958ish when those children fell through the ice on 'Sandy bottom Lake'.
Not long afterwards the Council decided to drain them so they did that in the early to mid 1960s.
As Mac Cummings rightly said the River Tyne & the Sea were far more dangerous than our lakes. Most deaths in the lakes were suicides.
I think the Council thought 'mmm more land for housing so they drained all four lakes to get the extra land.