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'.

MARSHALS

Posted by Joseph on 3/5/2026, 8:58 pm

anyone remember mrand Mrs Marshal, opposite the Newtown school in Whickham Road,absolutely lovely couple, used to get our penny chews there before school,(and if we had the money a tuppeny woodbine).😳😳😳

Re: MARSHALS

Posted by Norman on 4/5/2026, 9:27 am, in reply to "MARSHALS "

I went on a Course at Hebburn Tech 1959-60 and Malcolm Marshall was in my class. He lived in North Farm Rd and his parents had a shop so probably that shop you got your 'tab' Joseph

Marshalls - for Norman

Posted by Alan Young on 4/5/2026, 5:56 pm, in reply to "Re: MARSHALS "

Norman - hope you don't mind me saying - We lived in Kent Ave just opposite North Farm Road and originally the Marshalls lived in one of the flats and then they moved into the end bungalow when they were built. Mr Marshall was I think a superintendent in the welding shop in Reyrolles. The son of Marshalls shop was called Alfie - he was in my class at the Newtown School.

Re: Marshalls - for Norman

Posted by Norman on 4/5/2026, 7:57 pm, in reply to "Marshalls - for Norman"

THANK YOU Alan and I certainly dont mind you correcting my mistake.

Re: MARSHALS

Posted by George on 4/5/2026, 12:06 pm, in reply to "MARSHALS "

Tupenny woodbine. That was good value Joseph. The blacksmith's striker at Noble & Lund used to charge us apprentices "threpence" a tab. Thieving git.

The blacksmith

Posted by Colin Thompson on 4/5/2026, 1:11 pm, in reply to "Re: MARSHALS "

That blacksmith was where I used to go to get away from black Joe and get a disgusting cup of tea

Re: The blacksmith

Posted by George on 4/5/2026, 6:46 pm, in reply to "The blacksmith "

Well Colin, you could have been accused of having a colour preference. Seeking refuge from Black Joe by enjoying afternoon tea with Black Smith. Good on yer. Did you ever meet Alf Winter? Joe was a kitten compared with this guy. You never saw Alf - until it was too late. But you would soon feel his presence. There he was. Homburg hat, pin strip suit, waistcoat and all, Silently singling you out with his ice cold eyes. Black Joe on the other hand had such no subtlety. "HEY YE" was his masterful mouthful whilst his fists gripped his brown coat lapels in rage. Then the more explanatory outburst of "Naa, not ye, ... YE! and everyone shrugged their shoulders and hoped the YE was not you but some other poor sod.

Re: The blacksmith

Posted by Liz Dance on 4/5/2026, 7:07 pm, in reply to "Re: The blacksmith "

Imagine if these things happened in the workplace today, so many Court case with hurt feelings and the like, in those days thick skin was the order of the day.

Re: From Joseph and his woodbine - to being elderly

Posted by George on 4/5/2026, 8:04 pm, in reply to "MARSHALS "

Liz, all you say may be true but I always considered working for Noble and Lund was a wonderful experience. The shock of leaving school and starting work at the ungodly time of 07:30 was difficult but make no mistake, I had more fun and happiness working for Noble and Lund as a fitter than you could ever imagine. There was a camaraderie within that small but energetic engineering company which will never be seen again. None of us working there would ever become rich with money. We would have to move on. However, there was pride in seeing some of the worlds biggest (and best) machine tools of their time leave the little town of Felling. In a lifetime of never having been out of work, I feel my entry into this seemingly insignificant factory was its common denominator.

Just today I received an email from a friend in Canada. This sums it up for me. Hopefully it will for others of my age too.
This is what my friend wrote.

"We are the Elderly.
This quiet label hides something most people rarely stop to consider. We are the last living witnesses of a world which no longer exists. We crossed two centuries Lived eight decades of transformation. Walked from handwritten letters to artificial intelligence – and never lost our sense of what actually matters"

Hey Ye, Joe- My name is George - I'm 90 years old next year and feel I succeeded in life. Not in spite of you, probably because of you and others like you but I never realised at the time. Like him or loathe him, Joe the Mush got things done.