Thank you for the approval to join, Lesley Sleepyhead…. I’ve been absolutely fascinated at the vast amount of information, photos and anecdotal stuff which has sparked a whole range of memories from my past. As brother Ian Ian Nicholas Watson has already stated we moved to Greenside when I was about 2 years old (1952-ish), and I lived at “Hollyholme” on Lead Road until 1979, when I was nearly 30, although family connections with Greenside go back much further. My great-grandfather, Peter Fellows (b. 1840 – d. 1926), was a builder who lived in the Folly and actually built “Hollyholme” as well as many other houses in the village (and in High Spen), including Crown Terrace in the Folly, where the shop, which lots of members appear to remember as run by my Uncle Nichol/Auntie Ethel, used to be No 6. The photo I’ve posted is of the shop dating from about 1910 which has Uncle Nichol (b.1902) and my Dad (b. 1904) standing outside as young lads (because they lived there with my grandparents, Mr & Mrs N.I. Watson). Lots of members have expressed the sentiment that Greenside was a great place to grow up, and I’d certainly echo that. I recall wandering about all over with friends such as Paul Dodd and John Foster (whose Dad was a jovial Venture Bus driver) catching newts in jars, sailing home-made boats down the Barlow Burn near Reeley Mires, going to the hoppings in the field north of Rockwood Hill Rd in the summer and sledging all over the village during the winter. Does anyone remember the buzzer that used to go off at, I think, 7.00am ? Must have been 120 dB !! One of my very clear recollections is the day the bulldozers and scrapers moved in to build soil and clay heaps in front of our house and herald the beginning of the open cast. That must have been during the 1950’s and before the pit actually closed. As a 6-year old it didn’t seem significant but presumably the politics relating to mining must have been interesting in Greenside at that time. The soil heap in front of our house spoiled the view somewhat but made a great sledging run ! The other big memory from that time was the big freeze of 1962/63 and I remember going on an expedition, I think with Ian, Paul and John Foster up to Coalburns, where a bulldozer was trying to dig the road clear but the drifts were above the height of the bulldozer cab (I believe we have photos of that expedition). Names I remember from the infants school ????? David Berwick, Eddie Cockburn, Kenny Kemp, Frank McDonough, Leslie Gair, Michael Perkins, twins Linda & Moira Dodd, Lynn Railston, Catherine Johnson, Celia Davidson, Gillian Greener, Anne Collins, Monica Rowell …………and as Janice Janice Paxton pointed out a few days ago, how could I forget Marylyn Mitchell after 55 years !…..
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 22:44:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015