I was born at 5 Poplar Grove, Cleadon Park just before the outbreak of World War 2. My Mother said I caused the war. Subsequent enquiries proved that that was a lie, however I was 10 before I learned that it was Hitler's invasion of Poland that had started it. Not me. Phew!
My family had moved from Heron Street to Poplar Grove not long after the Cleadon Park Estate was built in the early 1920s. My Dad was killed when the SS Orangemoor was torpedoed in the English Channel in 1940. He was 20 years old. I was 2. My Mother worked in Birmingham in one of the factories that built fighter aircraft, so I lived in a  three bed roomed house with my Granddad, Grandma, Auntie Alice and her two children, Tommy and Alice who were a lot older than me. We had a cat and several rabbits. The rabbits were always 'dying' I was a mystery to me why they didn't live very long, but they tasted lovely.

 


Cleadon Park County Secondary School. Sunderland Rd. c1950

Teachers I remember
 Mr. Tweedie, Mr. Henry (Art) Mr. Frazer (PT)
Mr. Young (Science and Deputy Head) Mr. Powell

Classmates I remember
 John Burr, Temple Barry, John Dry, Billy Baines, Malcolm Campbell, Malcolm White, Trevor Musgrove, Lawrence Chew, Jimmy Irvine, Derek & Brian Peterson, Billy Trotter (Cottage Homes)

Neighbourhood Pals & Acquaintances I remember
Sisters Pat & Valerie Davidson, Bobby & Luke Selby, Billy Milne, Bruce Allison, Margaret Duff, Brian Smith, Howard Smith.
 

This was an all schools (South Shields) competition c 1952/53 to design a poster highlighting the need to protect all the trees in the borough from harm. Mr. Henry, the art teacher gave me the task of representing the school. I designed, drew and painted the poster, under his direction, and it duly won, "hands down" I remember my mother being very excited because I had 'beaten the grammar school boy' I was given the choice of choosing a book/s for a certain amount of money (no idea how much) as the first prize. See below)



 

The Presentation of my prizes took place in the school hall in front of the whole school. The grey haired chap presenting me with my 'prizes' was a local councillor. Looking on ''with great affection and admiration'' (mirth) is the head Mr Young (formerly the science and biology teacher)


A Step Back in Time
When I first heard that part of the Cleadon Park Estate was to be demolished, I prayed that it would not be Ash Grove Avenue, Poplar Grove or The Crescent. Months later the dreaded news. It would be the exact area I grew up in. Although I left Cleadon in 1954 and had not seen the area since then, it still made me feel empty and sad. I contacted the local paper The Shields Gazette and they confirmed the news. They asked me if I would them to do a story about my life there, and would I be prepared to go back to my family home and be photographed outside the house which I had not seen for fifty years. I agreed, and along with a photographer I walked down Poplar Grove. It was a big mistake. (The article appeared in the paper, and  chap phoned me up who knew my Grandma. He had lived a few doors away. I knew his name and remembered his Dad, a postman). I took a dozen or so photographs and hurried away. It was a depressing visit. The ghosts from the war years were there. The kiddies, my friends and the grown-ups were there but I was just felt dazed. It was probably the realisation that you cannot travel back in time and find your past. The most important element is missing. The people.

 

What my Mother should have told me was.............

Prior to September 1939 Germany had regained the Saarland by plebiscite (in 1935, as stipulated in the Versailles Treaty). It had annexed Austria in March 1938 and effectively Czechoslovakia, but these were not deemed acts of war by France and Britain. They agreed to the first annexation of Czech territory (Munich Agreement, 1938) in the hope of avoiding another major war. When Hitler invaded Poland, Britain and France issued an ultimatum (final demand) to Hitler, which was ignored, and declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa - independent members of the British Commonwealth - also declared war on Germany.

This is the bottom half of Ash Grove between Prince Edward Road and Poplar Grove, where the telegraph pole is. On the left, just out of frame is where Dennis Fannon lived. He had a big hut in his back garden where he, and my cousin Tommy, tinkered about with radios. It was Tommy who showed me how to build a crystal set. The house on the corner where the red car is, is where Bobby and Luke Selby lived. Bobby was my friend. Luke, his younger brother used to ride around on a three-wheeler bike. He always wore an old RAF surplus flying helmet and 'gas goggles. The high privates, seen in this photo were  feature of all the streets on the estate. Though where the brick walls are, there were well maintained (by the council) wooden fences. A part from the modern windows, the houses look the same.

 

A hot afternoon in July 1948. Me at the rear left. Next to me is Pat Davidson and n front of her with the ringlets is Valerie her sister. The girl with the flower in her hair lived in the Crescent in the last house on the left corner at Sunderland Rd. Pat now lives in Australia. Valerie married one one pf the group Los Zafiros. She met him when they appeared at the La Strada in the 1960s. She now lives in Spain.