Michelle Brooke

25.07.24

The Fontaines went to Shotton Hall. Their surname was Johnson or Robinson. They were known as The Fontaine brothers. Mickey Arnell talks about them in the book Living Memory. Mickey Arnell, I know – just because we’re more or less the same age. I either went to Junior or Senior school with the Fontaine Brothers. I can’t remember. It was Shotton Hall, so it must have been Senior school. I’m sure it was three brothers. Shane played the drums, Steve played the guitar, and Billy played the lead singer. But I think Shane was either my age or a year older. There was also a punk band called Uproar. I never went to their gigs, but I remember Shane and his brothers doing gigs on weekends and talking about it. I’m sure they used to play at The Pavilion in Crimdon. I could be wrong.

I went to Howletch Infants and Junior School, and in Junior School, I was taught by George Courtney, an international referee. He was a teacher; he taught everything. You had a teacher for the full year. But I’m sure we had him for two years for some reason, and I remember another teacher called Mrs Hewitson. I remember getting a different teacher for a week because George possibly went to Romania to referee a match. It was at Howletch School. Howletch Juniors is where Woodhouse Park It was daft because Howletch Secondary School is a totally different place. Howletch Primary is next to the Catholic Club, but George Courtney was the teacher there. He was from Spennymoor, and I think if I remember him correctly, he was a headteacher. I’m not sure if his mam became Mayor of Spennymoor, I remember hearing. But he was an international referee. I can remember him being lovely. I can remember a girl at school; her mam died while we were in her class, and he had to tell her. He was a lovely teacher. It must have been the second and third year in the Juniors. I don’t know if he was deputy head at Howletch, but I’m sure he was my teacher for two years. It might have been one year, and then I got somebody else and got him again. He disappeared for a week and then came back and told us about Romania. I’m sure it was Romania.

My two brothers went to Howletch Juniors. I was the first to leave and then went to Shotton Hall. It was last year that kids from Howletch went to Shotton Hall. After that, they went to Howletch Grammar, but it stopped being a Grammar School. So I went to Shotton Hall, and my two brothers went to a different school. I’m 58, so our John will be 57 in November [2024] and our Grant will be 56 in February

[2025].

It stopped being the old Grammar School and just became a Secondary School. It was opposite the Argus Butterfly, which changed into the Registry Office. Between John and me, it became a Secondary School. It had two sites: Howletch and Peterlee. But I don’t know if the registry had anything to do with it because it used to be a school site. It’s houses now; it’s been knocked down.

I remember Fine Fare and the day it opened. Some star opened it, but we were at school—someone like Patrick Mower or someone. I can remember when the Adventure Playground was built. It was where Woodhouse Park is now, near Howletch. It was an adventure playground with all the wooden zip wires and everything.

And there used to be two hills that were called the ‘Tit Hills.’ That’s how it was affectionately known. That place was brilliant.

So we lived in Gloucester Place, literally behind The Moorcock, the first turning after The Moorcock on the left-hand side. And I was thinking nearly every house had children. In the house I grew up in, my next-door neighbours had five kids: three girls and two boys.

Then, in the next house, there were three boys. The next house was only one; the next house was two, and the next house. People used to come and go to that end house, but there were always children.

Then, the straight opposite houses were similar and the same as the sides. I remember six kids in one, so there were multiple children. There was a house, then a green in between, straight opposite, another row of houses, and green was on the side, with another row of houses. So you could play with each other without having to go on the road, and straight down was a playground behind Acre Rigg School. It had the biggest slide you can remember. There was no health and safety then. There was a massive slide with a metal cage on the top; there was a barred cage we used to climb on top of and sit on. Or we used to climb up the legs onto the bars, and there was concrete underneath. We were feral.

We didn’t go to after-school clubs, we weren’t driven; you just went out. Our generation was so different; we would have come back scruffy.

I remember the climbing bars. We used to get on them and sit on them. You’d be hooked on with your knees, and then you’d hook your arms underneath and do a roast chicken. So you’d just roll like that. Again, on concrete. Climb to the top and stand.

You’d take wax candles to the slide and wax them, making you go faster. You’d come back with scratches because you’d just land on the concrete and skid – standing on the swings to see how high you can go and if you can go over the bars. But you’d end up going so high, it bound down. It was horrendous. And then see how far you could jump off without breaking your leg. You’d get in trouble if you broke your arm.

There was a lot of concrete and planters. It was all grass. To the side of The Moorcock, as you’re stood at the top of the path, so you’re looking down to The Moorcock, on the left-hand side the big green there, there used to be at the top, a big circle that was gravelled and that’s where we used to build the biggest bonfire. All the adults used to help. The adults always supervised it, and then they’d naff off, leaving us to burn.

But in Gloucester Place as well, they used to do a big bonfire every year. It was who had the biggest bonfire, and you used to go and pinch. And there was a rivalry. But it wasn’t anything organised, it was just your street. I think health and safety came in, and bonfires suddenly became illegal. I can’t remember organised fireworks displays. You’d just do it yourself in the garden or the street.

It was Penny for the Guy. Kids would be outside pubs with a Guy saying…‘Penny for the Guy’ and getting money off all the drunks. We also didn’t have pumpkins; we had turnips. It would have taken you a week to get all the turnips out.

Carol singers too, you used to go around as carol singers, and you never get them anymore. And I remember, at the end of term in the summer, there was always fighting between Shotton Hall and St Bede’s; they’d have a rivalry.

There used to be a leisure centre by Lowhills football fields and a Youth Club disco.

There was a disco at the White House on the wooden floor, where Peterlee Emeralds used to practice when I was in the jazz band. The White House is now a wedding venue and hotel, further from where the green and the park are. Behind The Royal Arms, that area.

There were loads of jazz bands. There were Horden Melody Makers, Easington Tiptoppers, and Peterlee Emeralds; that’s the only one I can remember in Peterlee, and I used to have to wipe my shoes every week. And have white gloves. It was taken very seriously. Everybody was in a jazz band at some point. There was only the Youth Club or Boys Club opposite the Catholic Club, and your social life was going to the disco at The White House. You used to stand in a line, and there’d be another line; for some reason, you’d just dance in these two lines; facing each other. It was madness, coming out towards the end. It was Motown and things like that.

I left school in 1982, so whatever music was out in 1982 was still out, but there was still disco, Motown, and Abba. It was not The White House building but the hall next to it. There was everything. There were dog obedience classes because that was all because of Barbara Woodhouse. The jazz bands rehearsed there. And I’m sure that’s where Uproar and a few other bands also rehearsed. In the jazz band, I played the Kazoo. I was envious of the people with the skinny things – it was called a Mace.

We were never in. We had prams and space hoppers, clackers, and marbles. You used to put a ball in a pair of tights and bash them off the wall. Two ballers. Again, we used to make things with a pair of tights. We were definitely the generation before health and safety came in. It was only after thousands of kids broke their wrists that they took space hoppers off.

We were just always playing out. In the summer holidays, all the kids would meet at a certain time at the green in front of the house, say 10 o’clock. You’d have a bottle of water and a couple of jam sandwiches, and then we’d walk from Gloucester Place down to Dewhirst, where the graveyard is. Not the shop, the factory shop – where Tudor Crisps used to be.

So we’d go down to where the graveyard is, turn right, and go down that road where the farm is on the left-hand side. There’s a walkway through the farm. You’d go under the road, a road underneath there, a tunnel, you’d come out past the skip, down through the little bit of the dene, and you’d come to the beach, and we were kids. So you’d swim out, there was a rock that isn’t there now, and you’d just have to get the tide, so you’d see the sea coming in, and you’d think…‘Oh, better get off now,’ and then walk home.

We must have only been in the Juniors. And then, as you got older, we used to go to Castle Eden Dene and walk the Miley Pipe. A big pipe ran through Castle Eden Dene, wide enough to walk on. You’d walk that, and it got pretty high in some places. You’d cross ravines and all sorts. And that’s when Jakey’s Ladder was still there, and you’d climb Jakey’s Ladder. I can remember camping out in the summer in the garden in a tent, and then you’d raid everybody’s garden for peapods. It was terrible.

We used to go swimming at South Hetton before Peterlee Leisure Centre was there; I’m sure it was South Hetton because I remember going in and on the side of the walls, there used to be alcoves and heated seats. You’d get the TMS bus, which was never organised with parents; it was always just you kids – and Durham Ice Rink, in the Seniors. I had a pair of figure skates I got for my birthday. We’d go there. Halfway through the session, the ice rink was on a tilt, so one side used to get soaked with water. When it shut, I’m sure my daughter Shawney went to school with a girl who was a fantastic figure skater. She had to move away because there was nowhere for her to train – Leicester or somewhere.

When we returned to school in September, you first looked forward to the Peterlee Carnival because that was the first or second week back. The jazz bands used to parade down the main streets, and there used to be buses to get them to Peterlee.

Every jazz band would have Horden Melody Makers, Easington Tiptoppers, and Peterlee Emeralds, and then they’d have people from Pelaw and all over, like Sunderland. And they’d do the entire carnival route and then get into where the grounds were. Then, each jazz band would do their routine with their music, and then there’d be a first, second and third. It was taken seriously. There used to be motorbike display teams, parachutes, Fisher Price, all of the factories had floats and loads of marquees and the Carnival Queen, Miss Peterlee, would be there, the Mayor.

The Miss Peterlee competition used to be big, and all the collieries would also have their own. They’d meet at Crimdon, and there’d be a massive thing going on at Crimdon in the Dene area. There’d be all the villages, the Queens of the villages, and one would be crowned Miss Crimdon. At Crimdon, there were the amusements; where the horse place is now, you’d walk in on the right-hand side and have all of the amusement arcades. There was the speedway and the waltzes, and there were steps behind the waltzers to go down into the Dene. There was a paddling pool at the Dene and a few paddling pools around Peterlee as well. I’m sure there’s one up Lancaster Hill. These were paddling pools for kids. Behind The Norseman was one in the Dene, and there was a fountain from the top to the bottom where the green bridge starts. Next to it was a massive pond.

There was a little walkway and another small pond just before you got into the tunnel. Before you get to Argos. And then, where Argos is, there was another one with a fountain and escalators up to the top. That’s where Doggarts was, where you used to get your school uniform from a big double shop.

The other one was around by the Police Station court. The playground was in front of Woolworths with a roundabout and a shuggy boat with a horse’s head on. And then you had Jake’s Kiosk at the side, a card shop. The old lady who owned that actually got murdered, and that was opposite Woolworths and Mademoiselles was a hairdressing shop to its right.

I didn’t spend time at Apollo Pavilion, and I hate it, but people probably didn’t appreciate it then. It was always just full of graffiti. The only time we went that way was for the Carnival. The Carnival was massive and the highlight of the year really in Peterlee. There used to be the leek show and the flowers so that the men would get involved. There’d always be a cake, pie competition, and arts and crafts. There was something for everybody, every age.

It got smaller and smaller, and then they added music. Then it stopped because of COVID. They did one year, I think they charged tickets for the music, that’s all there was. I think there’s still a small fairground and the music they charged for, and nobody bought any tickets, so they made it a free event, and I’m not sure if anything has been planned since. The singing must be very dangerous if it’s because of health and safety. Or dancing.

I can remember when The Moorcock was built, and we used to play in it when it was being built, even when signs said not to. This was while it was getting built when it was like a little concrete playhouse.

Most people in Peterlee, their first drink was in The Gamecock before they were 18. Everybody used to go to The Gamecock, in the town centre. The Gamecock was the meeting place, and a bus took us to Tiffany’s nightclub in Newcastle. I did that when I was working at McAuliffe’s hairdresser. We used to finish at 6.30 pm. We’d bring our clothes in, wash down quickly, put our makeup on, and then go up to The Gamecock; our hair was already done because we did that at dinner time. So we’d go to The Gamecock and go nightclubbing. The nightclub would close at 2, you’d probably get home around 2.30/3 o’clock, get to sleep, and then you’d be at work at 8.30 am on a Saturday to cut hair.

The bus was a coach, like a JHM coach. You’d get on and pay your money; you didn’t have to book it. It used to go from The Gamecock on Fridays and Saturdays. But then, it was always the meeting place. You could stay there all night or go at the end of the night after meeting somewhere else, but you’d meet, go to wherever, and probably come back.

You had to queue at Christmas, New Year, and other such dates to get in. Peterlee Labour Club and Horden Labour Club used to have discos there.

You’d go to Conchees at Wingate, that was another place. We used to stay in only one night of the week: Sunday. Or did we go to Conchees, then? It might have been a Wednesday. It was a disco, pub type of thing. But there’s only one night a week when we didn’t go out. You used to go to The Flemming at Shotton on a Friday night, and we used to make the arrangements in the last lesson at school, Shotton Hall.

I can remember going to the bar and not knowing what to drink. The person in front asked for a Pernot and Black, so I drank that. It was a fashionable drink at the time. I think the first time I got drunk on Pernot and Black was the last time I got drunk on Pernot and Black. I thought I was bleeding internally.

We learnt to drink in a field. We used to go to The Argus Butterfly, where there was a disco on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. After that, when we got a bit older, we used to go to Durham. There is a nightclub in Durham, Skiffs, which is probably Revolution now. You used to have a downstairs that was open later.

There was always somebody arranging something to go to, though. Tuxedo Princess was a boat that had a revolving dance floor. And then Tuxedo Junction was the one with the telephones on the table. I also remember Tiffany’s because when you walked in, you had to hold the stairs, which were lit up. There was a nightclub next door, and it had a spiral staircase. When you came down, I couldn’t remember the name. But the Princess had a revolving dance floor, a novelty in Newcastle. I think it was there for quite a few years. I don’t know how because our heels were the highest ever. In a pencil skirt as well.

I can remember making a full-circle skirt at school, and everyone started with that little piece of material where you did the cross-stitch. At school, we did needlework. The boys did metalwork, woodwork, and tech drawing, and the girls did cooking and needlework at Senior School. I loved cooking. I can’t remember cooking or needlework being an option after the third year when you took your options. I don’t think it was.

After school, I went straight into hairdressing in Peterlee. Shotton Hall School was just down the road from Castle Eden when the brewery was still operating, and in the summer, the smell of the hops used to waft over the school. So that was a big memory. And I can remember Oakerside being built because we did cross country, and we’d come out of the school, and where Oakerside is now, we used to run along there. It was all fields and hills.

My grandparents were some of the first to move into Peterlee. My nana and grandad came to Peterlee when it was first built, and it was the brick houses up around The Royal Arms before The Royal Arms was there. I’m sure it was Kirkstone Avenue. It was where Lidl used to be, opposite there. They lived on that road where the new OneGym is.

My grandad was in the RAF, and they moved around a lot, possibly when they returned from Egypt. My nana, grandad and my mam were in Egypt, and they came home for my mam to start school. I’m unsure if they moved to Haswell first and then Peterlee. My grandad worked at DJB when it was just a little workshop, and he was there until he retired. They also lived in Sherburn Hill for a while because when my nana and grandad moved around when he was in the RAF, wherever they were based, my nana would get a pub. So they had a pub at Sherburn Hill called Seven Stars, then moved to Peterlee. So after the RAF, they got Seven Stars, lived in Haswell for a while, and then moved to Peterlee.

And that’s when my grandad worked for DJB. DJB is where Caterpillar is now. And it was machinery and trucks. But it was David John Brown, the owner, hence the DJB. My grandad worked there when it was a little workshop; he was a toolmaker.

My nana and grandad lived in Haswell Plough originally. My grandad’s mam and dad set up my nana and grandad. I don’t know how they knew my nana or whether my nana worked for one of them. My grandad came home from the RAF on leave, and I think it was my grandad’s Dad who said…‘Oh, it’s

my wife’s birthday; we’re having a little tea. Would you like to come around? We’d love to meet you,’ or whatever. And it was a set-up to meet my grandad. They went for a drink that same night. I’m unsure if it was the first or second date; my grandad proposed because the war was on, and I think my nana was going into service. My grandad said he didn’t want her to leave, and she said, I have to because I’m not the eldest daughter. I don’t know if the eldest daughter could stay at home or the youngest daughter could stay at home. Something like that. So she had to. And my grandad said…‘well, you wouldn’t have to if you were married.’ So they met and married within 6 weeks. And that’s how it was done then.

That’s why they came back to this area, and obviously, Peterlee was a new town, so they moved there. I also think that being in Egypt and being here and everywhere, they wanted something different, not just a tiny village where they came from.

[talking about bungalows, aged miners coming over or whether it was young people that moved into Peterlee]

The generation with colliery houses had children who grew up, married and moved out of the area.

Because when you think they had Fisher Price, Tudor Crisps, Claremont. The factories grew as well in the industrial estates. And the Industrial Estates came about because of Peterlee.

You had generations of people who worked at Tudor Crisps. I know people who had their mam and dad working there, and they worked there. It was the same as Claremont. Instead of going straight down the pit after school, they went into a factory. Dewhirst was another one, but Tudor Crisps was massive. And then NSK, Caterpillar.

But the Adventure Playground was the biggest thing I could remember because it was all new. There was also a skate park there.

But even growing up, you went to Geordie Jeans, didn’t you go to Sunderland, and it had red and white piping. Everybody had a Wrangler jacket and Kickers. I loved my Granny Shoes. They looked like something out of Little House on the Prairie. They used to lace up like skating boots, and you used to wear them with your Gyspy Skirt. Your Hacking Jacket was a tweed. And your jelly shoes were plastic shoes. And your Scholls.

There were only a few fashion shops in Peterlee. There were Doggarts. There was Newbles. There was one upstairs that was dark. Where the Newsagents used to be, where Poundland is, that used to be a double shop. You used to go into the Newsagents, and there were stairs at the back, and upstairs there were all toys. There was a butcher next to McAuliffe, which was a double shop. Massive. Hintons was downstairs.

But there were only a couple of clothes shops. There was Gentry for the men. And there was one shop that I can remember upstairs that was next to McAuliffe. There was a gap, and then downstairs on the corner where Ramsdens is now, that used to be a clothes shop, but I think that’s it. And Little Gems, but it wasn’t called Little Gems; it was a denim shop, a bit like Geordie Jeans. My friend Karen, her mam, worked there.

Everything you bought was from Geordie Jeans. After denim, they started selling shirts and tops. And after that, when you got a bit older and more money, there was another shop – like a River Island – called Sgt Peppers.

John Luke was an art teacher at Dene House School and was commissioned to do all the paintings of the miners in tiny dots. It was at the William Brown Centre and the Arts & Info Centre. I used to know his daughter, Amanda, who went to do art down in London. And I remember being around Amanda’s when John worked in his studio in this house, doing these tiny dots. John’s wife was a social worker, and his son was in the RAF. The exhibition would have been around 25 years ago when the pits shut. It was essential to miners. But you couldn’t see they were tiny dots, but up close you could see. Peterlee Town Centre was accessible from every area. I remember Diana coming. My mum was working at Fisher Price, and she saw her because she went there.

There used to be a few people who lived in Peterlee, including Bob Holness from Blockbuster. It might not have been Bob Holness, but there was a presenter. The Krankies used to live at Oakerside and Gina McGee. Roy Walker was on TV. Chrissy Rock – she’s quite famous.

There used to be another one, a singer who lived around Warwick Place or somewhere around there. A long time ago, she was implicated in a murder. There was another one, the comedian, who was in Benidorm.

There was an actress in Eastenders. She lives in Mumbai now. She owns an acting school and plays

on stage and in films. She appeared a couple of years ago because of a get-together. It was when Dot Cotton died or something, and she went back. I remember she put it on Facebook. Jan Graveson. She went to Dene House. She worked in the West End. She might have been born in Easington, but I’m sure she lived in Peterlee. She’s a year older than me. She used to go to the drama group at Peterlee College, and I’m sure Gina McKee did as well because I went a couple of times with Wendy, but it wasn’t for me. Her Facebook says Easington, but she might have just spent time in Peterlee, which might not have been Dene House School. That might have been Gina.