Kenton Bar Estate - A Blast from the Past

Keith AKA 'Beefy' went to Kenton Bar Primary... Keith was a lovely lad, kind and happy...but he was posh! oh yes, ultra posh in that he came from Leeches Estate(like Sherriff Shades)and possibly due to his 'wealthy' background and also to his entrepeneurial spirit, ended up running and owning the Kenton Bar Chippy at the tender age of 16-17ish, much to the astonishment of his peers still wandering about the estate,a great herd of unemployed teenagers who had left school ASP...Keith's nickname as I just said was 'beefy' for some reason... Anyway, here is a photo of his chippy now, a kebab(spelt kabab by the owners!) and pizza place, in my humble opinion a shadow of the bright and welcoming fish and chip shop of those dim dark distant days...however I must confess I preferred the chippy at North Kenton! ps: note the graffiti'NKFL'...NK must be north kenton, but what might 'FL'mean?.... answers to the blog!

Can be found HERE

Droogs - I wrote an email to Photo Mayo after I spoke to Bob Mayo's wife on the phone - she did remember Ryder and Yates and her husband working for them.......:- Dear Sir, I was lucky enough to get the “right” photo Mayo first time!. I Just spoke to your wife (I think) on the phone who was kind enough to give me your email address – by the way it is not on your website!!!. I was calling to try and track down any photos you may have of the Kenton Bar Housing development that the architectural duo Gordon Ryder and Peter Yates did in the late 1960’s – I was in correspondence with Mr. Yates son Jolyon and he mentioned that his dad often used Henk Snoek or Photo Mayo to photograph his projects. Do you still have anything in your archives? I am particularly looking for photos of the pyramid structure that was at Kenton Bar shops. Rgds El Patron This is the answer I got - the search continues - I am guessing the photographer for Kenton Bar therefore MUST have been Henk Snoek. Reply from ...

I have already alluded to Morbsa elsewhere on the blog in a comment in the 'Cowshead' post, but Morbsa without a shadow of a doubting Thomas deserves a lesser mortall award and a full post. Now Morbsa's proper nickname was'Morbid Skullhead'. Here's why: 'there was a chap on the estate nicknamed'morbid skullhead' He used to collect animal skulls and had a box with skulls in, all labelled,like 'blackbird' 'thrush''mouse' 'rat' etc...one time during the icy cold winters we used to have he came across a frozen cat down the fields, not far from the cows head site(we were down there keeping the fire burning from bonfire night)anyway 'morbsa' as he was known found the frozen dead cat. He was full of the joys of and rushed home and returned with...his axe. He chopped off the head of the dead frozen cat, then buried it in his garden and after a few months of leaving the maggots to do their work exhumed the trophy...soo...

In those distant days goalposts were rectangular(or cuboid to be specific) and made of wood. The Kenton Bar School football team ones were housed I think in the caretaker's secret room round the side of the infants, and the crossbar and side posts had to be carried, set up and bolted together a... laborious chore...Nets we generally only used for games as they were almost as complicated as solving the rubix cube to set up in my opinion... The Kenton School goalposts however were often left up on the Kenton School field at night or over the weekend,as they were in use every day and a great game to play was 'crossbars' because a)it only needed 2 people to play and b)It developed your aiming technique for taking freekicks. Now just in case you dont know and come from Mars the object of this game was to hit the crossbar, so you stood facing each other at opposite sides of the goal. If you hit the crossbar you got another go and it might be say the first one to 10.You could al...

Hendas lived down the bottom in Dunnykirk...He was also known as'anarchist tendancy' as he was into punk big style...he looked a bit like Rick Mayall(The young ones) and used to do a really hilarious dance out of the blue when we were hanging about which consisted of him pogo-ing(punk dance) about whilst snorting and snarling horribly which culminated in a most convincing epilectic like fit which ended up with him lying on the ground upside down like a stuck pig...(Can I also add that he used to pogo in a very unique way in that he placed the palm of his left hand on his forehead elbow bent with his right hand outstretched behind him fist clenched)...outside his house was a white wreck of a car which never ever went anywhere...someone sprayed the 'a' for anarchy circle sign on it...they also said they were going to do the same thing on the side his dog which was also white, but whether they did or not I dont know...ha ha ha! Congratulations Hendas!...you earn the 'l...

Back in those wonderful distant days we used to drink Ex(Newcastle Exhibition) which could only be found in S&N(Scottish and Newcastle)pubs...you could always see these oasis's from afar as they had a neon blue star hanging outside. So the pubs we used to drink at round about were the Kings Court(gone) Kenton Quarry(gone)(aside:I seem to recall on the friends reuinted Kenton school bit there are photos of bounders and cads like Taggy and little Gottle drinking in the Quarry- it would be good if someone could email them to the master)The Duke(still there)The Trap(still there but wrecked and closed)The Jubillee(still there, good pub) and The Peacock(still there). Nowerdays you can only get Ex in the Peacock or the Blacksmiths Arms on Gosforth High street...The Blacksmiths pint is very good...Maybe one day the noble master might arrange a 'Kenton Bar Boys'reunion day in either pub but only the drinking of Ex is to be allowed...hmmm...Ex...must-have-Ex...

Dr. Raj was a great Doctor and cared deeply about his patients and I am sure he is sadly missed by all that knew him on Kenton Bar Estate now that the surgery seems to be gone. He drove a TR7 for god sake - in the 70's - how damned stylish and cool was that!!! Used to be parked near the surgery behind Goldfinch wines. Always immaculately turned out in a suit and tie and really looked like a Bollywood film star - about a hundred times better looking than Amitabh Bachchan thats for sure. He had a "doorman" in the form of an old crab that used to sit in reception - you only got to see the doctor at all if you passed muster with her - she could smell a malingerer a mile off. Queuing in Dr. Raj's surgery was a saga. The waiting room was a bare affair with some old mags to read, a small table and chairs around the sides. Trouble is there was no discernible queuing hierarchy - a nightmare for the English I can tell you. Patients used to sit around and wait to be prompt...

Now this kid came to Kenton Bar School from Bristol in my last year...-I think his dad may have worked for the local radio station...anyway he had a very pronounced west country accent and had a habit of starting his sentences with 'Oy Oy!(in a west country twang-bit like Gareth of 'The office TV show with Ricky Gervaise...if you had sweets at playtime he used to come up to you and say(West country twang)Oy Oy!...sweet please!...sweet please!...'...after this everyone for the rest of his life when they saw him would go'(West country twang)Oy Oy!...sweet please!...sweet please...!' He also used to climb up on the window sill on a regular basis(usually the afternoons) and 'hide' behind the blinds in Mrs Ushers class(the south facing blinds were always down due to the beautiful sunny days we used to have back in them dark distant days) so you could kind of see his silhouette and shout out(West Country twang'Oy Oy! you cant see me! you cant see me! Mrs Usher...

An explanation…….Kenton Bar Estate had amongst the highest council rents in the area and maybe the city – no idea why as it was not particularly posh or anything but I am guessing it was because it was:- 1. Modern 2. All houses had central heating The majority of the tenants were typical working class families (like my own) where Dad was the main wage earner and Mum maybe had a part time job (at the VG for instance) so………typically money was relatively short. This is where The Provvy Lady came in. The Provvy lady on Kenton bar was Mrs. Blakey, I went to school with her son at Kenton School. She lived at the top of Hazeldene avenue. The Provvy Lady was lovely – always smiling and a local hero. Provvy Money I think was also collected on a Friday night so had to compete with the pools, the potatoes and the milk for attention. What was provvy? Well I suppose these days you would call them micro financiers. You could secure a small loan, typically of a hundred quid or less, and pay it back w...

Mr Johnson was the head teacher at Kenton Bar Primary School during my time there...He was a 'typical' headteacher of that time in that you rarely ever saw him apart from assemblies unless you were in trouble, which I never was me being a sensible cub scout type...He had an identical brother who was also a headteacher at West Jesmond School...he used to wear a grey/blue pinstripe suit every day...he got, I do believe some kind of OBE for setting up a 'special needs' class attached to the mainstream school which was the first of its kind in the city...as I have said before, on the odd occasion he did do the rounds and come into the classrooms he would always ask the same question, something like 'whats 12x 12?'...once answered he would then ask 'if 12x 12 = 144, whats 24 x 24?...He looked like Woodrow Wyatt, the 'voice of reason' from the Sun newspaper(aside:Wyatt was far from reasonable and in fact was the opposite...horrible and unreasonable) unlik...

Following up a lead with Photo mayo who photographed many of Ryder and Yates developments and projects. lets see what the email brings.....

see this post first:- http://kentonbar.blogspot.com/2009/09/kenton-bar-football-team-1974-75.html

Found this here:- http://www.skyscrapercity.com/archive/index.php/t-1028351.html

John - where do I begin. John was owner, operator and all round Mr. News of the "North Kenton News" newsagents shop at Kenton Bar. The shop was large and sold sweeties, toys and most importantly FIREWORKS. John, if he thought you were not a complete nutter, used to sell you bangers, rockets and in fact any sort of firework whether you were 16 or not. My favorite were air bombs. Set an airbomb near the cube flasts and light the blue touchpaper, stand back, nay run back, and admire your work. By far the loudest firework on the block at the time it used to eject a single ball of light and detonated with a bang so loud it resonated throughout the estate - just so happened that the height of explosion I worked out was just about at the height of the top floor windows on the cube flats...the rest as they say is history - loud history.

Mr. Grey truly was grey in every way - grey skin, grey hair and a gray "lab coat". The VG was a general store and post office combined and was next to North Kenton News at the small stand of shops. Not sure if there is a VG today or something else - perhaps a kind reader may tell us. Anyway I digress. Mr. Grey was, I think, from South Yorkshire - his accent being a source of much amusement for us young folk - lots of "ee baa gum" and all that cal. His 15 minutes of fame came when his post office was robbed whilst he was being distracted by someone asking him about boiled ham or the price of peas or something. Anyway it left him a broken and suspicious man and he kind of just faded away getting greyer and greyer until he was eventually transparent and in fact disappeared completely. Factoids about the VG: My Mum used to work there part time at one point I used to deposit my pocket money each week at the post office and in fact still have the savings book that has abo...

talking of CB handles, anyone remember any nicknames of kids from those days? for example I remember 2 twins from up the top known as 'the ghastly twins'and a kid called 'Charlie Fox wears dirty socks' ...there was also a 'Hendas'and a 'Spud' ...any more chaps...?

Over use made your brain more active and your face more handsome – I used mine almost 24x7 The UK versions used the upper part of the 27Mhz FM band and were much more prone to interference than the USA ones which used the lower portion of the 27Mhz AM band

Hello there oh mein brothers and droogs! We have been delighted with your comments on facebook re our beloved Kenton Bar Estate!every piece of the jigsaw adds to the perfection and a historical document that will be enjoyed by generations to come... However I am hoping that you can also consider upping your comments on the blog proper,not just on the facebook page, as not all fans of the blog are on facebook. Also if you link to the blog direct you can see all comments and a wealth of past material that is not accessible on the facebook page...the blog has been in existance for 9 months and there are 183 posts with a myriad of related comments, so what I am asking is please please post up comments on the blog as well as on the facebook page of it-and look at the blog proper to relive those glorious days of slim youth-I will copy all posts over from facebook to the blog if you cant be bothered, but please check out the blog proper as there are many threads we would love you to add to! b...

At one point during mein time on our beloved Kenton Bar Estate a new craze came into town...CB radio...I meinself was swept up by this craze and recall I purchased a 'binatone 5 star' CB which cost £100 which at that time was a tidy sum...suddenly CB arials were everywhere, easily put up due to the flat roofs...anyway, here are the only 'handles' I remember: Charlie Golf 189(m) Taurus Girl(f) The Colonel(m) Uncle Fester(m) Black Earl(m) Leggo Legs(f) The Widower(m) Italian Stallion(m) Golden Girl(f) My handle was'Baden Powell'(me being a sensible 9th Gosforth Cub Scout )... anyone remember any other 'handles' or CB memories?

The Facebook page for Kenton Bar - Blast From The Past can be found HERE

The noble master being a technical marvel has somehow linked the blog to facebook. Search via google for 'kenton bar estate facebook' to find it. Several comments have already been made there, and there are already 14 fans after 2 weeks. The master in his infinite wisdom has ordered me to be responsible for copying over any comments onto the blog, which I will post up as Mensforth/facebook comment your humble servant, Mensforth

http://kentonbar.blogspot.com First – pools. This was a kind of competition whereby each week people would pay a small amount of money into a “pool” and then mark a kind of form with their predictions of which football teams would draw their Saturday games. Depending on the number of draws each week the size of the pool prize or dividend for a correct predition varied from a few pence to a few million quid. You can find out more about pools HERE . If you managed to predict the results correctly then you could win a fortune and escape forever…… Now – Mr. Todd was a legend. Hot on the heels of Dave the Milkman, and sometimes faster than him, used to hurtle Mr. Todd. He used to run – yes RUN around the estate collecting the weekly pools money for Littlewoods. He actually lived at the top of the estate in one of the electric houses. He was not a full time pools man however – I think he was some sort of civil servant at the local ministry. He also ran the “Ren Bu Kan” judo club at the...

http://kentonbar.blogspot.com Bear in mind that anyone named must have lived or worked on Kenton Bar prior to 1988 when I left to live elsewhere. Dave the milkman Mr. Todd the pools man The Provvy lady The Pop man The Potato Boy John at North Kenton News Mr. Grey at the VG Mabs - major investor in Goldfinch Wines Dr. Raj Dr. Raj’s Receptionist Keith at the Fish & Chip Shop Mister Johnson – Headmaster of Kenton Bar Primary School The White Arrow Man Mr Lamb the School Caretaker Dean and Kim the club comedienne and stripper - Mom and daughter I think Joan's Van - not a person but an institution Ken Tarala - the man from Ken Tarala's traveling shop

http://kentonbar.blogspot.com As the master had been waxing lyrical about 'celebrities' from those halcyon distant days of youth on the estate it got me thinking about lesser mortals who were not exactly 'celebrities' but rather 'characters'... one of these was a chap we called 'Harry Cough-Cough' who lived in the 'normal' middle part of the estate.... We called him that as he had a habit of coughing every other word. so for example a conversation might run like this: "Can you lot(cough cough)stop playing bloody football(cough cough)on this green(cough cough) and(cough cough) go and bloody play(cough cough) on the big bloody field!..." He was not a half tongued geordie I recall,maybe Bristol area... he had a daughter who was maybe a year or two younger than me who used to pretend to be a horse all the time at Kenton Bar Primary...every playtime she ran about mimicking a horse...I never forgot this and when she went to Kenton...

http://kentonbar.blogspot.com This brutish oaf would be “employed” in collecting the money that unsuspecting folks paid for what can only loosely be called potatoes. Quite why people could not go to the nearby shopping centre (VG at Kenton Bar Shops) and buy them, instead having them delivered by a feller who came all the way from Yorkshire in order to deliver, is beyond me. However I digress. This "potato boy" used to lumber about in the speedy wake of Dave The Milkman and try to collect the potato money. He was for the most part unsuccessful as Dave has relieved everyone of their hard earned only minutes previously – the choice being in those days between paying for milk OR potatoes but not both – some money had to be saved for tabs, pools (more later) bookies, the Provvy Woman and countless other persons trying to get money on a Friday night. What little money he did take however was taken to his hovel at the bottom of the estate and divided between himself and his fami...

http://kentonbar.blogspot.com The hardest working person I have ever met – ran everywhere. Used to come around the estate on a Friday night collecting the milk money and deliver milk, to the doorstep, come rain, sleet or snow – without fail. I bet the days of door to door money collecting are long gone now? My mum and sisters used to peddle a tale that he was Sting’s brother – no idea if true – does Sting have a brother? Coming soon the “The Potato Boy” and “The Pools Man” followed swiftly by the “Provvy Woman”. Kenton Bar Pyramid Appreciation Society

http://kentonbar.blogspot.com There weren't that many alleys really on Kenton Bar Estate...I have already alluded to one (see post 'Lurking' Sept 2009)where frightful creatures lurked from down the bottom...2 skinheads I recall in particular...they were scary...but these photos shown what we called 'Motram's alley' off Studdon Walk bungalows to the back of the flats. Incidentally we called it 'Motrams alley' because Mr Motram lived in the corner house at the top of Hazeley Grove which backed onto the 2 junction points to it. I read recently that he had passed away which saddened me as I thought he was a great old bloke, proper gentleman type...anyway, this alley was also a very scary one to pass through on a night as it had a couple of bends in it at right angles and the lights were often tolchocked out out and out by mindless hooligans from down the bottom, making it pitch black. Note also the fact that the garage roof at Hazeley Grove was p...

http://kentonbar.blogspot.com Hi – I got this from Jolyon Yates a week or two ago – enigmatically the email was entitled “Spot the flying saucer”. The picture is of the split level type housing at the top of Hazeldene Avenue and a very fine picture it is too. However, I think this is at St. Cuthbert’s Green and not Kenton Bar. Can YOU spot the flying saucer? Kenton Bar Pyramid Appreciation Society

Does anyone remember this happening? It was bewildering to me at the time and all I could think about was being gassed. To the day I left the estate I hated walking past the gas pumping station off Hazeldene Avenue  - fearing it could blow up at any time……

Why were some of the houses rendered with millions of crushed sea shells? Why were the garage roofs covered in gravel? Only two of the many mystery’s that have plagued my single-celled mind as of late. What was the origin of the sea shells? The Caribbean or the Seychelles, North Shields or Whitley Bay? I like to think Cullercoats myself….I spent many a fine hour as a child picking them off the walls……….