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Welcome to the Guestbook
Feel free to add messages relating to the site and the school. The only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).

It would be appreciated if you gave an email address, where you now live and said when you were at the school, but you don't have to.

Plase note that if you click on an email address below you will need to replace ~DOT~ with . and ~AT~ with @ in your email program. The Guestbook presents these this way to avoid email address harvesters collecting your email addresses from the page. I know it's a pain, but it's very much better than the alternative.

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Viewing messages 1 to 10

Neale Backhouse | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Eric, I reported your dilemma, re. Cauldwell/Westoe, to my expert, who also lived on Chester Gardens. " Definitely not Westoe" she replied."I used to get off the bus from work when the conductor called out "Cauldwell", mainly because staying on until the next stop, (and closer to home), Harton House Road, would cost me another ha'penny.
"Thanks Eric," she says. "The memories are lovely."

Thu 28-Aug-2025 21:43 - Victoria BC

Eric Moyse 1946 to 1952 (Boys) | eric~DOT~moyse35~AT~yahoo~DOT~com

Me again.
Three unrelated (and not very important) matters.
1 My brother Alan was in 324 (Ithought it was 325) squadron. He joined hoping to become aircrew eventually but he was colourblind and so became an Education Officer.
2 Our first semi was in Chester Gardens (greatly superior to Spohr Tce. and Fir Grove).I thought we lived in Westoe but not Cauldwell. My best ma, Tommy Cooper lived in Cauldwell Villas. Has the name Cauldwell have anything to do with the nearby dyeworks pond?
3 Some of us become/ have become nonagenarians this year. Congratulations to all survivors.

Thu 28-Aug-2025 20:18 - Reading, Berkshire

Eric Moyse 1946 to 1952 (Boys) | eric~DOT~moyse35~AT~yahoo~DOT~com

Percy J (Spuggy) Wesencraft was also Group Scoutmaster of the 26th (South Shields High School) Scout Troop. Apart from organising annual camps, he masterminded the troop Gang Shows (organist Ned Skilling) in which he often appeared, mainly as a pantomine dame.
Apart from that, he was a schools Durham County rugby official and he accompanied Willie Hudson and me to Nuneaton to play (I was only a reserve at a time when subs were not allowed and so did not get on) for the North of England against the Midlands. Willie, who was a tough long-legged hooker went on to play for England Boys. After school I think he went down the pit but got a scholarship to Newcastle Uni where he represented Northumberland in the county championship.

Thu 28-Aug-2025 19:47 - Reading, Berkshire

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

The mention of Ronnie Ritson got me looking through old family photographs, and there he was.

Eric and Ronnie were in the year after my brother, Douglas, and so 4 years older than me. Eric's story of the "lines" made me recollect what I knew of the "hero" (?) of the story. I came across him when I became a member of the St Cuthberts youth club, in about 1952.

Ronnie lived quite close to St Cuthberts, the old wooden church that you may remember, in one of the council houses on King George Road. He had a reputation as a bit of lad who believed he was gods gift to the opposite sex!!

I believe he went off to do his National Service and somehow managed to talk his way out of that after a few months, but that story may be apocryphal! However it does add credence to Eric's story.

Thu 28-Aug-2025 14:12 - ruskington lincolnshie

Eric Moyse 1946 to 1952 (Boys) | eric~DOT~moyse35~AT~yahoo~DOT~com

I hope I haven'told this one before. It is called "Boko and Ronnie Ritson."
Boko was Mr Brooks, a maths teacher and he kept an eagle eye from his room at the end of the south corridor. One day he spotted Ronnie, who was in my class, maybe 4 lower B, infringing in some minor way. So Ronnie was given a 100-lines punishment, which Ronnie did not do. So Boko doubled them. Again Ronnie failed to do them and this happened a couple more times. Then Boko died. So Ronnie never did the lines. I am not sure why Ronnie did not do the lines or what the moral is of this, I assure you, true tale.

Wed 27-Aug-2025 10:48 - Reading, Berkshire

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

The chat about travelling in Canada brought back a host of memories. Perhaps one of the strange ones may ring a bell among us oldies, particularly those living on the Sutton Estate.

When I was small child in WW2 we were living on Quarry Lane in a 3 bedroom house. The elders may remember that during the war there was a radar station at Whitburn, ion the high ground. This was manned in part by Canadians. The thing is that with three bedrooms and just 2 boys in the house we were required to have serviceman billeted with us. He was a delightful RCAF NCO named Bob Sly who stayed with us for almost 2 years until the radar was made almost redundant by the advance across Europe.

Even as a 5 year old I can recall being taken by my mother along towards the farm to meet Bob when he returning from duty.

After he returned to Canada he very kindly sent me a box of to soldiers. there were also a number of gun emplacements up on Cleadon hills, the remnants of which are still there.

Tue 26-Aug-2025 17:16 - ruskington lincolnshie

Neale Backhouse | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Welcome back Alex. I hope you managed to dodge the mosquitoes and black flies that inhabit the hinterland. My daughter in law (ex Ontario) tells me lurid tales of camping up North and having to constantly fend off those varmints. Your daughter probably has lots of insect screens around her place to keep them at bay.
We are cooking here in Victoria at the moment with California type temperatures.The heat is oppressive, so we move slowly. But must be glad I can move at all!
Cheers.

Mon 25-Aug-2025 20:55 - Victoria BC

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

OOOOoooopppps!!! Should have been 'delighted'. I have sausage fingers like King Charles III,
Alex

Mon 25-Aug-2025 04:03 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Just back from two weeks at my middle daughter's cottages in the Muskokas about 5 hours north of Toronto. I was just checking for emails and I thought I'd check on how South Shields were doing and I'm delighyed to say that they've won their first four matches of the season and haven't had a goal scored against them. Howay the Mariners!!!
Bye from a beautiful warm and sunny (well it was the saft) afternoon.
Alex

Mon 25-Aug-2025 03:59 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alan Whittaker(1953-59) | alan~DOT~diwhittaker~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Just had a visit from relatives from South Shields who brought with them some stottie cakes-wonderful- the relatives weren't bad either!

Fri 22-Aug-2025 10:47 - Langford Budville, Somerset

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