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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only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).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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There are 502 messages in the guestbook
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Viewing messages 1 to 10
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Alan Whittaker(1953-59)
| alan~DOT~diwhittaker~AT~gmail~DOT~com
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Hi Bruce(again), I tried to send you the Marsden photo to: bsgraham@btinternet.com but was unsuccessful have you changed your email address?
Alan
Sat 28-Jun-2025 16:21
- Langford Budville, Somerset
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Alan Whittaker(1953-59)
| alan~DOT~diwhittaker~AT~gmail~DOT~com
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Hi Bruce, the lake adjacent to the farm path was called Farding Lake which was cleared to facilitate one end of the Lake Ave estate. Do you remember the large pump house near the lake? There was another lake(pond) on the other side of Prince Edward Rd which didn't merit a formal name as far as I know,we used to call it The Lily Pond, this also had an adjacent large pump house.
Sat 28-Jun-2025 13:37
- Langford Budville, Somerset
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Bruce Graham
| bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com
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Delighted to see the response from Alan. Just goes to show that the GB is being read!!
Thomson's quarry! Out of bounds during the unfortunate events of 1939-45 but a source of great adventure later.
When we see the photograph it may show the wheat fields extending across to the Marsden Inn before all of the houses were completed. What was the name of the pond?
Fri 27-Jun-2025 17:26
- ruskington lincolnshie
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Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951
| ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com
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Hi Alan,
I think you have to send it directly to Mike at his email address then he can enter it into the guest book. Good to see you back in the GB.
Regards,
Alex (from a stot and hickey North York,it's still 38C as I write this at 9:00 PM)
Thu 26-Jun-2025 01:59
- North York, Ontario, Canada
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Alan Whittaker(1953-59)
| alan~DOT~diwhittaker~AT~gmail~DOT~com
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Hi Everyone, Ref post-war housing development, I have a photo taken by my father around 1948 of the Marsden area which he took from the cliff in Thompson's Quarry.The photo is a bit faded but you can see the development of the Lake Avenue area,and, in the distance the Marsden Inn is visible. I was unable to forward the photo to our website .Any suggestions?
Wed 25-Jun-2025 12:08
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Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951
| ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com
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Hello Bruce,
I was just looking up something about South Shields in Chat so I posed a question regarding your email. The following is its response:-
“South Shields had ambitious housing development plans during the 1930s, but World War II put many of them on hold.
Looking at local housing history:
In 1935, the borough initiated several “new housing schemes” as part of accommodating a fast-growing urban population bbc.co.uk+13southshieldslocalhistorygroup.co.uk+13m
unicipaldreams.wordpress.com+13.
In 1936, territory near Marsden Bay was absorbed into the borough, opening up further sites for possible development shieldsgazette.com+11southshieldslocalhistorygroup.
co.uk+11co-curate.ncl.ac.uk+11.
However, the outbreak of war in 1939 brought large-scale construction to a halt .
After the war ended in 1945, the council resumed building efforts: by 1946, they were planning 2,000 post-war houses, and by 1948, nearly 2,000 had been completed, with plans for 3,000 more southshieldslocalhistorygroup.co.uk."
I hope this helps,
Cheers, Alex
P.S.I am writing this at 9:30 PM and the temperature is 30C the high today was 36 and the "Feels like" temp was 40C
Mon 23-Jun-2025 02:33
- North York, Ontario, Canada
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Bruce Graham
| bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com
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In correspondence of several years ago Alan Whittaker reflected on the South Shields that so many of us remember from those days of yore.
One of the things that came to mind recently that relates to those years, and to the subsequent development of the School site and its environs. In particular the building of the very large council estates in the years following the end of WW2.
More particularly I got to wondering about the Marsden Inn and when it was opened. The answer is, it seems 1939 just before the onset of hostilities and the hiatus in house building that followed.
Presumably, and someone will know, there were plans in existence to develop that part of the town but, when it was opened the Inn must have been very isolated.
Many moons ago Alan corrected me on the termination of the trolley bus service that i knew as a small child which didn't go as far as where the Marsden Inn stands.
Perhaps all of this rambling may ring a bell in some of the oldies memories?
Every time I see the end stages of the Great North Run on TV and see the shots of the Marsden Inn and that steep slope down to the beach area it takes me back to the wheat fields that then existed.
Time for a lie down, I think!!
Sun 22-Jun-2025 15:59
- ruskington lincolnshie
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Neale Backhouse
| neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com
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Hi Alex,
No not metaphorically, it was a walk principally around your neighbourhood in Shields. You met and talked to a man and described the area as you remembered it. You also said that you now lived in Montreal and were a Naval Architect. WRT my birthday, everything went swimmingly,the weather was fine and the girls produced mounds of food.I felt like a big shot, at least for one day.
Tomorrow is son Eric's birthday, (53) and he will receive similar treatment.
Cheers, Neale.
Sat 21-Jun-2025 22:13
- Victoria BC
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Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951
| ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com
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Hello all,
Just a short note for Neale, BTW it's his 90th birthday tomorrow...so don't forget like I have many times over the 79 years we've known each other. Neale you said in your last email that you had seen me on one of the Shields' video walks. Was that actually or as we say 'metaphorically' I'd like to know. also I love watching "Reckless" which I have done numerous times over the years I remember seeing her in "Dune" many years ago in the 80's or 90's and she was delectable then and she was even more delectabler after umpty years...like all of us.
HBFT
Alex
Wed 18-Jun-2025 00:44
- North York, Ontario, Canada
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