Paliament Rd

Marguerite writes: I grew up on Parliament Road. In the early 1920's trams travelled the road but, by my time they were long gone but the tracks remained. On hot summer days we children would try to scrape away the melting tar on the road to reveal the silver track. It was a quiet road, no buses only the A bus crossed it on its. journey from the Exchange along Union Street crossing Parliament Rd. and continuing along Longford St, on its way to Acklam. There were always lots of children making their way to Ayresome School and, in the holidays, a steady stream of children from the Newport/ Cannon St. area heading for Albert Park nearly all had a bottle of water and many pushing large prams with two or three small children on board. Also on a Saturday crowds of young men hurried to Ayresome Park to watch the football. The summer days seemed to be long and hot and we played out till dusk, the games were hopscotch, allies, 'booler' hoops and skipping. We begged the hoops and ropes from the Greengrocers Alecs.Then there was ‘ tops and whips’. We would chalk the top of the top to make patterns. Also we made boats from matchboxes, a matchstick holding a paper sail, which we sailed in the gutters on a rainy day. My favourite trick was a matchbox with a hole in the bottom, the box was lined with cotton wool with tomato sauce on, we would thrust our thumb through the hole and charge other children a halfpenny to view the German’s thumb that supposedly came from a German Air man shot down on Eston Hills One day a swarm of bees lighted on the canopy of the shop, the press was soon there as were we. I was in the Evening Gazette photo which showed the swarm. Hot summers, snowy winters, the snow sometimes as high as the window sill, a path would be made so that people could walk in safety and the snow piled onto the road with a clear gutter for drainage. We children thought that we were climbing Everest when we crossed the road. My father was a member of the Red Cross and attended the Cinema and football matches in an official capacity but after work we had a steady stream of callers at our house, young men with huge carbuncles on their necks, Dad would bathe and lance them and also tend to any sprains that had occurred at the football pitch on Clairville Common. He also delivered a baby that was being born on the common that faced our house (just before Union St.) The mum was making her way from Victoria St across the common to the Maternity Hospital, both mum and baby were fine. Our house was on the the block between where Meath St and Longford St joined Paliament Rd. The commont was in between the Corporation Bus repair shop and a drapers called Harrisons almost next to Union St ( This shop was the first to be bought by a Pakistani family and changed into a grocers, I believe it was called Mehans. My mother became very friendly with Mrs Mehan) ---------------------------------------------- Vic comments:- And I was often one of those Cannon St kids wending my way to Albert Park! The routine was always the same- up Parliament Rd calling in at the Dorman Museum. In the foyer of the museum , in a glass case, was a stuffed lion standing on a prostrate stuffed zebra. We never tired of seeing this. It was an essential viewing every time we made the expedition. I always pointed out my great uncle’s name, Thomas William Fox, on the lists of the First World War dead by the gates.Other kids had names there also. On the way back a favourite stopping place was Forbe's Bakery. (now the Forbes Building a small shopping arcade) The vents were on the Parliament Rd side and we used to smell the lovely aroma of bread baking. I remember the A bus route very well. We always caught it at the corner of Union St and Parliament Rd to go up the cemetery in Acklam to visit my grandfather’s grave. Later from September 1955 I used it to get to school in Acklam. The other thing I remember about Parliament Rd was the Regent cinema. I can’t quite remember where it was about halfway up on the west side, I think. I remember seeing Peter Pan there. At the Newport end is Samuelson’s Club (Sammy’s) They used to organise day trips for the local families.

Signing On at the Regent

Marguerite replies:-

The Regent was on the next block to the Westminster pub, which was between Surrey St, and Essex St, It was in the Regent Cinema that an appeal was shown for women to join the ATS and thus release a soldier for active service, This fired my imagination and at the age of 15 forged my parents signature and was soon in the Forces.

The Lion and the Zebra

I think we all remember that lion in the Dorman’s Museum. I think every Middlesbrough child of yesterday has the same memories. I adored him, so majestic with blood around his jaws, I used to take my two sons to gaze at him and actually cried when I heard that he had been moved. Glad that the lion is now back. Forbes Bakery was also a favourite gathering place of ours. We used to stand on a winters evening under the air vent where the hot air was expelled enjoying the warmth and the smell of the bread VISIT THE DORMAN MUSEUM WEBSITE

Forbes Bakery Now

This is the building that once was Forbes Bakery. It's now a small shopping arcade with coffee bar, hair dressing salon etc. It's a good example of how a characteristic building can be kept whilst being adapted for a new use.

Parliament Rd:-A Sailors' Trod

I am interested to learn that Parliament Rd was built along a Sailors’ Trod which went from Newport over by Breckon Hill as I later went to live on Breckon Hill Rd. Prior to that I worked at The Town Hall and my work was photographing all the old photos and maps, saving them on Micro film in case the Town Hall was bombed. Our cameras, which were huge things, were sited at West Moor Manor on Dixons Bank in Marton. I was also involved with the Max Locke Plan which planned the redesign of Middlesbrough after the war ------------------------------------------------- Sailors'Trods were well worn paths between the landing points along the Tees.Newport was such a landing stage. Ships heading up to Yarm could unload part of their cargo to enable them to negotiate the shallower water upstream. Middlesbrough's earliest 'street plan' printed in 1882 shows that Middlesbrough's westward expansion hadn't quite reached what became Parliament Rd. (although north of Newport Rd some streets were being built from the Newport end)The Sailors' Trod from the original Newport is marked on this map. Perhaps following the line of the Sailors' Trod accounts for the fact that Parliament Rd joins Newport Rd at an angle whereas every other junction with Newport Rd conforms to the right angle 'grid' pattern. This results in a threefold junction with Leven St joining Newport Rd at the same corner.

The direction of Parliament Road can be best seen when you look down it from the Linthorpe Road end. You can see it 'points' to the Newport Bridge. You can see the bridge towers. The Bridge is where the Newport Ferry and landing stage were located

p.s.

The Regent building is now a supermarket. It has run the whole gamut of supermarket takeovers and name changes. Many remember it as the Fine Fare. Well now (2005), as you can see, it is a Tesco

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But, on the next block, the Westminster Pub is still here.