Canny lass

Nr. 1: I knew his face rang a bell! I'll get my coat.

Nr. 3 is definitely not Frank Bower. Nr 2 is, I believe, one of the Leonard/Lennart boys, Joe, Martin or Edward from Third Street. The others are familiar faces but just now I can't put a name to any of them.

I've come across this in my search for "Arcade", Bedlington. It's just a few doors down the road. 1911 Fountain yard comprised six dwellings. Nr. 1 and 2 were somewhat larger, both having 2 rooms while nr. 3-6 had only one. The families living there ranged from 2 to 8 persons and the majority were miners, though one bricklayer is recorded. Fountain Inn and Fountain Yard appear to have been neighbours of the Tankerville Arms public House on Glebe Row but they may have been opposite or adjacent to it. I'm tempted to think it was on the same side of the road, partly as it was located next door to the "Dr Pit Cottages" (logically these would be beside the pit) and partly because in 1904 the west side of what we now call Glebe Road was not built upon. It was farmland, so called 'Bishops Meadow', for the needs of the vicar of St Cuthberts. The housing area retains that name even today. If Mikki Lee Townley can give me some more information about Isabel (her parent's names would be a good help) I'll see if i can find anything nearer 1904. Glebe Row was a complicated area. The adress of every dwelling was simply Glebe Row but residents put their own names to various parts of it and these were later made official.

It would be rude not to give some form of redress, really.

No apologies needed, Vic. There is light at the end of the tunnel but it's been a long tunnel to get through. A good laugh is always a good medicine!

I must say you’ve got a lovely day for it – The Midsummer national holiday! I hope you’ve got your Maypole decorated and ready to be raised! You haven’t forgotten to practice the frog dance have you? Here’s how it goes: Have a lovely day!

Well, there you go! The old man was right after all!

Hi Dorothy, I’ve been trying to pin down the exact row of houses known as Sawmill Row by looking at earlier census records and maps. I’m sorry to say that I’m none the wiser. The choice is still between the two streets I mentioned earlier. However, I found Sawmill Road in the 1891, 1881 and the 1871 census. While the name isn’t mentioned in the 1891 census (it’s simply given as Guidepost) there can be no doubt that it is the same street named Sawmill Row in the 1901 census. You can see this by comparing the residents. There are several residents who appear on both, including your family, and even some of their neighbours living in the same position on the street as previously. The Hall family seems to have been around the Guidepost area for many years. They appear on the street, same house, same birthplace, in 1891 and again in 1881. There is also a Hall on the street in 1871 but you’d need to look more closely at that as there’s not much to go on for an outsider.

It was a serious question, Vic. I'd like to read more from Brian Chambers. That, due to the humour rather than the content of the work. He managed to put a smile on my face and that's a rare sight the last six months. So, if anybody knows who he is or where I can find any oher works of Brian do let me know. P.S. It was my old man who thought he might be a football player.

Who is Brian Chambers? Football player?

That's fantastic Eggy! I haven't been in that area for over thirty years but, while I'm sure I wouldn't recognise anything today, the street layout hasn't changed a great deal. Freehold Terrace (now Freehold Avenue) and Ford Terrace are still there and it looks as if the road I believe to be Sawmill Row is still there. This is a wonderful opportunity for you Dorothy to tread in your ancestors footsteps. I love doing that myself, The street becomes a kind of interface between the past and the present. Have a walk there next time your in the area

Hello again Dorothy! There was something odd about the house number you gave so I went back to the census and had another look. Sawmill Row was a very short row of houses with only 24 dwellings listed in the census so I thought that 194 couldn't be right. There were no house numbers recorded in the census for that street and 194 appears as the enumerators schedule number (always the first column as there isn't any special column for house numbers). Many streets didn't get numbers - or even names - until the postal service was fully developed. Hope this helps your future research.

I might be able to help you here, Dorothy. I don't know if you are familiar with the area but Sawmill Row wasn't in Bedlington town but in the greater area of Bedlingtonshire. It was situated by the sawmill that once stood in Guidepost, roughly to the east of the junction between Sheepwash bank and Stakeford lane. The sawmill, but not Sawmill Row, appears on this OS map from 1866. Note that there are no houses in front of it facing Stakeford Lane and only one row of houses running north to south directly to the west of it: Census enumerators had strict routes to follow so in the 1901 census we can see that Sawmill Row is situated between the community of Guidepost (no street names given) and Ford Terrace - which is followed by Freehold Terrace. Freehold Terrace appears to be the elder of the two as it appears on early maps but is not named. However, the 1922 OS maps show both Terraces with name so they must have been built between 1866 and 1901. (Ford terrace to the south of Stakeford lane, then called simply 'High Street'): and Freehold Terrace to the North of High Street: Note on the first of those two maps that a new street has also appeared running at right angles to High Street and parallel to Blyth Terrace. I believe this is Sawmill Row but it is also possible that the street named Blyth Terrace was previously Sawmill Row as it stood on its own next to the sawmill. Unfortunately I can't find the name on any maps. Eggy, your a genius with maps. Can you do some sort of collage with arrows and pretty bits that show this as a then and now kind of picture?

Thanks guys! The lemons are still coming at me but but that swetened them up a bit.

Has this thread died or just gone to sleep? Life is giving me nothing but lemons and I desperately need a good laugh!