Ravensworth Road was Dunston's main shopping centre until its demoltion in the mid-sixties, Dunstonians would shop at Butchers such as Youngs, Wilkinsons and Scotts, greengrocers like Creeds, Mordues and Norwood and Wilson, hardware and ironmongers like Fishers and Pooles and haberdashers like Charltons Barnards, Hall the general dealers, R.A. Youens, Dairyman ran the Baldwin Flatts Dairy and sold and Pasteurised, T.T. Eshott and Jersey Milk with early deliveries everywhere, we even had pawnbrokers, Carrs or Browns, best suits in on a Monday and redeemed in time for church the following Sunday.
In the early days nearly everything was delivered to your door , clothes props were used to lift laden washing lines higher so that the carts could progress up and down back lanes, most back lanes showed hatches in the walls and some of these still exist although no longer for their original purpose, those at ground level were used to empty the "netties" and those at shoulder level height for the delivery of coal, the coal arrived and the netty waste departed on the good old horse and cart.
In the early days nearly everything was delivered to your door , clothes props were used to lift laden washing lines higher so that the carts could progress up and down back lanes, most back lanes showed hatches in the walls and some of these still exist although no longer for their original purpose, those at ground level were used to empty the "netties" and those at shoulder level height for the delivery of coal, the coal arrived and the netty waste departed on the good old horse and cart.
The first Dunston Post Office was in prime position on the corner of Railway street, Dunston's growth necessitated a move to a larger place for the Post Office and they later moved to Commercial Buildings (this shop later became Roberts the Printers), this post office also housed a secret, a telephone exchange built to replace the main exchange in Gateshead should it become a war casualty, this never happened and the secret Dunston exchange was dismantled without ever being used, the main shopping activity
began to move away from the high end of Dunston and up to Ravensworth Road and shops such as Pooles, Norwood and Wilson, Jock Garrows (Pictured below), Mrs Reays, Madges, Thompsons and Creeds were always busy and the new Post Office moved to Davidson Place (Where the bus stop is now just down from Dunston Activity Centre ) the Post Office was in the middle all this activity on so anyone buying meat from Olive and Ned or a record playing needle from McKechnies could also pop into the post office.
Away from this concentration of shops many streets had individual shops like Tindales on Wellington Road, now converted into a house, Culeys on Ellison Road, many tradesmen came out to customers by horse and cart and this was the time to see buckets and shovels in use collecting manure for gardens.
Many bottom enders will remember the Havis family who kept cows on both sides of Wellington Road at the top of Queen Street (later renamed to West View Terrace), there was also Freddie Boyd who sold vegetables from his horse and cart and ran a general dealers business from Athol Street, house shops were common at this time, front rooms would be used as shops, there was one in Tyndal Garden and Wilson Street.
Dunston's only shopping chain was run by the Jarron family who sold newspapers, sweets and cigarettes, Harry Jarron took over the iriginal family shop on Ravensworth Road, Charlie on Wellington Road and Maud at the Four Lane Ends.
Gateshead Co-operative Society also had three Dunston outlets on Ravensworth Road and Wellington Road and the Cresent, sugar weighed into blue bags and barrels of butter sliced and patted into half-pounds.
Wards directory of 1933 lists a Robert Cowan painter, who lived at 100 Ravensworth Road, the directory provides a mine of information, many shopkeepers are listed also listedare Doctors Alec Hanson and Andrew Dougall at Glen Park with the distinctive telephone number of 100, some entries remind us of past industries:- Edward Bell, trimmer, David Boyle Blacksmith, Fredrick Morrison Cinema Owner, William Wilson Cart owner, the directory remind us of places gone, Dole House which was in Davidson Place (Just down from the Activity Centre) Winlo Cresent, Sadler Square.
Billy Griggs, Barber...
Billy Griggs 1903 – 1989
Billy Griggs moved to Wellington Road from Blyth when he was just three years old, and spent almost all his lifetime as a barber, having started as a lather boy when he was ten. When his employer went off to fight during The First World War, Billy gained experience in all aspects of the business. When his employer returned and forced him to take a cut in wages, Billy at the age of 16, decided to strike out on his own.
He opened for business in a wooden hut in Railway Street, where he stayed until it was demolished. He then converted the front room of his home into a shop. Dunston’s “Billy the Barber” was cutting hair in this shop until he was 80. Even after retirement he continued to trim hair for his family. In 1983, Billy and his wife Hilda celebrated their Diamond Wedding. Billy died in 1989, aged 86.