Sandyford and Goldenhill

David Wood’s recollections start with his remembering of the Co-op and it’s white coated assistants. This is a sad place to start with this times story because about two months ago the Co-op moved out of Goldenhill and has been replaced by another food chain Supermarket. The down memory lane story goes as follows.

3 Rodgers Street, Goldenhill in 1967

The Co-op with its white coated assistants who patted butter from barrels into oblong shapes and weighed sugar from the sacks into blue paper bags. When you paid your money to the assistant, it was placed into a canister and whizzed around on a pulley system the shop to the cashier’s desk at the back, a few minutes later your receipt and change arrived back by the same method. Can you still remember your mum’s “divi” number, I can.

Mrs Salmon had the ladies wear shop on the corner of Ann Street. If you search the internet you will find a couple of articles by her son David, he reminisces in much the same way that I do.  A whole block of houses had no shops in it, this was between Anne Street and Wagon Road. The next business was Mr Harratt’s with a shop at the front and his bakery at the back.

Moving up to Dale Street or Andrew Street as it became, were the Public Conveniences, clean as a pin, all white tiled walls and if you were a young lad desperate to spend a penny, you were told to “get off home, this is for grown ups not children”. A council depot was at the back of here and they stored a road roller there.

Back to the High Street and we had a couple of bench seats supplied by the council for people to sit on, it was here where the salute was taken on Armistice Day by Major Lamb if my memory is correct.

The next terrace included Lovatt’s chip shop and Mrs Frost’s sweet shop. For tuppence you could have a drink of  cordial which had been highly charged with carbon dioxide, it was supposed to be drunk slowly, if you drank it very quickly you couldn’t get your breath for a few minutes. Unfortunately the lady didn’t like young lads hanging about in the shop so you had to drink it as fast as you could, with alarming results.

On the corner of North Street was a big sign advertising Double Diamond and next to it was a monumental mason’s yard. All the way along the level was a field on the right hand side until you reached Oldcott Drive. I think there was a shop in the drive but I can’t ever remember going in there.

Newsagents 764 High Street, Goldenhill in 1967

If you crossed over the road to the Travellers Rest the old slag heaps on the other corner were known as the Starvation Banks, why, I haven’t a clue, they landscaped them in 1961 with the intention of the area becoming a park, still waiting.

Further up the lane past Vera Neate’s stables was the playground with a good variety of rides to suit children of all ages. With today’s rules the rides would be classed as highly dangerous and not allowed. Who amongst you can remember taking a grease proof paper bread wrapper to lubricate the slide so that you flew off the end?

Down the track past the Tin Church brought you to the pop works or to give it the correct title, Goldenhill Mineral Water Company owned by the Wharton family.

So until next time please keep watching, when we can share some more of David’s stories of memory lane Goldenhill.