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For those of us fairly new to Morpeth it is difficult to
imagine the town without its modern amenities. We might think of it as a quaint
place to live or work, with its traditional market town air - but for those who
grew up in its streets, Morpeth isn't half the town it used to be.
The following gives a fascinating glimpse into the past, and reveals a great deal about old Morpeth, and what made it so special and why people look back with happy memories to those days.
For instance, the Mitcheson family and their lodgings in Salop House were well known in Morpeth and indeed further afield. People would travel from all over the country because they became so well-known.
For 10d a night travelling workers and salesmen could find warm and comfortable shelter in the yellow brick house on the corner of Back Riggs and Corporation Yard. There were many characters who made the lodging house their home, some for short durations, other for months or years.
There was Billy Lightly the gas board lamplighter, and Tommy Clark, the council road sweeper. Bob Leigh, the watchmaker, was well-known for his herb tobacco, and the Spanish onion man played dominoes with onions for the stakes.
There was also a hiring day in Old Morpeth. On that day farm hands and other workers came to the market to secure jobs for a few months.
If you were up for hire, you stood with one foot on the pavement and one in the gutter, waiting for the farmers to come along and talk to you.
On such busy days there was always a way of making a penny or two. You could run horses down from the Hollon Fountain to the Black Bull Inn, for prospective buyers to view.
Or you could hold the nose bag in front of the horses labouring up the Dogger Bank, and coin in a ha'penny or two.
Yard fights were common, where friendly rivalry between the various streets and yards thrived. The George and Dragon Yarders, the Kings Heed Yarders, the Corporation Streeters, all have since disappeared.
The following gives a fascinating glimpse into the past, and reveals a great deal about old Morpeth, and what made it so special and why people look back with happy memories to those days.
For instance, the Mitcheson family and their lodgings in Salop House were well known in Morpeth and indeed further afield. People would travel from all over the country because they became so well-known.
For 10d a night travelling workers and salesmen could find warm and comfortable shelter in the yellow brick house on the corner of Back Riggs and Corporation Yard. There were many characters who made the lodging house their home, some for short durations, other for months or years.
There was Billy Lightly the gas board lamplighter, and Tommy Clark, the council road sweeper. Bob Leigh, the watchmaker, was well-known for his herb tobacco, and the Spanish onion man played dominoes with onions for the stakes.
There was also a hiring day in Old Morpeth. On that day farm hands and other workers came to the market to secure jobs for a few months.
If you were up for hire, you stood with one foot on the pavement and one in the gutter, waiting for the farmers to come along and talk to you.
On such busy days there was always a way of making a penny or two. You could run horses down from the Hollon Fountain to the Black Bull Inn, for prospective buyers to view.
Or you could hold the nose bag in front of the horses labouring up the Dogger Bank, and coin in a ha'penny or two.
Yard fights were common, where friendly rivalry between the various streets and yards thrived. The George and Dragon Yarders, the Kings Heed Yarders, the Corporation Streeters, all have since disappeared.
