Walbottle Voices is a new idea to record the memories of people who live in Walbottle and wish to share them with others and the generations to come.
Your memories of the village and surrounding area are precious and we wish to capture them and make them freely available to others. If you wish to take part and share your memories of Walbottle past please email us at [email protected], reach out to our Facebook group or send us a message using the form on the contact page and someone will respond.
We received a very nice email from Mr Brian Bennett who used to live in the village.
Brian went to Walbottle Primary school in the mid sixties and sent the photograph of his school class from 1964 or 65. Brian is second from the right on the back row.
He remembers others in the photograph such as Eric Stead, Thomas Liddle, Brian Mercel, John Nixon, Phillip Crook, Keith Tulip, David Carter, Sandra Black, Richard Storey, Linda Carter, Janice Yoxall and of course the wonderful Mrs Lambert.
Brian lived in Percy Cottages before redevelopment which used to be on Queen’s Road near the Percy Arms, but moved with his Grandparents into No 9 Percy Way when they were completed.
It sounds like Brian had a very interesting life. He left Walbottle at the age of 18 in 1974 and joined the Army. After leaving the Army he lived in France, Kuwait, Maurtius, Kenya, Uganda and Romania then went to Florida where he trained dogs for the police department. He now lives in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire and has only returned to Walbottle about 4 times. His aunt Doreen lived at number 11 Percy Way then moved to one of the bungalows until her recent death.
Researching my family tree I found my Grandfather’s birth certificate; dated 9/12/1890, New Row, Walbottle. His Father, Joseph Armstrong, was a haulier and accomplished cyclist. Some of his prizes can be seen in the first photograph. The second a plaque, (used on a display featuring his Whitworth racer) shows his results over a short period in the late 1800’s. In 1975 my apprenticeship began at a factory in Coventry, originally Rudge Whitworth where Great Grandad’s racer was built. Years later my wife introduced me to her friends who live in Walbottle, the 6-degrees of separation theory proven!
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