Old Boys, Girls and Teachers Guestbook

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Welcome to the Guestbook
Feel free to add messages relating to the site and the school. The only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).

It would be appreciated if you gave an email address, where you now live and said when you were at the school, but you don't have to.

Plase note that if you click on an email address below you will need to replace ~DOT~ with . and ~AT~ with @ in your email program. The Guestbook presents these this way to avoid email address harvesters collecting your email addresses from the page. I know it's a pain, but it's very much better than the alternative.

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There are 500 messages in the guestbook
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Viewing messages 11 to 20

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Regarding the comments (mine included) concerning the paucity of contributors, Shakespeare came to mind ."We few, we happy few"!

I heard an interesting comment from a Newcastle lass on TV recently. " There are two types of people in England. Geordies and those who want to be Geordies" I'm sure that We deserters from our roots all look back with affection to our time on Tyneside all those years ago.

I don't know if the marvels of UK TV streaming services extend to Canada but if they do the ITV series "Vera" is worth watching for a lot of scenes set in SS.

Sunderland in the Premier League!! I watched their qualifying matches against Sheffield United with my heart in my mouth and was taken back to my boyhood - getting on the bus to go to Roker Park. Bus fare 4 pence, entrance to the ground 6 Pence (I think).

Len Shackleton transferred from Newcastle to Sunderland and opened a sports shop next to the swimming pool. Maximum pay for footballers Ł20 per week.

Keep smiling.

Fri 30-May-2025 16:28 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Dear all,
Sunderland have won their way back into the First Division (Ooops, Premier League) in the very last minute of added-on time. I'm a Newcastle fan but love the rivalry. Howay the Lads
Alex,
From a sunny but cool North York.

Sat 24-May-2025 18:08 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello…Is anyone out there…Hellooooo, Neale , Bruce, Mike, Alan and Eric etc.
I promised myself I would contribute at least once a month throughout the year as well as replying to other letters that may come in. It’s working so far. Bruce mentioned that Good Friday had passed and I’m sure many of us have memories of those days, when the old timers would be matched against a local team. I remember seeing Warney (Warnford) Cresswell, but I’m not sure whether or not if my distant cousins, Bobby and Jack Charlton and Jackie Milburn ever played there. They are related to me through the Swinney and Paxton families of Ashington. Never met them never got a free ticket to any game, not even the Old Timers.
Victoria Day has just been celebrated here in Canada. So my eldest daughter drove to Toronto to pick me up for last weekend to go to her home on Georgian Bay. A beautiful home on the shore of Lake Huron. She wheels her kayak down her garden into the lake. I was out in the canoe but the weather wasn’t clement enough for me and I don’t like being too far from the shore. I’ve got my lifejacket on and I still swim once a week at the local geriatric pool …but they’re all old folk there and don’t even like getting wet!!.
Anyhow the reason for this month’s episode is that while I was at Katherine’s it was pissitively pottling down on Saturday and Katherine introduced me to AI (Artificial Intelligence, not as one of Trump’s spokespersons called it on air last week, “A ONE”). I wasn’t familiar with the use of it but after she gave me a couple of examples, I became hooked on it, and have been trying all sorts of questions. Most of which I figured would baffle AI. But to my surprise answers came thick and fast…roughly after about 5 seconds after entering my questions. One question I asked was about Newcastle United and the answer came back, ending with “Howay the Lads” I recognize there is a bit of a dichotomy about its use but I don’t think I am prominent enough in my queries to be affected by mistaken or misleading answers. I’d be interested in hearing Mike’s thoughts on the subject and of course the thoughts and experiences of any of our readers…if there are any out there other than us.
Bye from a cold, rainy and blustery North York.
Alex

Fri 23-May-2025 02:31 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

As it's Good Friday I got to thinking whether or not there is still the parade and gathering in front of the old Town Hall - collapsed or not?

I seem to remember that I had difficulty getting to the town from the outskirts of the Sutton Trust estate as the buses didn't start running until 9 AM.

The ancient ones reading this will understand.

Fri 18-Apr-2025 20:55 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike, Neale and Bruce,
Thank Goodness!! It's such a relief to learn that there are at least two more un-popped cloggers out there. Though it seems that neither of you saw the 'collapsed Town Hall' on Facebook. I still haven't had a reply from the Gazette. I'll keep plugging away at it until I get some satisfaction. At the moment I'm like 'The Rolling Stones'...not getting any.
Cheers, from a light snowy North York,
Alex

Thu 10-Apr-2025 19:46 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Neale Backhouse. | neale1447~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hi Mike,
Kudos to Alex as he continues his ninety year old gallop in our Guestbook. He's so boisterous that the rest of us have to struggle to find something to talk about. He reminds me of Captain Ahab in "Moby Dick," in search of the great white whale! (just reading it at the moment).
The only item I have to report is the exquisite joy that I felt last weekend after defeating my 12year old Grandson at chess. (he is leading me 11 games to seven in our latest test series). I have learned to embrace humiliation of late, not easy for a soon to be ninety year old. He even tells me where I went wrong, and then adds, "You taught me too well." But last weekend was glorious!!!

Wed 9-Apr-2025 01:13 - Victoria BC

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Yes, Alex, there are some people still watching and marvelling at your contributions.

Just to note that one the the BBC daytime programmes "Under the hammer" seems to have chosen SS as a new site for many of its house-buying adventures.

Lovely views if the harbour and the retrored Roman fort.

Tue 8-Apr-2025 17:47 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike and anyone else who might ever look at the site again,
This is the first of my April contributions, and this one has nothing to do with our old school, other than the fact that some of you still live in South Shields. Last week I did something I never do, and that is to look at my desktop before I’ve had breakfast. No specific reason, just force of habit. My computer was still on Facebook from the evening before. It was the usual front-load garbage, then a South Shields email flashed on showing a photo of the Town Hall clock tower collapsed into Westoe Road with a commentary describing the unsteady ground beneath the tower, 3:00 a.m., time of collapse, no injuries, road closures for Fowler Street and Beach Road and preliminary engineering report that the tower would not be rebuilt, even the rationale for the tower being built on the corner of the Town Hall and not over the central main entrance, because of the risk of subsidence. The photograph showed the police patrolling the scene complete with barriers and temporary guard rails then POOOUUUFFF!!! the email disappeared and I couldn’t recover it.
My immediate reaction was to call one of my friends in South Shields but there was no reply so figured they were probably out looking at the damage. I called a couple more with the same result. Then I called my eldest daughter here in Canada and of course she got it right away. APRIL FOOL. My relief was palpable. I sat down and had a nice cup of tea. Then I tried to see if I could find the article again. No joy!! I must say whoever perpetrated the item was extremely skilled. From what I remember of the email it looked like a drone shot complete with all you would expect from such an incident. I was surprised that the tower would collapse so tidily almost intact except for the belfry and I couldn’t discern the ship model from atop the Tower and presumed it had been salvaged by city workers.
Have any of you readers seen this hoax at all ? I’ve tried Youtube and done endless searches but can find no record of it. I would love to see it again and take a photo of it…no one believes me here. Any suggestions Mike or any reader? I couldn’t find any reference to it in later editions of the Gazette “Is puzzlement”
Regards from a no-snow North York
Alex

Mon 7-Apr-2025 22:00 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

...and in honour of St Patrick's Day, my favourite Irish expression, "It was this mornin' when I got in last night an' it'll be tomorra' mornin' tonight again"
Cheers,
Alex

Mon 17-Mar-2025 20:30 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Alex Patterson, VUA 1946 - 1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello again,
....and Rory won the Players on St. Patrick's Day !!!
Cheers,
Alex

Mon 17-Mar-2025 18:00 - North York, Ontario, Canada

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