It’s still within our living memory

Feb 6 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

Tony Henderson opens the door on a world on the brink of becoming history.

IT is still within living memory – but it’s an entirely different world. The conditions in which many North East families lived are barely imaginable to generations which have grown up with central heating, fitted carpets and gadgets galore.

Life in the tenements and Tyneside flats which would be the subject of mass slum clearance schemes has been captured in a venture led by Mike Greatbatch, who runs the Newcastle Community Heritage Project.

The city council-funded project, working with Age Concern, talked to those who had experienced the hard life in Tyneside and south east Northumberland at luncheon club meetings at St Silas’ Church in Byker in the city.

Their memories have been distilled into a new book, Housing and Home Life.

“One aspect of people’s lives which has changed very dramatically is housing. The stories in this book help us to remember that until recently people lived in conditions which would now be regarded as completely unacceptable,” said Sue Pearson, chief executive of Age Concern Newcastle.

“The overcrowding, lack of access to basic facilities such as hot water and electricity and the sheer hard work involved in keeping people and houses clean will be a revelation to young people.”

The Byker exercise is part of wider programme, called Newcastle Memory Map, which is working with half a dozen luncheon clubs.

Many of those who have contributed lived – and still do – in the Byker and Walker areas, which are now once again at the centre of major regeneration.