Growing up in Sunderland: Remembering the autumns and winters of childhood on Wearside
Crunching through the autumn leaves and turning your street’s ice into a slide.
We are well into autumn and, with winter just around the corner, we wanted to hear your fond memories of growing up on Wearside during the colder months. And boy, was it cold!
The snow was deep enough to cover your wellies and neighbours all had to lend a hand in clearing the paths and taking care of our older residents. Meanwhile, there was still plenty of time left over for children to play and make the most of the winter wonderland created by icy conditions.
As Autumn arrived, there were happy days spent foraging for blackberries and racking up your conker collection. When the months rolled on, families braced for the first frost and the inevitable snowfall that would blanket communities across the Sunderland area.
So grab your sledge and wellies, as we’re off on a trip down memory lane. Don’t forget the big coat!
Here are some of your childhood memories of autumns and winters in the Sunderland area:
Debbie Hickman: “Foraging along hedgerows around Silksworth with my dad (who was half-Cornish and grew up on farms). Though we didn’t call it foraging then, just blackberrying and scrumping.”
Martyn Benson: “A memory of fishing from the Whitburn end of Seaburn beach when there was ice at the water's edge.”
Paul Vickers: “Taking the sledge my dad made to school. Going fishing in the river at the bottom of our village. (Castletown) Best flatties caught there. Turning the ice on our street into a fairly long slide.”
Grundy Linda: “Walking along Netherburn Road to and from school in the Autumn, shuffling your feet to make piles of leaves. And when it had snowed making sure we cleared our elderly neighbours’ paths of snow and ice.”
Tom Liddle: “Conkers!” and “1963, first winter at school. Wellies couldn't cope with the depth of snow. Red lines on my legs for months. It was a devil of a winter, but we loved it.”
Jean Shaw: “Remember being wet and having to change wellies for pumps then changing back into cold wet wellies. Yuck. Loved the snow though. Always have.”
Debbie Bar: “Crisp frost, indoor frost, slides, crunchy snow.”
Judith Porter: “People having to dig each other out of our cottages in Millfield, the snow was so high and had drifted, late ‘40s, early ‘50s.”
David Mcmahon: “Making slides on the bank and same fella every morning throwing hot ashes on it, sledge racing on the same bank.”