Kenton Bar Estate - A Blast from the Past

In Pursuit Of Total Modernism

2014-05-28T13:17:00.001+00:00

David Bilbrough http://www.davidbilbrough.co.uk

Bees

2014-05-28T13:12:00.000+00:00

The blog received this terrible post from an anonymous ....

Hello..
I remember when we were kids we used to go 'bee catching'...the best place was on the step pyramid field at Hartburn Walk...now my dad was totally against this saying it vos varbotten...now in my twilight years I can see why and concur with him...however, i still did it...the heart racing, adrenalin flowing as you caught the bee betwixt jar lid and jar...I remember catching bees with a kid called Bullhead...he used to also catch wasps in the jar with the bees, shake the jar so as to enrage the entrapped bees and wasps in the hope that they would fight...at the end of the day, I would release the bees...Bullhead however used to take his jar to a circular drain cover at the back of Dunnykirk Ave...it had a key like hole in it-Bullhead would take the lid off the jar and place the unlidded jar over the key hole on the drain cover...the bees would eventually fly down through the keyhole into the dark dismal dank drain...then Bullhead would remove the jar,and block the keyhole entrance with any rubbish at hand, entombing and incarcerating the poor bees, laughing his horrible head off...however, once he went home I would remove the blocking rubbish and give the lovely buzzy bees who make us honey the chance of escape and freedom ! :)

Assimilation into the Borg

2014-05-20T01:01:00.001+00:00

A cool rendering of a Borg Cube flat-block. Copyright is with the artist David Bilborough http://www.davidbilbrough.co.uk

A Wonderful Artist - A Call to Action Fellow Kenton Bar Freaks!!

2014-05-14T09:51:00.001+00:00

I was contacted recently by David Bilbrough, a very talented artist. See the photo below. Well….. David is about to put on an exhibition on Kenton Bar Estate which will showcase his work alongside the original work done by Ryder & Yates when designing and building the estate. David is calling for people who currently live on the estate to help him with a small but important project.

David would like to: -

Conduct some interviews with people who live on the estate - residents young and old, short term or long term. he wants to hear thoughts and so on about who the estate has changed over the years

He would like to get some copies of any personal archive images that people may have of life on the estate

He would like it if people currently living on the estate would be willing to photograph areas within the estate that have a special meaning to them. He will provide camera AND film too

If anyone has any other information they would like to contribute to his exhibition then you can contact him on the below email address. please quote this blog in your email!!!

studio@davidbilbrough.co.uk

One of david’s fine photos from his website http://www.davidbilbrough.co.uk

Kenton Triumphant

2014-05-09T02:23:00.001+00:00

Name the cup.

Name the year.

I know one of them - far right hand side, Machiavellian smile, lizard eyes, domed stupid melon hair - Phil Leaver. He once played for Newcastle United.

Skateboard Route 2

2014-04-16T06:01:00.001+00:00

This is what I would consider as route 2. It started at the top of Fawlee Green and kind of petered out on Ryal Walk near the flats as basically you would run our of steam because of no more inclines. This was the most dangerous route, especially at the bottom of Fawlee Green turning into a blind corner. I came head to head one time with some kid on a Chopper coming up the hill and he squealed like a stuck pig and miraculously

Technorati Tags: Kenton Bar Pyramid,skateboard,danger

I was unhurt

Great collage featuring flats at Kenton Bar and Pyramid

2014-04-13T18:01:00.001+00:00

Attribution goes to the very talented David Bilbrough - http://davidbilbrough.co.uk/#/portfolio/ryder-and-yates

Source of the picture above:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=232504186934278&set=a.151937791657585.1073741827.151654798352551&type=1&theatre

They are coming!!!

2014-04-11T19:59:00.000+00:00

Daffodils planted by a group of neighbours and children from Kenton Bar Primary School last Autumn are starting to peak through! Come on lads!!!!

Bike Route 2 and Skateboard Route 1

2014-03-31T16:58:00.000+00:00

This is bike route 2. Just as fast but all on pavement and IMHO twice as dangerous except for the death corner on route 1. This route is Very bad for pedestrians.
Start at the top of Ryal Walk, pedal like crazy al the way. Hill starts to flatten out around the area where Byrness Close and Ryal Walk cross. Keep peddling uphill towards the shops. Tear past the entrance to the infants school and hurtle past the mail box, keeping it on the right of you. Approach the top of the Pyrry bank and apply read breaks whilst turning skidding into the bank itself, foot down is a sissy option……. storm down the Pyrry bank and do a left or right skid at the bottom onto the tarmac. Voila – route 2 completed. Skid zone at the top of the Pyrry bank is marked in a red crescent. This ropute is more exciting than route 1 because of the dangers of pedestrians and also because the route itself is much narrower with houses on both sides almost all the way.
Skateboarding this same route is equally exhilarating BUT you can only get as far as the first flat bit (Byrness/Ryal crossing) before you run out of steam

Bike Route 1

2014-03-31T02:43:00.001+00:00

This is what I would call the premier bike route. It was certainly the fastest, I never tried it on a racing bike but I did do it full pelt on a Chopper a few times and reached a speed of approx. 45 MPH in the old money. The route was Hazeldene all the way. Starting at the junction of Hazeldene Avenue and Kenton Lane the first sections was a shallow incline followed by a flat section in front of the T1a houses. A 90 degree right turn into the first hill section, pedal like crazy….. and reach maximum phase 1 speed at the bottom of the hill around Byrness Close then into a flat section until just after Dr. Raj’s surgery then into the second hill. Down, down, down – peddling like mad – max speed reached around Laverock Place and if you are bold – keep peddling like mad…. and into the hard right death corner at the bottom of the hill. This is marked with a red dot on the diagram. This corn was notorious for car crashes and in fact the fence here was always a different colour from the rest as it had been replaced so often….coast around the corner at full speed then a gentle flat section and a slight uphill to the finish. I reckon all told about a mile but great fun and sooooo fast.

Click on the image for the full size version. Thanks to the GREAT Google Maps for the photos.

In Preparation For Skate/Bike Routes Post…..

2014-03-28T05:40:00.001+00:00

Bike routes – these spammed the length of the estate as bicycles by their very nature are sort of powered (by your legs you fool……). Personally I remember only two really memorable bike routes one of which I managed to do on my Chopper at 45 MPH as measured by my speedo.

Skate routes – these were mostly confined to the top part of the estate and sometimes as far down as the Pyrry Bank if you could get enough speed. For some reason not a lot of skating was done down past Reestones/Mallowburn – I guess because of the large flat part along Hartburn/Stubbon (sic) Walk made it harder to skateboard here

Thunder in the Sun

2014-03-28T05:12:00.000+00:00

When I was young on our beloved Kenton Bar Estate I remember watching this film...I was fascinated by it, and in particular the war cry of the Basques...I distinctly recall playing out after watching the film with some other green(good zone) vecks under the flats by her majesty(The Pyramid)at Reestones and jumping of the binsheds to the garage roof etc doing the warcry(Under the flats you got good echo)
AYE-AYE-AYE-AYE-AYE-AYE-AYE-AYE-AYE-AYE-AYEYAAAAHOOOOW!!!!!

Spring Has Sprung

2014-03-28T04:51:00.001+00:00

Two photos courtesy of BK and a nice appropriate themed Haiku poem from me.

pyramid's cherry
spring of the kenton!
the love's pyramid through

Reasonable Video

2014-03-21T09:11:00.001+00:00

Deadpan Joy

2014-02-02T00:39:00.001+00:00

A brilliant band identified
(see post/unknown-brilliant-band-from-kenton-bar)-the lead singer was Ed Hayles from Ryal Walk-as for the rest of the band please update the blog-as I said I once saw them in the Dog and Parrot when I was alive aged 30ish-they were fantastic-reminiscent of the Friendly Bombs, but also I presume doomed to never being recognised due to myopic perceptions of the lack of talent from Newcastle thanks to mediocre /dreadful bands from Newcastle who did 'make it'..damn their eyes...but .I hope DeadPan Joy did make it-I had a quick look and couldn't find much except this::
https://myspace.com/deadpanjoy/music/songs
Maybe they were still on the go 2010?...First track 'London' is mint-all tracks on the link below are also mintage in my opinion, even after the 15? years since I had the fortune to see them
ironically as I'm about to up this post there is another comment to the thread with more info re Ed Hayles solo career-I will investigate-thank you anonymous!
Thanks to Ed's brother for enabling me to celebrate something wonderful from Kenton Bar Estate :)

Bungalow Bill

2014-01-03T05:03:00.001+00:00

Reprobate Person on Deviant Chopper Type Bicycle

2014-01-03T03:05:00.001+00:00

My Dear Friends – below is a photo showing the back of the 4 bed gas/electric houses. It shows a young thug in a suitable insouciant pose – contemptuous to say the least. I will let you draw your own conclusions as to the types of people who used to live in these houses…..

The Egg

2013-12-27T15:43:00.000+00:00

Hello....long long ago in the dark dim distant days of slim youth I lived in a bungalow on my beloved Kenton Bar Estate(where my spirit still dwells to this day, ceaselessly patrolling the ramparts of Castle Kenton Bar in the darkmans when all are aslumber...but I've told you all this before...
One day I was watching an episode of' Coronation Street'and my recollection of this was that Alf Roberts was wittering on about how you cant break an egg if you put it in between your palms, pointed bits touching each palm and press on the egg, hands joined in like a cats cradle way...this he demonstrated...now I've looked for this on you tube but cant find...anyway I proudly marched to the kitchen to demonstrate this to my beloved mother...unfortunately I must of miss positioned the egg and it smashed all over the kitchen floor...my beloved mother was unfortunately not in the best of moods and her eyes went red...now iI knew from bitter experience that when the eyes went red the next think would be snarling gritted teeth followed by chests punches to the syllables of each word...for example it would have gone'you!(1 chest punch(CP) stupid!(2CP) little!(2CP) bloody!(2CP) sod!(1CP)...I had no which to suffer pain so I ran...I ran oh my brothers...out out out the kitchen door left then left to the fence joining our bungalow to the next one then up up and up I leapt like a young gazelle, hauling meinself up on the fence then onto the roof...leaning over the edge, looking down Gollum like on my beloved mother, now full hate and loathing to your humble narrator oh mein brothers...Get down here you little bugger, NOW! she roared, but I wisely and sadly shook mein gulliver side to side, that discourse not being wise...panting she lurched off in in and in to the bungalow whilst I waited until her wrath had calmed...all because of a bloody egg eh?

Couple of nice B&W Shots of Kenton Bar

2013-11-15T11:14:00.000+00:00

Photographs: David Bilbrough

Guess what........

2013-10-27T18:19:00.001+00:00

The boy from Lapland part 1

2013-08-22T08:15:00.002+00:00

Long long ago in the dark dim distant days of slim youth there lived a chap known to some of us as 'the boy from Lapland'-his first name was actually Trev...now The boy from Lapland was not actually from Lapland, but at that time this TV show was on called'The boy from Lapland'...now Trev look a liking to the theme tune, which developed into an obsession...he was a very keen golf player and was always on kenton school field, playing golf(always by himself) and would constantly sing this bloody tune whilst playing golf...you could here him bawling his head off on the field all over the estate, at all times of the day...he never tired of it...so whenever we saw him we would greet him not with 'hello Trev' but with'oy loy loy, loy loy loy, loy loy loy loy, loy loy loy loy,loy loy loy' which seem seemed to delight him...I never forgot this and whenever I saw him on occasion in a bar/in the street/in a supermarket etc over the next 35 years I would sing this...his eyes would still light up, and a smile of delight would spread across his ancient haggered litso(face)...
But coming soon...The terrible tale of The boy from Lapland 2...

BAB Brendon Chase

2013-08-19T07:16:00.001+00:00

The blog received another incredulous post from the Anonymous Tortured Soul:
'I remember one summer...must have been 1981 the KBAB and NKAB had allied with the BAB in the war v the NHAB...for some reason we went down Blakelaw, and the BAB started to join us...as we walked down the horrible streets they all started whistling this theme tune..more and more of the BAB came out at the sound of the whistling, jumping over hedges and joining the entourage...they kept on whistling it, it getting louder and louder as more and more riff-raff joined the seething throng...it was obviously a signal to muster the troops, bit like in West Side Story...'

Fags and filters

2013-07-02T06:37:00.003+00:00

The blog received this post from the anonymous tortured soul...the master ordered me to up the poor wretch's meanderings...
'When I was a kid on Kenton Bar Estate my mam and dad used to sit in the front room smoking their head's off;my mam used to smoke and when she needed to tap the ash off when it got too long she used to flip the back of her slipper off and dab the ash onto the inside of her slipper then put her foot back into the slipper;she would repeat this process every time the ash got too long, so the soul of her heel was always black...meanwhile my dad would be smoking his Golden Virginia rolly...he didn't use an ashtray, but would dab the ash off onto the lid of the baccy tin, then crush the but on it then blow the extinguished but and ash off the tin onto the carpet...one day I curiously asked him why he did this...his reply was 'what does it matter?your mother will hoover them up in the morning'...so our front room carpet in the split levels was always covered in ash and backy butts on a night...
Also when my mam washed our clothes she used to dry them on a clothes horse in the front room next to the heating vent...as they both smoked like 40 fags a day my clean clothes were quickly rendered unclean and I always stank of smoke...

Why you never needed a bog brush on KBE if you lived in a 4 Bed

2013-06-13T07:33:00.001+00:00

Anybody remember the power of the flush? I do – sticks in my mind like a toothpick in the eye. Let me enlighten you oh dear readers……………..

The toilets on KBE were regular toilets, no magic parts in ‘em EXCEPT that by some strange quirk of design the cistern was elevated way way above the toilet itself by about 4-5 feet ( I am talking from experience of the 4 bed gas/electric houses by the way and specifically the downstairs water closet by the back door.) Pulling the string in one of these suckers was like releasing the whirlwind. The gurgle then massive flush with the power of a tsunami on overdrive was enough to make me scared as a 4 year old so much so that I hated using that toilet preferring to go upstairs. Even the ordinary toilets had a mighty flush and there was no danger of date marks on those bowls – clean enough to eat off. I am sure even bacteria could not have held on. Needless to say that Mr. Grey at the VG never sold a single toilet brush in all the years he was the shopkeeper.

Thoughts?

Anti-Uniform Demo - Kenton School

2013-05-10T06:44:00.003+00:00

A nice view of the old girl eh? Not sure of dates.