What is a Pant?

"What is a pant?" is a question often asked by Felling folk and other Geordies, who have or had a pant in their town. Is it primarily a memorial/commemoration or a drinking fountain?

It is a drinking fountain
often, but not always, used as a war memorial or as a commemoration of a coronation

 There's many drinking fountains in the North East but the following are called pants. Additionally, there are also pants to be found in Corbridge, Hexham, Embleton, Bamburgh and Lesbury

Pant near Alnwick, Northumberland

The Sandgate Pant, now gone, was at the junction of Sandgate and the Milk Market Newcastle upon Tyne c.1900. The Milk Market is in the background with the Tyne public house to the left and Johnson Dodds warehouse to the right

Bowden Pant Well, near Scottish Border

Dated 1861

The Pant on The Green, West Auckland

A Victorian water feature, adapted to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897 (plaque inserted near top of the front face) and a War Memorial recently placed adjacent.

The Pant Well at Newcastleton

The Pant Well in Douglas Square was designed in the late 19th century and has a domed roof. The lamp was added later.

The best of the pants in the North East and Borders are significantly less iconic than the Felling one was. It is the local authority that takes the initiative and oversees the preservation of these monuments which are invariably listed. What is gallingly ironic here is that not only was our monument not preserved by, but was actually destroyed by, the Local Authority

It was an unknown petty official of the Council who confined it to be broken up and used as landfill. This was the property of the people (funded by public subscription) and were it not beyond time limitation (or is it?) a formal public liability claim could be lodged, in negligence, to secure a replacement.The word "pant" is used most frequently in the North East, including the Borders. As a word for a town or district it does also crop up in Wales and in England, near the Welsh border.  Here's local historian Joan Hewitt in her history notes

 The memorial was popularly called 'The Pant' (old northern word for a fountain). Local wits said "No wonder, after climbing the High Street!"

For more on The Felling's pant

For more pant examples

Felling Heritage Exhibition

The Felling Heritage Group's
History Exhibition

Another resounding successful exhibition
@Methodist Church Hall, Coldwell Street, The Felling

10.30am-4pm
Fri 21st & Sat 22nd November 2014

Felling Shore Pubs

This map shows The Ferry House PH and The Unicorn PH

This is a snippet of Pigot & Co Trade Directory of 1841 naming Felling Shore Pubs. Note: Union pub run by William Forster? Where is the Grindstone? Is this right and/or complete? It needs investigation

Anchor Inn, Tyne Street

1841 it was run by William Jefferson and in same year Edmund Hodgson.
In 1877-1898 it was Robert Lightfoot

Bee Hive, Brewery Lane

1841 George Noble
1877 Thomas Diston

Brandling Arms

1877 Frederick Willshire
1898 John Sanderson

Grindstone Tavern, Tyne Street

Robert Wilkinson 1800 - 53 ran a pub and a maltings called the Grindstone Tavern at Felling Shore, Gateshead, Durham. Does anyone else have records of this pub / inn ? In the 1841 census his address is Low Felling, occupation Maltster. By the end of the decade he owned 4 boats in the Dictionary of Tyneside Shipowners giving his occupation as a inn keeper.
1877 it was Forster Stephenson
1898 William Willshire

Oak Tree

1841 Thomas Meadows

Ship Inn

1828 Rowland Richardson
1841 Elizabeth Richardson
1898 John Cunningham

Unicorn

1828 Thomas Emerson
1841 John Gallon
 

The Ferry, Friars Goose 

1877 Ralph Waugh
(called in 1841 The Ferry House, when James Vazey had it) 

The Wherry

1828 William Forster

Left click to enlarge

Green Tree, Brewery Lane

Julia O'Donnell



These are some notes made by Peter Haywood. He is trying to get a picture of what was going on at Felling Shore. We can identify that his sketch is of

here

His map is from the river looking south, inland, but...

...unfortunately the lower right of his map has been lost

This shows The Ferry pub. Click on the big map to see it enlarged to identify Nest House and Friars Goose Chemical Works

Felling Shore, back then

The riverside as it is now

The Railway Tavern, , The Old Engine, The Wherry, The Moulders Arms, The Ferry Boat and

Felling's Burning Brand

Like as the brand doth flame and burn
So we from death to life should turn

The Brandling's burning brand was a symbol of a ruthless greedy family who treated the ordinary pit men much as they treated the pit ponies. Just things they needed to generate them riches. On the other hand, people have said "without the mine owners, there would be no work" But I would say Hugh Lee Pattinson owned a chemical plant and he provided work and he got rich. But here's the  school for the workers' bairns provided by Pattinson set side by side with the one by Brandling

Pattinson's (left) Brandling's (right)
Click the images to enlarge

Back to the burning brand, The Felling Urban District Council, The Felling Male Voice Choir, The Felling Rotary Club and others, used it as a symbol and they have made it a symbol of The ordinary, nay extraordinary Felling Folk. Indeed The Felling Heritage Group now use it

Read more about the Brandling Family
and about Hugh Lee Pattinson
and about the Burning Brand

A Bunch of Felling Menfolk in1906

Click to enlarge

This is a photo from the Hayward Collection with no clues as to who these guys are or what they are doing in Horden, near Peterlee in 1906. Only the place and year are shown on the pic.
I happen to know that the chap at the back, second from left is Robert Sisterson, who had two shops, Herbal Drugs and Paint/Wallpaper on Felling High Street. I also think that I recognise a couple of others as traders on Felling High Street so it's my best guess that this is a Shopkeepers' outing to the seaside. At first I thought the white bearded chap sat atop of the hillock is the father of the bloke immediately behind him. There appears to be a family likeness. On closer inspection I now think it is a father and son outing with the fathers in front of their respective sons, except the Sistersons where Dad is at the back and son at the front.
Anyway, no matter. It's a telling pic of the business class in The Felling in 1906. They are all suited & booted, and mostly hatted and facially hirsuted.
I googled and came up with this random picture of the business/clerical set in the early 1900s

Group photograph of Bedale Bowling Green Society
Back row, left to right: W Porter (Grocer), J W W Trewhitt (Grocer), Wheldon J (Draper and Bill Oddy LookaLike), Dodsworth Fred Sir (Gentleman), Linscott T (Schoolmaster), Fowler H (Nurseryman), Whitelock M (Gentleman), Walker W. Front row left to right: Anderson G (All England Cricketer), Swarbreck B W (Solicitor), Mountford F H (Bank Manager), Kay W L (Grocer), Fowler R (Nurseryman), 

Also
 all suited & booted and facially hirsuted and clearly flat caps, bowlers and boaters and not smiling for the camera were required by law.
It's 1906. Here's a sobering thought. That young chap, kneeling on the bowling green, in 8 years time, will, more than likely, be kneeling in mud, dodging bullets, in a trench in Belgium.

Temperance in The Felling

It would appear that there was a lot of temperancing going on in The Felling and there was undoubtedly a lot of alcohol consumption fuelling it. Times were tough and money was tight and there is no doubt that drinking alcohol was a drain on a family's  tight budget. On the other hand, work life was hard...the long hours and the physical graft and it is understandable that the men would want some relaxation. My own grandad (1882-1953) raised his kids in Holly Street in The Felling and he was a teetotaller. The financial drain on that family was my grandma who was addicted to  the flicks at the Imperial and the Corona. There were no religions nor movements advocating less cinema attendance.
Watch this space for more on temperance in The Felling in the form of pubs with no beer,  much Methodism, League of the Cross, Good Templars, Sons of Temperance and even prissy landlords who would only let their accommodation to abstainers.
The following is a Band of Hope A-Z message to the children.  The letters A and G deal with Ale and Gin which is understandable but O is for Opium, which seems a tad over the top. It might have been prevalent in San Francisco about this time but surely not in The Felling...?

Photo supplied by Gordon Stridiron, via Joan Hewitt

A Band of Hope Alphabet

A is for Ale, which makes people ill

B is for Beer and the doctor’s Big Bill
C is for Cider, that no one should make
D is strong Drink, which we never will take
E is for Earnest, we all ought to be
F is for Fetters from which we are Free
G is for Gin, that terrible stuff
H is for Health-we look Healthy enough!
I is for Inn, which on Sundays should close
J is for Jail, where the poor drunkard goes
K is for kind, which we all try to be
L is for Love, always lovely to see
M is for Misery, caused by strong drink
N is our Nation, which needs now to think
O is for Opium, that perishes the brain
P is our Pledge from all ill to abstain
Q is for Questions we ask when we think
R is for Reasons why no one should drink
S is for Sober and Safe and Secure
T is for Teetotal, the best thing, we're sure
U Useful our pledge is to you and to me

V is better than Vice you'll agree
W for Water, far better than wine
X in eXcel, our pledge you should sign
Y is for Youth, the best time to begin
Z is for Zeal, that our cause we may win
Now our Alphabet's finished
We know you will think
We are Band of Hope children
And HATE all strong drink

Lord Cunningham of Felling

Another Famous Felling Fella
I have just googled Jack Cunningham who, back in the midst of time, was landlord of the Ship Inn at Felling Shore. That Jack didn't come up but this one did

Jack Cunningham, nowadays

He is the eminent politician Dr Jack Cunningham, and since 2005, has been known as Lord Cunningham of Felling. I thought I hadn't heard of him until I saw this pic.

Jack, on the right. I remember him well from the Blair years

I could have guessed that, by now, he might have been honoured but hush my mouth, he's taken The Felling in his title. Good on him!

Isn't it odd that almost every Fellingite, over a certain age,  remembers the disgraced Andy Cunningham, the dodgy politician..allegedly... but, no one ever mentions his son.

Yes, he is the son of Andy, brought up in Felling, went to Jarrow Grammar and eventually got a PhD in Chemistry... a doddle, perhaps, for a Felling lad who's roots lay in Felling Shore and its huge chemical industry 

He was the MP for Copeland for 35 years. He's still involved in public life in the North East. I'll get Margaret to drop him a line to see if he'll open our next The Felling Heritage Group's Nostalgia History Exhibition on Fri 21st and Sat 22nd November 2014 at the Methodist Church Hall opposite the bottom Bay Horse.There you are I started with a pub and finished with one..
(..to disguise a shameless advert)

The Felling is Short on Pubs

The Bugle, now Heron Foods
Would you believe it? The Felling is 3 pubs short of its statistical quota. There are 27,800 Folk in the Felling, including its "Villages"...Windy Nook to Bill Quay...so, statistically speaking, there should be 24 pubs. (The population of the UK is 64 million with 55, 000 pubs...1,164 people to each pub.) There are only 21, as I write this.  The Bugle became Herons, The Ship morphed into Premier, The Black House got extra from Tesco and The British Lion became Woolworths...well almost.

The Halfway House is now a full on house, as is The Mulberry and The Black Bull site will soon house many.

Pubs in the UK are closing at the rate of about 30 per day...or over 1,000 per year. That's not fast enough because there are tens of thousands of pubs running at a loss. Large pub chains allow the profitable pubs to subsidise the losers and those owning pubs, as against running of them, keep on finding mugs to take on pubs, doomed to failure by their location.
The bottom Bay Horse, yes this one

has just re-opened. It may prosper and I hope it does but if it does I'll show my arse in Fenwick's window

The Felling Pubs A to Y

Back in the industrial heyday The Felling was awash with pubs and I'm about to list every pub there ever was. Why? Why not, it will be the first/only record and it will be searchable for genealogists, local historians and folk who just love pubs. The list is large but bear in mind there are more names than there were ever pubs. Name changes were frequent. The Black House in Windy Nook, for example, back in the 1800's changed its name 4 times in a 24 year period.(Names are included in the following list contained in a purple box

Shared Colours = Same pubs, with name change P = Present name
Grey = Demolished or no longer a pub H meaning now housing, S meaning shop,
C = Still a pub, but closed

A

Albion, Bill Quay, H
Anchor, Felling Shore

B

Balmoral Tavern, High Felling
Barley Mow, High Felling
Bay Horse, Windy Nook
Bay Horse, High Felling
Bee Hive, Felling Shore
Beeswing, High Felling
Black Bull, Heworth Lane
Black Bull, Wardley
Black House, Windy Nook, S
Blink Bonny, High Felling
Blue Bell, High Felling
Board, Bill Quay 
Board, Windy Nook
Bottle House Tavern, Bill Quay
Brandling Arms, High Felling
Brandling Arms, Felling Shore
British Lion, Low Felling S
Bugle, Leam Lane, S

C

Colliery Inn, Wardley
Cricketers, Bill Quay
Cup and Coins, High Felling
Coal Waggon, Windy Nook
Crown and Thistle, Windy Nook

D

Deuchar Arms, Leam Lane
Dixielanders, Wardley
Durty Nellys, High Felling P
Duke of Connaught, Low Felling
Duke of Cumberland, High Felling
Duke of Cumberland, High Heworth
Dun Cow, Split Crow Rd, High Felling
Durham Ox, High Felling
Durham Ranger, Leam Lane

E

Eagle, Leam Lane
Elephant on the Tyne, Felling Shore

F

Fiddlers Three, Windy Nook P
Ferry House, Felling Shore
Ferry Boat, Friar's Goose

G

   Greyhound, High Felling C
    Grayhound, High Fellingng
Green, Wardley
Green Mandolin, High Felling C
Green Tree, Felling Shore
Grindstone Wharf Tavern, Felling Shore
Grindstone, Felling Shore

H

Halfway House, High Felling H
Hare & Hounds, Windy Nook
Hope & Anchor, Windy Nook

L

Lamb, Bill Quay
Last Orders, High Felling P
Lord Collingwood, High Felling H
Letterboard Inn, Bill Quay

M

Maiden Over, Heworth
Mallard, High Felling
Malting House, Low Felling
Mason's Arms, Bill Quay
Mulberry Inn, Low Felling H

O

Oak Tree, Felling Shore
Oddfellows, High Felling H
Old Fox, Low Felling

P

Pear Tree, Low Felling C
Pelaw Inn, Pelaw
Portland Arms, High Felling P

R

Railway Tavern, Low Felling
Railway Inn, Wardley
Ravensworth Arms, Windy Nook
Royal Turf Hotel, High Felling

S

Shakespeare, High Felling
Ship, High Heworth S
Ship, Felling Shore
Ship, Heworth Shore
Ship, Bill Quay
Shiplaunch, Felling Shore
Slipway, Bill Quay
Speed The Plough, Low Felling

Splitcrow Tavern, High Felling
(see top left of map)
Squire's Arms, Heworth Lane
Staith House, Pelaw Main(This may be in Hebburn)
Station Hotel, Low Felling
Sutherlands, Windy Nook
Swan, Heworth

U

Unicorn, Felling Shore

V

Victoria Jubilee, High Felling P

W

Waggon, Windy Nook
Wardley, Bill Quay
Watermill, High Felling
Wheatsheaf, Bill Quay
Wheatsheaf, Low Felling
Wheatsheaf, Heworth
(Demolished to make way for Brandling Junction Railway)
Wherry, Felling Shore
White Mare Pool, Wardley
Willows, Wardley

Y
Yarmouth Arms, Heworth Shore

Is this true?

Letterboard Inn, Heworth Shore
Built in the latter part of the 19th century, the Letterboard Inn was situated just south of the river and to the west of the shipbuilding yard of Wood, Skinner & Co. In 1855 the proprietor was Ann Wynn and in 1900 it was E. Melville.

the blog will say

A Work in Progress
until every pub is listed

Why is The Felling So Fond Of Domes?

As you will know, a cupola is the name for a small, usually dome-

like, addition to the top of a structure, like so:-

A

Here are some more examples from around the World

***

B

***

C

***

D

***

E

***

 F 

***

G

***

H

***

I

***

J

Can you spot, and name, The Felling's domes

There are four for you to find. Can you say why The Felling so takes such adornments to its bosom? (I've no idea why the word 'bosom' came into my head.) Is it just that one pub copycatted from the other... 

....or are they copying from Newcastle City which really digs domes.
(Additional game...name these puppies)

Photo ©  Jon Bratton

Indeed, Newcastle/Gateshead has a bosomy theme going on in its quayside bridges/buildings

P.S

How good is this ?

Young Hughie's Huge Chemistry Set

Hugh Lee Patterson
(His middle name is his mother's maiden name)

Hugh Lee Patterson, when he was 37, together with his Uncle John Lee and George Burnett in 1833, built what emerged over the next few years into a huge Chemical Works filling the space down the left hand side of Brewery Lane. For 53 years from 1833 until 1886 when it closed, it consumed a lot of coal, emitted foul gasses and produced a huge pile of obnoxious waste. However it also employed 1400 men and built and operated a school for the bairns. Along the way, HLP got rich.

He lived here, on Newcastle Road, West Boldon

He was building a house in The Felling

A work in progress...

He investigated great fire of Gateshead

Benevolent company..built school
The firm's demise..a loss to the town

As an aside, his youngest daughter married chemist R. S Newall whose home Field House on the Saltwell Estate of Gateshead eventually became the premises of  the private Gateshead High School for Boys. They had sold their previous school buildings to Gateshead Council who created Gateshead Grammar School

The Wardley Golf Course

The golf course in the suburb of Wardley in the town called The Felling

It is not known why, in 1912, a bunch of golfers left the Pelaw golf club to form Heworth golf club on the other side of the street but it's my guess that it must have been because the name was both geographically and historically incorrect. Pelaw was just a big collection of CWS factories a good way away from the course and was completely inappropriate ...unless of course the CWS built the course..they didn't did they?

The renegades chose to call their new course Heworth which was definitely less daft than Pelaw. However the course is in the suburb of Wardley and the suburbs of Heworth and Pelaw are, and were in 1912, some way away, all three are suburbs of the town called The Felling.

Here's the1920/30s map showing the Pelaw Golf Course and the Heworth Golf Course on either side of Leam Lane running from the suburb of Wardley at the bottom left side of the map to the neighbourhood of White Mare Pool at the top right

So the new course should have been called either after the town or the suburb where it lay. Wardley is a prettier name and place than Felling so my vote then would have been to call it Wardley Golf Club. Going back into pre-industrial history Heworth was the main name of the whole area so Heworth Golf Club wasn't that bad a  name. Two of the early big wigs were brothers Jack Green and James Fenwick Green who had shops on Felling High Street so I can see why they would not want their golf course to be called Felling and fair enough they and others settled on Heworth. 

I read, on the internet, a bio of John Robinson Spark who in the 1960's "joined Wardley Golf Club". If you google Wardley Golf Club you get Heworth Golf Club so, as a member of this very club, I've scrapped my letter to the Committee requesting a name change. However, when playing golf away from the area I may tell folk I'm a member of Wardley Golf Club. There's no other golf club in the World called Wardley but Heworth is as common as muck..OK, there's two in the World and the other one is near York ...which is var nye the next tattie field to us

The centenary of Heworth Golf Club in Wardley was in 2012 and was celebrated in style. A wonderful book recording all the celebration events was published and well worth a read.

The Golf Club has its own Youtube video channel