Starting in 1875 the plot revolves around a Victorian house in Jesmond. The story sweeps the reader across continents as it charts the lives and loves of the O’Dowd and Le Britton dynasties. A great majority of the book is set in both Jesmond and Gosforth so gives the reader a valuable insight into the two villages in the pre and post war years.
“In the first years of the post-war there was a terrible housing shortage in the United Kingdom.” Author – Jack P Harland shares a beautifully evocative account of 1950s life in Ash Street Gosforth
I was born in the unheated bedroom of a one up, one down colliery house in a snowstorm. The midwife couldn’t get there so my Grandma delivered me. I spent much of my early childhood in that house as my mother worked and I loved it. It was a couple of doors down from the Trap, the social heart of Coxlodge.
It is one of the most intriguing notions when we research a house history to imagine what went on behind the front door. In this guest post, we are delighted to be able to give you a glimpse of life behind the door of one such house on Westfield Avenue in Gosforth.