rag and bone

[rusty]

Any one remember Hanraty,s the rag and bone man,i think he had a yard by a railway bridge near St Hildas,got my first Goldfish in exchange for a bundle of rags.
I think my mum called it by another name ...like washing.

[anna]

[Jarrow Pete]

Remember it well, used to take scrap metal from the old quarry at Marsden down to his yard, I seem to remember yard was near where the trading estate is now at rear of old Plessey factory. Baldy will be able to give you a more accurate location when he comes on later.

[baldy.smith]

Hanratty's scrap yard was at the bottom of Havelock Street, a hundred yards from my house
which was also on Havelock Street.
We used to go around the bombed out areas and collect old rags, bottles and jam jars. We
would then make sure that the rags at the bottom of the sack were wet to increase their
weight, then it was off to Hanratty's where we exchanged them for cash. I can still remember
what he looked like, shabby suit and a brown trilby and a pipe in his mouth.
We made quite a few bob from him.

[sless]

i remember the rag man around westoe
called ronny the ragman
he had a dodgy arm
but we all used to sit on his barrow and he pushed us up and down the backlanes
good old days
on the upside
we were getting £180 a ton for scrap 4 weeks ago

[baldy.smith]

on the upside
we were getting £180 a ton for scrap 4 weeks ago

No wonder you can afford to live where you do.


Back in Hanratty's days he was the main man, nearly all of
the rag men who went around the streets, took their cart
loads of rags and scrap to Hanratty.
There were one of two others in the town, in the area which
rusty mentions, around where St Hilda's pit was and around
by the gas works.

[Globalmyths]

No Steptoe and son in our area but had a blacksmiths though.

[rusty]

As i recall,Mr Hanraty lived till the early fifties and died with an estate reported to be over 1.5 million Pound.The Hanraty,s man who came to HS Edward st came with a pony and Trap.

[baldy.smith]

I left Havelock Street in 1953 and Hanratty was still going strong then.

We used to get a pony and trap coming around the streets giving kids
a ride around the block for a penny a go. The same guy also had a couple
of donkeys and it was a penny for a ride the length of the back lane and
back.

Nearly everyone used horses and carts in those days, coal man, milkman,
fishmonger, rag man, just about everyone.

We also had a couple of bins in the back lanes, for people to put waste
food in, these were emptied daily by the pig swill man.

We also had a lamplighter who used to ignite the street lights which ran
off gas. He also used to wake people up in the mornings for work by
tapping on their bedroom windows with the pole he used to light the
lights with. Each person he woke up paid him about a penny a week for
the service.

[rusty]

we must be about the same vintage Baldy,only thing you did not mention was the air raid shelters in the streets plus the tanks of water for fire fighting,what about collecting shrapnel ?

[baldy.smith]

we must be about the same vintage Baldy,only thing you did not mention was the air raid shelters in the streets plus the tanks of water for fire fighting,what about collecting shrapnel ?

We didn't have air raid shelters in Havelock Street, we had cellars, there was however a
large watertank at the top of Havelock Street, next to the Palace and opposite the horse
meat and tripe shop. I used to collect shrapnel when I lived in Eleanor Street, my prize piece
was a bit which lodged in the air raid shelter door just as my mother looked out to see the
searchlights. We also lived in Broderick Street but the house got hit by a bomb so we had to
move on. I don't exactly know what "vintage" you are, but I was born before the outbreak
of war, and before Global says it, no it was not the Boer War.

[rusty]

i will answer to 1939

[brian c]

we must be about the same vintage Baldy,only thing you did not mention was the air raid shelters in the streets plus the tanks of water for fire fighting,what about collecting shrapnel ?

We didn't have air raid shelters in Havelock Street, we had cellars, there was however a
large watertank at the top of Havelock Street, next to the Palace and opposite the horse
meat and tripe shop. I used to collect shrapnel when I lived in Eleanor Street, my prize piece
was a bit which lodged in the air raid shelter door just as my mother looked out to see the
searchlights. We also lived in Broderick Street but the house got hit by a bomb so we had to
move on. I don't exactly know what "vintage" you are, but I was born before the outbreak
of war, and before Global says it, no it was not the Boer War.

The Germans really had it in for you didn't they Baldy

[baldy.smith]

The Germans really had it in for you didn't they Baldy

Not really Brian, I had Mr Mosley's personal assurance that he would protect me.

[baldy.smith]

i will answer to 1939

I've got the edge on you rusty. I was a fraction too late to say I was born in 1937.

What schools did you go to?

If you want, you can pm me your name, maybe we bumped into each other, or know
the same people from around there.

[rusty]

Eldon road...........Dean rd..............Park Avenue Cleadon..........Cleadon rd....then of to be a matelot

[baldy.smith]

I'm not aware of any school which was on Eldon Street

There was however one on Gilbert Street, I attended there myself for about 1 term.
There was also Barnes Road school close by.
Towards the end of the war and just after we used to go to Dean Road school for
our school meals, along with pupils from other schools, it was a central point for
schools meals. Dean Road was closed as a school during the war.

I attended Laygate school briefly, then Holy Trinity School, then Mortimer Road.
I also; for a short time went to a school in Wallsend when we lived there with my
grandparents, due to having been bombed out of South Shields.

[Globalmyths]

I will answer to 1939 as well. February 18th.

Just for a joke Rusty, I would have told you that Baldy was of the Crimean war vintage.

[rusty]

close Jan 25th

[Globalmyths]

You was screaming for your bottle Rusty. As I was poking my head out to see if it was fine.