We moved in to our house in Pen Park in 1955. It was the coldest house I had ever known. We had a lovely outlook. First there was a big field, then the golf links. We could even see them playing golf. But we were open to the elements. When it was blowing it used to howl between our house and next door. It was so bad my husband put on a second back door, which made a lot of difference.
Downstairs we had wooden sash-windows and upstairs metal windows, which let in the draught so bad. Of course, we didn’t have central heating then, but we bought two oil heaters, which helped a lot.
One winter in the 1970s it was a really bad blizzard. This picture shows some of our neighbours helping to clear the snow from the front of the houses. The snow went on through the evening and all night.
When I woke up in the morning, I looked down towards the windows, we had three in the bedroom, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The snow was halfway up the windows, over the ledge and down on to the floor. We both got up pretty quick and started to shovel up the snow, which we put in the bath to thaw and drain away. Then my husband went into the attic, which took much longer to clear.
In the picture towards the righthand side is Lanercost Centre, and in the background Dunmail School. Homeleaze was started in the 1980s and we lost our lovely view, but that is progress!
Do you have a memory to write along with a picture from the past? Email it to us or leave it in our pigeon-hole at the Greenway Centre. If you want to meet up for a chat, please email Suzanne at suzanne@themead.org.uk, or leave a message with Greenway reception on 0117 950 3335.