I grew up in Ford Crescent. My recollection is that the ferryman was called Charlie Derby. My dad grew up in a riverside house next to the corner of the golf course (the house is now non-existant) and tells of his one-eyed dad stumbling back drunkenly from the Golden Lion pub with his dog on his right knee to stop him falling into the river. I longed to leave home to see the outside world and now, in my last years, I sit in Nottingham and really miss the village.
Brought up in south Hylton,left for pastures new 30+ years ago,loved the oval and the terrace R.I.P Charlie Derby and Wilf and Gerry from the Oaks.
I grew up in Ford Crescent. My recollection is that the ferryman was called Charlie Derby. My dad grew up in a riverside house next to the corner of the golf course (the house is now non-existant) and tells of his one-eyed dad stumbling back drunkenly from the Golden Lion pub with his dog on his right knee to stop him falling into the river. I longed to leave home to see the outside world and now, in my last years, I sit in Nottingham and really miss the village.
I cannot remember how many times i,ve swam in the river at south hylton, great times..
You don't realise how much you miss your home village until you look back fifty years later ... Now living in Nottinghamshire ... Tony Breeze
Great to see this video I was brought up in South Hylton
When did the ferry crossings stop? I used to live north of the river and played near the crossing point (in the sixties).
Are we related Tony