Came across this. Thought here we go. Another Geordie self gratification video but it wasn’t. Superb video. Beautifully narrated. The London based media could learn lessons from this. Someone talking about a subject with extensive knowledge and done with in depth research. Thank you.
@@TynesideLife I've commented elsewhere, but I'm sad you present a pretty one-sided view of Byker. I was a resident for a decade until last year and was gutted to leave. Byker has its challenges (largely because it has been chronically deprived of resources) but most people are golden - and the sense of community there is like no other I've experienced. If you fancied capturing another side of life to balance out your 'research' I can think of some good people and initiatives to connect you to!
I left ( sadly) no other future for me. I live now far away, but it is still so close to my heart. I miss the people I grew up with, the things we used to do, and the times we had. My life is nearly done now, and you know, the way things are going now in this country. Im glad.
Bless you! There is always hope. Geordies are a tough breed and I had the honour of living in Newcastle for 7 years. Byker and Walker will always be in my prayers.
I know how you feel I’m 23 and I don’t even want to live the rest of my life due to how nasty and horrible the world is now. And the way things are going
Im from Middlesbrough and love watching these episodes of Newcastles history especially from the shipyards having once worked at Wallsend building oilrigs. I watch the parts of the estates with sadness and anger because like Middlesbrough our society/community has gone. Seeing them photos and videos of families is haunting to know its all gone and the community will never be the same its gone forever!
I was born in the Bonny City of Newcastle upon Tyne.My Mother was from Gosforth,and my Father was from Walker.I know Byker.I am proud to be a Geordie.Howay my Lads and Lasses. With Best Wishes to you All. ❤️😍🥰❤️.
Great video and commentary, Eddy. I remember walking around the Byker estate with my parents in 1979 and taking photos, having an interest in architecture and planning. I got talking to an elderly lady who had just moved into a newly built house - first time she’d had a bathroom and inside toilet, let alone central heating. She was so thrilled to be there and so proud of her new home that she invited us in to have a look. Urban design is a very important aspect of what makes an area successful but ultimately people make places work - or not.
I’m in Yorkshire, we didn’t have central heating until I was about 10, I still remember having bed cardies and ice on the inside of windows. Just a gas fire & those horrible calor gas things. Before Christmas the heating was broke for 2 days, I don’t know how we coped before 😂 we don’t have a gas or electric fire though, but I don’t remember they giving out much heat. After the council did the heating it was great, you could go to friends’ houses abd you knew how to put their fire or heating on when instructed 😂
Well said Eddie,totally agree,I love how Sitkka-Lissa defends her home to the BBC snob,in trying to improve individual living standards councils both sides of the river ruined entire neighborhood’s, bath houses were common place back then,unimaginable for most people now!
TBH bath houses need to make a comeback, so many of us are so poor to cost of a bath is too much on the gas, especially through the winter, it's back to the old strip wash from the sink.
I lived on bolam street as a baby with my mam n dad before it was demolished and turned into what is now the Byker wall . I have sent your documentary to my mam n dad and my brothers they will all lv it because we all spent so much time there . Epic stuff Eddie
Oh it was lovely place for first dozen or so years , mostly byker folk lived in New Berlin wall. Then as they died off ,new younger one's moved in from places like cowgate, Benwell ,Elswick from every where ,and BANG !!it went rapidly down hill . And now ,well I wouldn't even think of going over that neck of the woods, as used to live a stones throw from there when I was younger, then my parents died ,they where born and bred over that way , . I hot out and moved right away fast as .
Outstanding video, but depressing. I grew up on a council estate, we weren't well off but growing up I remember people being happy. Everyone knew each other and there was a strong community spirit that's long gone these days.
Beautiful video highlighting some very important details that often get missed. Loved the photographs of Sirkka… very powerful. I will look out her books of the photos she did of Byker back then and beyond. Cheers Eddy
Eddie, I just have to say your point about the difference between Poverty and being Poor really hit home. We are of a similar age, I was born in Jarrow in a council house and lived in a council house until I left home. I've done OK for myself but I have only happy memories of my youth because as you say I never knew we were poor, all my friends lived in similar houses, their dads did similar jobs and we pretty much all had the same. Now however I feel that has all changed, people literally have nothing. The rise of food banks and the collections at SJP on match day highlight that only too well. Great video Eddie, absolutely great and thank you for taking the time to make it.
How can anyone have sympathy for these people. They all got a free education and all the opportunities they needed to do something with themselves. If they chose to mess about at school, not take life seriously and continue down the road to nowhere that's on them.
@@frankdux5693 If only life was that easy. My father worked in a Steel Mill. His job was hard and poorly paid, every day he drummed it into me that he didn't want me to follow him into that place. He encouraged me constantly, praised me when I did well and pulled me up when i messed around. Some people never get that support.
@@frankdux5693When I had 'opportunities' my father supported and encouraged me to take them. When I treat them lightly he let me know just how lucky I was to have them. He worked at a Steel Works as a labourer. It was hard, unsafe and low-paid work. He never wanted me to follow him into that environment. I didn't and have worked in Software Development all of my working life. Some people don't get that support, love, etc.
I was born in 64 and lived my early years in one of those Byker terraced houses. Coal fire, outside toilet, freezing cold in the winter - and much of the summer. Did it do me any harm? Absolutely not. I was probably 6 when I moved to Fenham - so I saw both sides of our great city. 3 kids later, I live in London now, yet Newcastle, Byker, NUFC and all its warts. Is home and always will be. Superb video Eddie - brought back loads of memories. 👏👏👏
So your heart will always belong to newcastle is what your saying. I feel the same ,. Bit could never ever go back ,as its not my bonnie newcastle anymore, just beautifull beautifull memories of growing up there, and playing out ,eith all my lovely friends 😢😢😢😢😊
Great video , brought back many memories of growing up in the 60’s . Shields Road was a busy area , two cinemas the Odeon (Blacks) and the Apollo at the other , Parishes department store with its own currency, Beavons and Blalocks and Toms bicycle shop , Ringtons tea factory et etc ,happy days
Yes I used to go to the pictures at the very bottom of shields Road with me friend ,oh it was a lovely friendly place ,a hood vibe ,everyone knew everyone on Sheila's Road ,thst was before it looks now, dirty rundown ,and hardly an English shop in sight. I've heard it's dangerous to walk on sheilds Road now for pick pockets, and druggies.
The young lady Sitkka didn't need loads of makeup to look stunning. I bet that interview made her one of the most protected residents in the neighbourhood with the way she defended the place and people and said she felt safe.
i used to get into Byker quite a lot in the late 80's and through the 90's. I had friends living down on Walker Road, and some up on Heaton Road. Walking around the area then was always a considered affair. It looks even worse now! Great video, please keep them coming Newcastle may becoming more run down but I will always feel it is my home
Ahh man, this was to short yet utterly fascinating, when I see old footage like this it upsets me as it is not just Byker, I find the whole north east to be like this now, the dimese of the high St, and the post office and the end of the local pubs really has led the the end of "community" which was something the north east was know for, now no-one seems to work, we have refugees everywhere that keep to themselves and don't integrate and seem to have nasty drunks now not the old merry characters type drunks we used to have, people now just don't seem happy and would rather just hang around than try and be productive, anyhoo another great vid eddy thanks
Thank you for your post. My Grandma was from Byker , born in 1920's. She said Her dad played for the 1st Newcastle team and worked in the shipyard , before it was Utd. I've looked for records of his name but never found it. I was probably looking at the wrong team. Thank you.
Ah love this one Eddie ❤️ I lived in Graham House, just a few streets away from where you closed off the video. My ceiling leaked whenever it rained and there was no heating or hot water, I had to empty the air from the pipes from the boiler to get a sink full of hot water. The elderly lady in the flat above me said she hadn’t had hot water for over 20 years, I complained for a year to the council, they finally dug up all the main pipes at ground level and fixed it. You could just see the Tyne bridge from my balcony though, a beautiful view in all seasons.
Beautiful point about being poor and in poverty, I grew up in Chopwell, still one of the lowest income communities in the whole UK, wouldn't have changed a thing about growing up there, fields, forests, football and friends, a great upbringing.
Aye i grew up in a colliery house with a. Coal shed and outside toilet I remember many times shivering in coal dumped in the back lane lol.. Keep the content coming,mate i am in dry dock in the Freeman so trawling RUclips.
I vividly remember visiting an old Polish friend of my parents in his old Byker Victorian terrace house before it was pulled down. That would be in the late 1970's. Then we used to visit him in his new property in the Byker wall. I remember that it was modern & swish when they were first built, however by the early 1980's the whole estate had started to decline & it genuinely could feel slightly dangerous visiting him. Sad to say.
Great video, well documented. It’s a real shame that some of the residents have no care for the area they live in and leave it as a dumping ground. I use to live on the estate around 15 year ago. We rented a privately owned house which was freshly refurbished. The house was lovely inside but outside it looked grim due to the run down area. Our new fence was stolen twice in a month by a neighbour across the street, stealing the fence panels throughout the night. Despite seeing them do it they had no respect for anyone and the police did nothing to help. We left shortly afterwards. Wouldn’t walk around there at night back then but I believe it’s a lot worse now. It’s a different world. I still work in Byker and still pass the wall on a daily basis but gladly I never have to venture in.
Just discovered your channel the other day following your video on the Tyne Bridge. Really enjoy the little bits of history you provide, will be binging the rest of your stuff on Newcastle later. Keep it up.
Byker wall is horrific now. Absolutely horrific. I used to hang around there when I was a kid up until mid 90s..from those years onwards it has spiralled out of control with the selling of Swan Hunter shipyards, the uncontrolled influx of unskilled refugees from god knows where and zero investment in the police has let crime and drug dealing flourish. I walk through it now and again (I now live in Walker-not much better) and think to myself that my parents and grandparents went through wars and lean times all for nothing. Horrible place now. I feel so sorry for the elderly indigenous who worked their socks off all their lives and still live there.
I agree with much of what you say but I think it’s an oversimplification to place so much emphasis on ‘unskilled refugees’. Those people get stuffed into places deemed to be sh*tholes already. It’s not, in my opinion, their presence that leads to the decline of an area (though you could argue it accelerates it); more that them being housed there is a sign that things have already gone wrong. The failure to make any effort to replace the industries obliterated from the 60s through to the mid-nineties, or to retrain anyone who worked in them was the end for a lot of working class areas in cities across the North of England. The expansion of the welfare state in lieu of finding ways to offer people opportunities was shortsighted and possibly even more expensive. It created generational poverty and an underclass who are trapped by circumstances and condemned to live the same kind of lives as their parents and their own children. All very sad, very avoidable and all created from a callous disregard for the working classes by policy makers.
@@badofcheese Agree with pretty much all of what you say, although you say I place 'so much emphasis on unskilled refugees'. I highlight that there are other issues also contributing to the areas decline. However placing those unskilled refugees in an area that already has pre existing socio economic issues really has not helped at all. My observation simply highlights the range of issues in the area contributing to its decline. Hopefully within our lifetime the area will see an uptick in skills and economic growth whatwith the investment in heavy industry on the banks of the Tyne in the east end. We can but live in hope.
@@sbaby-kg8hnbig problem with immigrants coming over on boats, all young men with mobile phones, coming to this country purely for free housing, food a free life that they really don’t deserve. It’s disgusting that they come here and are immediately housed, yet there’s people born and bred here who can’t get a flat or a house, generally you’re waiting 15 years for a council flat, yet come over on a boat and you immediately get one. They generally come here with no skills, no desire to integrate or work, currently they come here as Islamic extremists who will no doubt eventually cause problems in this country. Anyone with common sense can see the issues. Yet the woke liberals keep letting them in and are determined to ruin the country. Legal immigrants who work and integrate are fine. I’ll wait for the “British empire” response that has no bearing on the current issue
Through the Tyne and Wear homing system I viewed some flats and bedsits in Byker. One of them in the Byker Wall itself, prior to and after the pandemic. It’s not the most pleasant of places to live but given my living situation in 2020, I would’ve opted for one of them. Thankfully I opted for the place I’m living at now in Bensham, Gateshead.
I grew up in Yorkshire in an old terraced house like many shown in this video and the sense of community was amazing, you could leave your door open 24/7 with no problem and kids could play in the streets and remain safe. Neighbours would feed kids playing in the streets , It might be a jam sandwich and a cup of water but we got fed by the local Mothers and if we never said thank you Mrs we got a slap.
As a Northumberland lad never knowing what it is like to live in Newcastle or Tyneside but feel a deep connection to the football club. These videos shine a light on our regions city. Thanks Eddie.
Excellent vid eddy. I used to live in the wall .shipley walk and i lived doon st Lawrence square in the old flats.1997-2004.i loved it. anyhoo ..cheers bonny lad 👊
Finished my bricklaying apprenticeship in 1981 on phase 3 of the development, Avondale Road. Main contractors were Stanley Millers Ltd. Locally based at Great Lime Road, Palmersville. I remember thinking that the gordy, wooden structures attached to the brickwork would age badly in appearance. Nevertheless, didn't think it would end up the way it has.
Used to visit that estate a lot when I had my taxi. It had a bit of a reputation but I never had a pick of bother. Seems to have went back a little from then.. Another interesting vid.. its a 👍from me.
Eddie this is absolutely brilliantly documented, the way you've captured the old and new life of Byker. I was 11 when we used to go and see me grandma on Avondale road. Thanks Eddie for helping keeping wor great history of a fantastic city. 👍👍👍👍👍
I think if the old streets & houses had just been MODERNISED in place- it’s hard to think that it wouldn’t have been BETTER than what’s there today- plus there would be HISTORY, Victorian pubs & hotels in the place. Proper streets and community. That place now, I wouldn’t even like to walk through it let alone live there.
Totally agree, we've seen countless examples of architects designing social housing projects that are utterly demoralising to look at and live in. I'm no expert but you've got to question how much of a factor the archetecture is in the rise in crime and anti social behaviour in these kinds of neighbourhoods.
Great Vlog Eddy, born in Molineux street 1957, a Byker boy, My Auntie Peg had a wool shop down Ruby street knew the wash house and baths well. Remember playing in the back lane and on the bomb sites. We moved up to High Heaton around 1963. Remember the wall going up as we always returned to shields road shopping. Keep your Vlogs coming
Your best one yet Eddie. I watched the BBC documentary on Trish Murtha the other day. Amazing to think she and Srikka were documenting the West and East Ends of the city during the 70-80's, with both capturing the hearts being ripped out of two communities by the decline of the heavy industries and political change. Great work mate.
Well Eddy this is a really class video. I know the area from my time staying in Newcastle and have visited friends there since I moved away. You capture the feel of the place well. I like social history stuff and you do it well. I could write paragraphs but I don't think anyone would be particularly interested in what I have to say. So I'll just say well done for a fascinating video.
Another very interesting video Eddy. My father was from the top of shields Road and became a Councillor for the East end and it was he that officially opened the bypass and there is a plaque to him on the bridge between the metro station and the wall. "Councillor Harry Thompson ". I found it really interesting about the mile castle at Brough Park. I spent a lot of time going to the speedway (dodging in I must add) Thanks for your efforts.
Aye it's sad seeing that place nowadays, it's gone way down from when I was younger, it was a busy shopping area you could go and see santa at parish's, the Fenwick of byker
I remember playing 5-a-side football in about 1964/65 in the old Byker Reservoir for a youth club team based in Longbenton. I tried recently to find the reservoir on the map but found no trace. Happy days.
Great stuff, Eddy. Getting better and better. Hopefully, I'm retired soon like you to spend more time up in the northeast. You are crushing it. #nufc #tynesidelife
Great video this man! I hadn’t seen your channel before but this seems to have popped up for a good few people. Really looking forward to seeing any more you do like this. Maybe The Ridges? Anyway well done, great stuff!
Great video and very emotional. I used to have a relative who lived in the Byker Wall so would visit regularly as a kid. Even back then I was amazed by it. It was something I’d never seen before and to this day I still find the structure so fascinating. Thanks for the information behind it 😊
amazing video eddie. I was always fascinated with byker growing up in the area. my favourite part of the metroline with spectacular views including the wall. but I was always intimidated when the metro actually stopped there and as a teenager in the 90s you would need to keep your head down to stop getting randomly started on. amazing to see the former pre-wall community.
Local authorities & governments have destroyed this country. They have people so depressed. Bring back the 70's & 80's. We didn't have much, but my god, we were happy
Fascinating and informative as ever. Eddy. Surely it's only a matter of time before some TV news channel snaps you up as a roving reporter. Cheers mate.
Absolutely love my heritage,😘👍♥️♥️♥️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 being a geordie and byker being just up the road,,, these photos depict my childhood and am very proud to come from Newcastle.... Beautiful programme 😎👌🇬🇧❤️❤️
Whenever I hear of Byker Hill the folk song I first heard played by The High Level Ranters comes to mind. 'Ranting Lads,' the album it came from is well worth a listen also, for its other Durham & Northumberland folk songs. ❤
Thanks Eddy for this, you've enhanced the bbc footage i was familiar with already with your own personable take, with empathy, sensetivity and care, as always. Looking forward to the much-awaited shipyards episode
Hi eddy just subscribed to your channel very informative and enjoyed this vid Was just wondering if you had any plans to to a pelaw vid know your from close to that area. I've lived here for nearly 20 year and seen it change massively in that time. Seen a few pics before I moved here and I know a famous get carter scene was filmed here where Malcolm who used to work in the DIY shop was in as a extra (his hands post office) cheers
Wonderful photographs ❤ I'm new to this area, Eddie, just moved to Ashington. Would like to know where the boundaries are? Where does Northumberland cover? And do you ever come this far north? Loving the channel by the way 🌹
Fantastic content im from South Wales and found this so 8ntresting I've been to Newcastle in the 80s and 90s were lovely people to me and my family. Just a quick question was some of material recorded in the likely lads film from the old area before it was demolished?.
Hey Eddie, it’s Gayna. Started watching your video with no idea that it was you until your first piece to camera! Fantastic video and you have a new follower. Hope all is good with you 😊
@@TynesideLife I am still in, but am seconded at the moment and hoping to stay that way for as long as I can! Lovely to see your face on my screen, love the video's, you have found your calling. Be lovely to meet up for a chin wag some time 😊
Hi Eddie another great video having worked in byker for over 30 years there was a core of good byker people living there as I would call them salt of the earth however you always had a lot of bad tenants as😊 well I notice a big difference in the culture change when I went back to do so contracting work 2016 to 2019 alot of the good older generation had moved on or past and you are seeing the results now as you walk around. Keep up the good work eddie 😊
I worked in the area in 2000 when I was 16 in an admin job nearby and I had to cut through that area to get to the shops and bank and it is a very intimidating place to be. I never felt safe back then and sadly that hasn’t changed. There needs to be sweeping changes in that area. More opportunities for work to reduce crime and degeneracy for young people. But as always, we’re the last people considered in Westminster.
People always blame the government, its local councils who are responsible, people in the area keep on complaining but keep voting Labour, if people want change THEY have to change.
Your comments on poverty were very interesting. As you say people may have been poor but they were happy, fed and had electricity. I've been to some of the poorest countries in the world and had children begging me with both hands out for anything I could give them. I've always hated it since then when people describe themselves as "starving" because they're eating lunch an hour later than they normally would. Sorry went a bit off topic there... Fascinating video as always Eddy. Thank you for all the time you spend researching these topics and for bringing us the videos.
I lived a short time on Commercial Road back in '83, I felt safe on the estate, even walking my dog alone at night, it felt like a community then, thank you for sharing it's history
Most people got moved to Benton or Killingworth and never went back! Killingworth towers won awards thankfully they got knocked down but Killingworth was like a futuristic town in the 70s
Really enjoyed this. My dad grew up in Benwell in the 50s and 60s and I liked seeing the old pictures of a similar area in Newcastle. Makes me appreciate how luxurious my life was in comparison. Great video, all the best.
@TynesideLife just watched it mate! Now I'm onto the Mary Bell one, my mam remembers that case. Fascinating stuff, love the old footage. Really well made videos, just subbed.
Fascinating video mate. I’m not very familiar with the area nor living in council estates/terraced houses but I’m eager to see more. I subscribed to follow this channel
Thanks for the video. It's fascinating to find out about the history of Byker. What happened to Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen? Her photographs were absolutely incredible not only in terms of their composition, but how they're a time capsule of life back then.
Really well done putting all of this together. I’m at West Denton lad originally and my family is from both the east and west side of Newcastle. I’ve been to the wall a few times. I now live in the south-west of England. It’s always good to be reminded of where I come from and have a walk down memory lane. I adore the nostalgia of our rich heritage and upbringing 🧭
Came across this. Thought here we go. Another Geordie self gratification video but it wasn’t. Superb video. Beautifully narrated. The London based media could learn lessons from this. Someone talking about a subject with extensive knowledge and done with in depth research. Thank you.
Thank you so much Michael 🙏👊🏻
@@TynesideLife I've commented elsewhere, but I'm sad you present a pretty one-sided view of Byker. I was a resident for a decade until last year and was gutted to leave. Byker has its challenges (largely because it has been chronically deprived of resources) but most people are golden - and the sense of community there is like no other I've experienced. If you fancied capturing another side of life to balance out your 'research' I can think of some good people and initiatives to connect you to!
So is it a shithole or not? @@Jen-ix2hg
"Buildings don't make communities, People make communities"
says it all really.
I left ( sadly) no other future for me. I live now far away, but it is still so close to my heart. I miss the people I grew up with, the things we used to do, and the times we had. My life is nearly done now, and you know, the way things are going now in this country. Im glad.
That made me smile and nearly cry reading your comment. Godbless you
I fully agree, managed to move to the country to see my days out in my tiny bungalow.
Please don't say that. Your life is precious
Bless you! There is always hope. Geordies are a tough breed and I had the honour of living in Newcastle for 7 years. Byker and Walker will always be in my prayers.
I know how you feel I’m 23 and I don’t even want to live the rest of my life due to how nasty and horrible the world is now. And the way things are going
Im from Middlesbrough and love watching these episodes of Newcastles history especially from the shipyards having once worked at Wallsend building oilrigs. I watch the parts of the estates with sadness and anger because like Middlesbrough our society/community has gone. Seeing them photos and videos of families is haunting to know its all gone and the community will never be the same its gone forever!
Same from Park End
I was born in the Bonny City of
Newcastle upon Tyne.My Mother
was from Gosforth,and my
Father was from Walker.I know
Byker.I am proud to be a
Geordie.Howay my Lads
and Lasses.
With Best Wishes to you All.
❤️😍🥰❤️.
Hang on a second. I’m from walker. Whats your maa called?? 🫣
Great video and commentary, Eddy. I remember walking around the Byker estate with my parents in 1979 and taking photos, having an interest in architecture and planning. I got talking to an elderly lady who had just moved into a newly built house - first time she’d had a bathroom and inside toilet, let alone central heating. She was so thrilled to be there and so proud of her new home that she invited us in to have a look. Urban design is a very important aspect of what makes an area successful but ultimately people make places work - or not.
Thank you Derek ☝️👊🏻👍🏻
I’m in Yorkshire, we didn’t have central heating until I was about 10, I still remember having bed cardies and ice on the inside of windows. Just a gas fire & those horrible calor gas things. Before Christmas the heating was broke for 2 days, I don’t know how we coped before 😂 we don’t have a gas or electric fire though, but I don’t remember they giving out much heat. After the council did the heating it was great, you could go to friends’ houses abd you knew how to put their fire or heating on when instructed 😂
Well said Eddie,totally agree,I love how Sitkka-Lissa defends her home to the BBC snob,in trying to improve individual living standards councils both sides of the river ruined entire neighborhood’s, bath houses were common place back then,unimaginable for most people now!
Thank you Ewan 👍🏻
Had to Google her name she is beautiful still going strong at 76 love the way she explaining what it was like to live there.
@@StuartWhelan-up8vs
She seems like an amazing woman, the full documentary about her on RUclips is well worth a watch!
TBH bath houses need to make a comeback, so many of us are so poor to cost of a bath is too much on the gas, especially through the winter, it's back to the old strip wash from the sink.
I lived on bolam street as a baby with my mam n dad before it was demolished and turned into what is now the Byker wall . I have sent your documentary to my mam n dad and my brothers they will all lv it because we all spent so much time there . Epic stuff Eddie
Thank you David 👊🏻👍🏻
My dad went to Bolam Street school as a child ,he's long gone now, I don't know if the school is still there or not it was proper victoriana building
This is Eddie at his very best! Superb!
Cheers Andy 👊🏻👍🏻
Shocking! I'd always been led to believe the byker wall was a social success story!
This was a real eye opener! Well done 👍
Thank you Chris 🙏👊🏻
Oh it was lovely place for first dozen or so years , mostly byker folk lived in New Berlin wall.
Then as they died off ,new younger one's moved in from places like cowgate, Benwell ,Elswick from every where ,and BANG !!it went rapidly down hill .
And now ,well I wouldn't even think of going over that neck of the woods, as used to live a stones throw from there when I was younger, then my parents died ,they where born and bred over that way , .
I hot out and moved right away fast as .
Outstanding video, but depressing. I grew up on a council estate, we weren't well off but growing up I remember people being happy. Everyone knew each other and there was a strong community spirit that's long gone these days.
In my street neighbours knew where each hid their door keys
Your so right the community spirits are well gone
I think that’s one of the most emotional and well presented pieces of docujournalism I’ve ever seen. Well done Eddie, surely a book in you.
Thank you Ken 🙏
Beautiful video highlighting some very important details that often get missed. Loved the photographs of Sirkka… very powerful. I will look out her books of the photos she did of Byker back then and beyond.
Cheers Eddy
Cheers David 👊🏻👍🏻
Eddie, I just have to say your point about the difference between Poverty and being Poor really hit home. We are of a similar age, I was born in Jarrow in a council house and lived in a council house until I left home. I've done OK for myself but I have only happy memories of my youth because as you say I never knew we were poor, all my friends lived in similar houses, their dads did similar jobs and we pretty much all had the same.
Now however I feel that has all changed, people literally have nothing. The rise of food banks and the collections at SJP on match day highlight that only too well.
Great video Eddie, absolutely great and thank you for taking the time to make it.
That’s appreciated and thank you for sharing 🙏👊🏻👍🏻
How can anyone have sympathy for these people. They all got a free education and all the opportunities they needed to do something with themselves. If they chose to mess about at school, not take life seriously and continue down the road to nowhere that's on them.
@@frankdux5693 If only life was that easy. My father worked in a Steel Mill. His job was hard and poorly paid, every day he drummed it into me that he didn't want me to follow him into that place. He encouraged me constantly, praised me when I did well and pulled me up when i messed around. Some people never get that support.
BoldenBig Lad .. excellent comments. & in agreement.
@@frankdux5693When I had 'opportunities' my father supported and encouraged me to take them. When I treat them lightly he let me know just how lucky I was to have them.
He worked at a Steel Works as a labourer. It was hard, unsafe and low-paid work. He never wanted me to follow him into that environment. I didn't and have worked in Software Development all of my working life. Some people don't get that support, love, etc.
I was born in 64 and lived my early years in one of those Byker terraced houses. Coal fire, outside toilet, freezing cold in the winter - and much of the summer. Did it do me any harm? Absolutely not. I was probably 6 when I moved to Fenham - so I saw both sides of our great city. 3 kids later, I live in London now, yet Newcastle, Byker, NUFC and all its warts. Is home and always will be. Superb video Eddie - brought back loads of memories. 👏👏👏
Thank you for sharing Steve 👊🏻👍🏻
London Is a bigger shit hole
London now so another shithole then one far far far worse
I was born in London... moved to Benwell in '79. Went to Rutherford. Moved to Walker and got the 39/40 every day there and back.
So your heart will always belong to newcastle is what your saying.
I feel the same ,.
Bit could never ever go back ,as its not my bonnie newcastle anymore, just beautifull beautifull memories of growing up there, and playing out ,eith all my lovely friends 😢😢😢😢😊
Great video , brought back many memories of growing up in the 60’s . Shields Road was a busy area , two cinemas the Odeon (Blacks) and the Apollo at the other , Parishes department store with its own currency, Beavons and Blalocks and Toms bicycle shop , Ringtons tea factory et etc ,happy days
Thank you for sharing David 👍🏻
Tom's was amazing.
Yes I used to go to the pictures at the very bottom of shields Road with me friend ,oh it was a lovely friendly place ,a hood vibe ,everyone knew everyone on Sheila's Road ,thst was before it looks now, dirty rundown ,and hardly an English shop in sight.
I've heard it's dangerous to walk on sheilds Road now for pick pockets, and druggies.
The young lady Sitkka didn't need loads of makeup to look stunning. I bet that interview made her one of the most protected residents in the neighbourhood with the way she defended the place and people and said she felt safe.
As someone who lives in the wall I think this would be the perfect video for explaining Byker to people who've never been.
That’s appreciated thank you 🙏 👊🏻👍🏻
i used to get into Byker quite a lot in the late 80's and through the 90's. I had friends living down on Walker Road, and some up on Heaton Road. Walking around the area then was always a considered affair. It looks even worse now! Great video, please keep them coming Newcastle may becoming more run down but I will always feel it is my home
Ahh man, this was to short yet utterly fascinating, when I see old footage like this it upsets me as it is not just Byker, I find the whole north east to be like this now, the dimese of the high St, and the post office and the end of the local pubs really has led the the end of "community" which was something the north east was know for, now no-one seems to work, we have refugees everywhere that keep to themselves and don't integrate and seem to have nasty drunks now not the old merry characters type drunks we used to have, people now just don't seem happy and would rather just hang around than try and be productive, anyhoo another great vid eddy thanks
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Thank you for your post. My Grandma was from Byker , born in 1920's. She said Her dad played for the 1st Newcastle team and worked in the shipyard , before it was Utd. I've looked for records of his name but never found it. I was probably looking at the wrong team. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing
Could watch stuff like this all day . Very well put together. Please dooooo more
Thank you will do
Me to it's heart rending , the good memories ,it not the place I loved so much
Ah love this one Eddie ❤️
I lived in Graham House, just a few streets away from where you closed off the video. My ceiling leaked whenever it rained and there was no heating or hot water, I had to empty the air from the pipes from the boiler to get a sink full of hot water. The elderly lady in the flat above me said she hadn’t had hot water for over 20 years, I complained for a year to the council, they finally dug up all the main pipes at ground level and fixed it.
You could just see the Tyne bridge from my balcony though, a beautiful view in all seasons.
Thank you for sharing Suzanne
Beautiful point about being poor and in poverty, I grew up in Chopwell, still one of the lowest income communities in the whole UK, wouldn't have changed a thing about growing up there, fields, forests, football and friends, a great upbringing.
Aye i grew up in a colliery house with a. Coal shed and outside toilet I remember many times shivering in coal dumped in the back lane lol.. Keep the content coming,mate i am in dry dock in the Freeman so trawling RUclips.
Hope you’re okay Martin 👍🏻
I well recall the coal shed & outside loo/ potties under the bed. It was that way where I was born in Shildon too. Wishing you a full recovery.
I vividly remember visiting an old Polish friend of my parents in his old Byker Victorian terrace house before it was pulled down. That would be in the late 1970's. Then we used to visit him in his new property in the Byker wall. I remember that it was modern & swish when they were first built, however by the early 1980's the whole estate had started to decline & it genuinely could feel slightly dangerous visiting him. Sad to say.
Thank you for sharing
Great video, well documented. It’s a real shame that some of the residents have no care for the area they live in and leave it as a dumping ground.
I use to live on the estate around 15 year ago. We rented a privately owned house which was freshly refurbished. The house was lovely inside but outside it looked grim due to the run down area. Our new fence was stolen twice in a month by a neighbour across the street, stealing the fence panels throughout the night. Despite seeing them do it they had no respect for anyone and the police did nothing to help.
We left shortly afterwards. Wouldn’t walk around there at night back then but I believe it’s a lot worse now. It’s a different world.
I still work in Byker and still pass the wall on a daily basis but gladly I never have to venture in.
Just discovered your channel the other day following your video on the Tyne Bridge. Really enjoy the little bits of history you provide, will be binging the rest of your stuff on Newcastle later. Keep it up.
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As a 13 year old lad in 1979 I lived in Benwell and we had an outside toilet. The bath was newly installed and part of the kitchen.
Great video!
What a brilliant insight into a fascinating area of a fine city.
Those photos were amazing
Cheers Jimmy 👊🏻👍🏻
Byker wall is horrific now. Absolutely horrific. I used to hang around there when I was a kid up until mid 90s..from those years onwards it has spiralled out of control with the selling of Swan Hunter shipyards, the uncontrolled influx of unskilled refugees from god knows where and zero investment in the police has let crime and drug dealing flourish. I walk through it now and again (I now live in Walker-not much better) and think to myself that my parents and grandparents went through wars and lean times all for nothing. Horrible place now. I feel so sorry for the elderly indigenous who worked their socks off all their lives and still live there.
I agree with much of what you say but I think it’s an oversimplification to place so much emphasis on ‘unskilled refugees’. Those people get stuffed into places deemed to be sh*tholes already. It’s not, in my opinion, their presence that leads to the decline of an area (though you could argue it accelerates it); more that them being housed there is a sign that things have already gone wrong.
The failure to make any effort to replace the industries obliterated from the 60s through to the mid-nineties, or to retrain anyone who worked in them was the end for a lot of working class areas in cities across the North of England. The expansion of the welfare state in lieu of finding ways to offer people opportunities was shortsighted and possibly even more expensive. It created generational poverty and an underclass who are trapped by circumstances and condemned to live the same kind of lives as their parents and their own children.
All very sad, very avoidable and all created from a callous disregard for the working classes by policy makers.
@@badofcheese Agree with pretty much all of what you say, although you say I place 'so much emphasis on unskilled refugees'. I highlight that there are other issues also contributing to the areas decline. However placing those unskilled refugees in an area that already has pre existing socio economic issues really has not helped at all. My observation simply highlights the range of issues in the area contributing to its decline. Hopefully within our lifetime the area will see an uptick in skills and economic growth whatwith the investment in heavy industry on the banks of the Tyne in the east end. We can but live in hope.
What's your problem with immigrants? 🤔
@@sbaby-kg8hn focus on my FULL comment. CLEARLY...you havent.
@@sbaby-kg8hnbig problem with immigrants coming over on boats, all young men with mobile phones, coming to this country purely for free housing, food a free life that they really don’t deserve. It’s disgusting that they come here and are immediately housed, yet there’s people born and bred here who can’t get a flat or a house, generally you’re waiting 15 years for a council flat, yet come over on a boat and you immediately get one. They generally come here with no skills, no desire to integrate or work, currently they come here as Islamic extremists who will no doubt eventually cause problems in this country. Anyone with common sense can see the issues. Yet the woke liberals keep letting them in and are determined to ruin the country. Legal immigrants who work and integrate are fine. I’ll wait for the “British empire” response that has no bearing on the current issue
This is brilliant, I've not seen some of this old footage before, great video, thanks for sharing 👍
Cheers Paul 👊🏻👍🏻
Through the Tyne and Wear homing system I viewed some flats and bedsits in Byker. One of them in the Byker Wall itself, prior to and after the pandemic. It’s not the most pleasant of places to live but given my living situation in 2020, I would’ve opted for one of them. Thankfully I opted for the place I’m living at now in Bensham, Gateshead.
Great video Eddie. Thanks for all your hard work putting this together. 👍👍👍
Cheers Geoff 👊🏻👍🏻
Cracking work Eddie, keep them coming.
Excellent video and commentary! Very professional! You have a great way of putting the history across. Enjoyed this very much. Many thanks.
Thank you 🙏
It’s incredible to see the stark contrast between Byker and Ouseburn which are just a stones throw from each other.
Great video thanks for sharing
One of your best, Eddie. The old b&w photos are pure gold. Keep up the great work.
Cheers 🙏👊🏻👍🏻
Sad. My nanna, auntie, uncle and cousin lived there. It was a lovely place back then.
Fabulous photos of old Byker.
I grew up in Yorkshire in an old terraced house like many shown in this video and the sense of community was amazing, you could leave your door open 24/7 with no problem and kids could play in the streets and remain safe. Neighbours would feed kids playing in the streets , It might be a jam sandwich and a cup of water but we got fed by the local Mothers and if we never said thank you Mrs we got a slap.
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As a Northumberland lad never knowing what it is like to live in Newcastle or Tyneside but feel a deep connection to the football club. These videos shine a light on our regions city. Thanks Eddie.
Very interesting video Eddie really enjoyed it thanks.
Excellent vid eddy.
I used to live in the wall .shipley walk and i lived doon st Lawrence square in the old flats.1997-2004.i loved it. anyhoo ..cheers bonny lad 👊
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Finished my bricklaying apprenticeship in 1981 on phase 3 of the development, Avondale Road. Main contractors were Stanley Millers Ltd. Locally based at Great Lime Road, Palmersville. I remember thinking that the gordy, wooden structures attached to the brickwork would age badly in appearance. Nevertheless, didn't think it would end up the way it has.
Thanks for sharing John 👍🏻
Great historical piece buddy, I’m going to subscribe because you definitely deserve all the support you should get
Thank you Bonnie 🙏
Used to visit that estate a lot when I had my taxi. It had a bit of a reputation but I never had a pick of bother. Seems to have went back a little from then.. Another interesting vid.. its a 👍from me.
Long live this channel Eddie...loving every minute.. cheers again
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Eddie this is absolutely brilliantly documented, the way you've captured the old and new life of Byker. I was 11 when we used to go and see me grandma on Avondale road. Thanks Eddie for helping keeping wor great history of a fantastic city.
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Thank you 🙏
I think if the old streets & houses had just been MODERNISED in place- it’s hard to think that it wouldn’t have been BETTER than what’s there today- plus there would be HISTORY, Victorian pubs & hotels in the place. Proper streets and community. That place now, I wouldn’t even like to walk through it let alone live there.
Totally agree, we've seen countless examples of architects designing social housing projects that are utterly demoralising to look at and live in. I'm no expert but you've got to question how much of a factor the archetecture is in the rise in crime and anti social behaviour in these kinds of neighbourhoods.
Great Vlog Eddy, born in Molineux street 1957, a Byker boy, My Auntie Peg had a wool shop down Ruby street knew the wash house and baths well. Remember playing in the back lane and on the bomb sites. We moved up to High Heaton around 1963. Remember the wall going up as we always returned to shields road shopping. Keep your Vlogs coming
Thanks for sharing Jamie 👍🏻
Your best one yet Eddie. I watched the BBC documentary on Trish Murtha the other day. Amazing to think she and Srikka were documenting the West and East Ends of the city during the 70-80's, with both capturing the hearts being ripped out of two communities by the decline of the heavy industries and political change. Great work mate.
Thank you 🙏
Great video as usual Eddie 👍🏻
This along with the west end video is the you’ve done by far, exceptional
Thank you 👊🏻👍🏻
Meant to say the best you’ve done, documentary worthy
Great video Eddy, only ever been in the estate once so great to learn more about it.
Cheers Peter 👊🏻👍🏻
My grandfather and his 14 siblings and generations grew up in Byker. 142 Headlam street.
Big families! My Dad was one of 13
Well Eddy this is a really class video. I know the area from my time staying in Newcastle and have visited friends there since I moved away. You capture the feel of the place well. I like social history stuff and you do it well. I could write paragraphs but I don't think anyone would be particularly interested in what I have to say. So I'll just say well done for a fascinating video.
That’s really appreciated thank you Gary 🙏👊🏻👍🏻
Another very interesting video Eddy. My father was from the top of shields Road and became a Councillor for the East end and it was he that officially opened the bypass and there is a plaque to him on the bridge between the metro station and the wall. "Councillor Harry Thompson ". I found it really interesting about the mile castle at Brough Park. I spent a lot of time going to the speedway (dodging in I must add)
Thanks for your efforts.
Ahh interesting stuff Kevin. You’re famous 😃
Thanks for sharing 👊🏻👍🏻
Aye it's sad seeing that place nowadays, it's gone way down from when I was younger, it was a busy shopping area you could go and see santa at parish's, the Fenwick of byker
Parishes store I loved that store
I remember playing 5-a-side football in about 1964/65 in the old Byker Reservoir for a youth club team based in Longbenton. I tried recently to find the reservoir on the map but found no trace. Happy days.
Great stuff, Eddy. Getting better and better. Hopefully, I'm retired soon like you to spend more time up in the northeast. You are crushing it. #nufc #tynesidelife
Cheers bud 🙏👊🏻👍🏻
Great video this man! I hadn’t seen your channel before but this seems to have popped up for a good few people. Really looking forward to seeing any more you do like this. Maybe The Ridges? Anyway well done, great stuff!
Thanks very much pal 👊🏻👍🏻
Very informative, thanks.
Really interesting video Eddie. Love the local history
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Great video and very emotional. I used to have a relative who lived in the Byker Wall so would visit regularly as a kid. Even back then I was amazed by it. It was something I’d never seen before and to this day I still find the structure so fascinating. Thanks for the information behind it 😊
Thank you Leanne
Another great video.
Would love to see one on heaton/chillingham road area, there are some old maps online showing it as farmland.
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amazing video eddie. I was always fascinated with byker growing up in the area. my favourite part of the metroline with spectacular views including the wall. but I was always intimidated when the metro actually stopped there and as a teenager in the 90s you would need to keep your head down to stop getting randomly started on. amazing to see the former pre-wall community.
Cheers bud 👊🏻👍🏻
Local authorities & governments have destroyed this country. They have people so depressed. Bring back the 70's & 80's. We didn't have much, but my god, we were happy
They have systematically destroyed communities
Phenomenal video, great work
Cheers bud 👊🏻👍🏻
Exceptional documentary Eddie so so good . Very interesting.
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Fascinating and informative as ever. Eddy. Surely it's only a matter of time before some TV news channel snaps you up as a roving reporter. Cheers mate.
Haha! Cheers Ian but even if they did I’d say no. I prefer being my own boss and a lone wolf 🐺 👊🏻
Thank you very informative and interesting.
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Great video. I did find a stark contrast in the shots of the street with the kid on the e-bike and Range Rovers 😂
Great video, Many years ago, I worked in the old Byker swimming pool, which was built into the wall.
Absolutely love my heritage,😘👍♥️♥️♥️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 being a geordie and byker being just up the road,,, these photos depict my childhood and am very proud to come from Newcastle.... Beautiful programme 😎👌🇬🇧❤️❤️
Whenever I hear of Byker Hill the folk song I first heard played by The High Level Ranters comes to mind. 'Ranting Lads,' the album it came from is well worth a listen also, for its other Durham & Northumberland folk songs. ❤
Thank you Suzy 👍🏻
Ever seen 'Escape from New York'? Enough said...
Brilliant work 👏. Very interesting. Thanks for making this 👍
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Thanks Eddy for this, you've enhanced the bbc footage i was familiar with already with your own personable take, with empathy, sensetivity and care, as always. Looking forward to the much-awaited shipyards episode
That’s appreciated mate 🙏👊🏻👍🏻
Hi eddy just subscribed to your channel very informative and enjoyed this vid Was just wondering if you had any plans to to a pelaw vid know your from close to that area. I've lived here for nearly 20 year and seen it change massively in that time. Seen a few pics before I moved here and I know a famous get carter scene was filmed here where Malcolm who used to work in the DIY shop was in as a extra (his hands post office) cheers
Cheers bud. I’ll have a think on it 👊🏻
Wonderful photographs ❤
I'm new to this area, Eddie, just moved to Ashington.
Would like to know where the boundaries are? Where does Northumberland cover? And do you ever come this far north?
Loving the channel by the way 🌹
Thank you 🙏 👍🏻
You’ll be able to see the boundaries on Google maps 👍🏻
I remember going on a school trip to the Byker Wall estate in the early 80s. Not one of the best school trips I can remember. 😂
😅
Fantastic content im from South Wales and found this so 8ntresting I've been to Newcastle in the 80s and 90s were lovely people to me and my family. Just a quick question was some of material recorded in the likely lads film from the old area before it was demolished?.
Hi mate, thank you and not to my knowledge it wasn’t 👊🏻👍🏻
Hey Eddie, it’s Gayna. Started watching your video with no idea that it was you until your first piece to camera! Fantastic video and you have a new follower. Hope all is good with you 😊
Wow! Hi Gayna! Lovely to hear from you! You still in?
I was officially diagnosed as Autistic over 3 years ago, (which explains a lot!) 😅😬
@@TynesideLife I am still in, but am seconded at the moment and hoping to stay that way for as long as I can! Lovely to see your face on my screen, love the video's, you have found your calling. Be lovely to meet up for a chin wag some time 😊
@@eddietaylor1154 drop me an email Gayna. enquiries@tynesidelife.com
Don’t want to put my personal one on here
Hi Eddie another great video having worked in byker for over 30 years there was a core of good byker people living there as I would call them salt of the earth however you always had a lot of bad tenants as😊 well I notice a big difference in the culture change when I went back to do so contracting work 2016 to 2019 alot of the good older generation had moved on or past and you are seeing the results now as you walk around. Keep up the good work eddie 😊
Thank you for sharing Martin 👊🏻👍🏻
I worked in the area in 2000 when I was 16 in an admin job nearby and I had to cut through that area to get to the shops and bank and it is a very intimidating place to be. I never felt safe back then and sadly that hasn’t changed. There needs to be sweeping changes in that area. More opportunities for work to reduce crime and degeneracy for young people. But as always, we’re the last people considered in Westminster.
Local problems are managed by local councils and other local authorities Lee
People always blame the government, its local councils who are responsible, people in the area keep on complaining but keep voting Labour, if people want change THEY have to change.
Walked through this area to get to work for 18 months didn't know the history of the area cheers for the video dude
Your comments on poverty were very interesting. As you say people may have been poor but they were happy, fed and had electricity.
I've been to some of the poorest countries in the world and had children begging me with both hands out for anything I could give them. I've always hated it since then when people describe themselves as "starving" because they're eating lunch an hour later than they normally would. Sorry went a bit off topic there...
Fascinating video as always Eddy. Thank you for all the time you spend researching these topics and for bringing us the videos.
Thank you 👍🏻🙏
Thank you 🙏 👊🏻👍🏻
I lived a short time on Commercial Road back in '83, I felt safe on the estate, even walking my dog alone at night, it felt like a community then, thank you for sharing it's history
Most people got moved to Benton or Killingworth and never went back! Killingworth towers won awards thankfully they got knocked down but Killingworth was like a futuristic town in the 70s
And it had a Woolco !
Well I was brought up in killingworth and moved into the byker wall 😂 so clearly I didn't get the memo 😅
I grew up in North Shields same time as you did in your neck of the woods. Really enjoyed this video and learned things I never knew 🙏
Thank you 👊🏻👍🏻
Really enjoyed this. My dad grew up in Benwell in the 50s and 60s and I liked seeing the old pictures of a similar area in Newcastle. Makes me appreciate how luxurious my life was in comparison. Great video, all the best.
Have you seen my West End video Rob?
@TynesideLife just watched it mate! Now I'm onto the Mary Bell one, my mam remembers that case. Fascinating stuff, love the old footage. Really well made videos, just subbed.
@@robroy488 cheers Rob 🙏
Fascinating video mate. I’m not very familiar with the area nor living in council estates/terraced houses but I’m eager to see more. I subscribed to follow this channel
Welcome aboard Chris 👊🏻👍🏻
Well done Eddie, a great documentary which I enjoyed watching.
Cheers Terry 👊🏻👍🏻
Thanks for the video. It's fascinating to find out about the history of Byker. What happened to Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen? Her photographs were absolutely incredible not only in terms of their composition, but how they're a time capsule of life back then.
Not sure what she’s doing now
Great video, thank you. I've had a fascination with Tyside and the slums since I was little as Im a Cookson fan lol. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it 🙏👍🏻
Bravo with the editing 👏🏻 wonderful watch Eddie.
Cheers Jamie 👊🏻👍🏻
Really well done putting all of this together. I’m at West Denton lad originally and my family is from both the east and west side of Newcastle. I’ve been to the wall a few times. I now live in the south-west of England. It’s always good to be reminded of where I come from and have a walk down memory lane. I adore the nostalgia of our rich heritage and upbringing 🧭
Thanks for sharing Michael 👊🏻👍🏻
Very interesting Eddie.
Thoroughly enjoyed that TBF. Any chance of one for Walker or North Kenton - the areas where I was born and raised? 😉
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