A front and a rear view of a completed semi-detached dutch barn style house, Stockton.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A front and a rear view of a completed semi-detached dutch barn style house, Stockton.
Picture Stockton Archive 
Great to read all these memories – Marilyn Scott 101 Bishopton Road West, I remember the Hart’s McKinders and the Skippers Oliver’s.
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I lived at 123 Fairfield Road. I was Lynda Brown then and would love to hear from anyone who knew me all those years ago.
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Hi Linda Rob T
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As far as I remember, none of the Fairfield ‘Dutch’ houses had fences like those shown above round the front gardens, most were open, though a few on Bishopton Road West had enclosed front gardens but had hedges instead.
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Definitely not Fairfield Road houses. Many differences. I remember the Fairfield ones very well.
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My name is Fred Costello and my Parents had the shop in Shannon Crescent during the late 1950’s early 1960’s and i use to hang about with the lads in Bishopton Court and i remember those days well.
Starting from the entrance to the Court and working clockwise, these are some of the names i can remember…
Morris and Alan Ambler, Maca McIntyre, Linda Hart, Billy and David Turnbull, i still keep in touch with Billy,Freddie and Kenny Johnson, i occasionally see Freddie in Stockton Market on a Wednesday,Graham White, going through the cut into Fairfield Close was Dave, John, and Greg Hart, Terry, Kenny and Bernie Salmon,Barry, Neil and Howard Stevenson, Lenny Chadfield, moving on to Fairfield road was Robbie and his sister Diane Thompson, i use to play cards with Robbie in his shed in the garden and he had a dog called Moscow.
Either side of the Thompson’s was Steven Whitmarsh and Linda Brown and her brothers, moving back through the cut into the Court was “Bobby” Barrow, the Codd brothers, Barbara Butler, i still live in Fairfield not far from Bishopton Court and Barbara lives round the corner from me, Spike McLean, the Hoyle’s, Trevor Hingley, Terry Till, the Mallaby’s with their Alsatians, Barry and Ian Knox,
Keith Redman, Lavery’s shop with Ken and his sister Pam, moving on to Fairfield road was Billy Kemp, Eddie, Alan and Morris Emmerson, Phil “Chippy” Chipchase, and last but not least Rob “Maca” McKenzie. and his older Brother Gordon.
I also remember Guy’s farm where Alan Ambler, Trevor Hingly and i use to go. Alan Guy run the farm and his Father lived in a bungalow behind the Stores Club. Occasionally when Alan went to the
Sunderland Football matches on a Saturday he use to borrow his dads Riley car which was quite a car in those days. Alan had two farm hands that i can remember, one was Peter “French’y” French, and when French’y left Ian Midgley replaced him.
I like a few others remember Percy the fish man and his cry of, Anyyyyy Fissssssh and his false leg hanging out of the door as he drove around the court.
These were good old days which i remember well, if any one who i mention in these comments fancy’s replying,it would be nice to hear from them.
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Hi its Brian Codd, I lived in 30 Bishopton Court for 7 years. I remember Bruce Watson of Fairfield Rd, Brian Hoyle who lives in Tasmania, Derek Middleton who lives in Canada and Peter Dobson. We had great days playing cricket, football and camping out on the Court field
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I also lived in Bishopton Court from being a small child, first at no 7 and then at no 8, when central heating was installed My brother John (Metcalfe) and I spent many happy hours on the field. In summer using the cut grass to make houses and in the winter – igloos!! My mum once went “tattie picking” on Guys field but gave it up after a day, saying it was very hard work.
We lived next door to the Mortons on one side and the Dawsons on the other. Lots of memories of a happy place.
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I remember you Irene, I’m Marilyn Scott from Bishopton Road West
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This is a fascinating thread. So many of the names are familiar to me. I was Lynda Brown from 123 Fairfield Road. Lived there all my childhood until I was 18.
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Greg Hart, its a long time since I’ve heard that name, Saturday and Sunday nights in the Rimswell for a few, then down to the Co-op club to see the turn. Remember going back to their house in Selwyn Drive near the Five Alls for a few late night cans with Lol Schofield. Happy days.
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John Pool, David Straughn, John Marley, Robert Lister , Graham Walton. Paul White .Colin Jeffles, Doris Elmer, Alan Thompson , Moose and your neighbour Mick Butler (Butlers Garage) more names for the Dutch houses bishy court
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I am the son of the late Ken Lavery who owned the shop in Bishopton Court. Ken and his wife Winefred had two orther shops and a painting and decorating business. We lived in the house next to the shop before moving to Letch Lane, Carlton in a bungalow built by Ken. I went on to join the Police. I remember a few names and I had a crush on a girl called Florence who lived in the court. Happy days!
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Hello Ken, do you remember a chap called Gary Curry who used to work for your father?
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We lived on ‘the front’ on Fairfield Road from when I was four (1950) until I was twenty five and used the shop quite a bit …We also used the grass covered middles of the court for football,cricket and we were often out till ten at night (in the summer) with jumpers down as goalposts.. happy days !!!
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I lived on the front too, at 123 Fairfield Road, that number is etched in my memory! I was Lynda Brown and remember your family. I can still see your parents clearly in my mind. A long time ago!
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I remember your mum and dad very well lovely people I bought my sweets there Marilyn Scott we lived over the road the two houses on their own my nephew lives in Letch lane
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I remember you and Pam
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I believe that Rebecca is quite correct , Frank too in that these are the Durham Road houses and not the Fairfield ones . They were built as part of a competition-trial-experiment to find low cost post-war housing which was relatively easy , quick and cheap to produce compared to pre-war housing .
Whilst researching F Hills & Sons aviation connections I did come across reports and photographs in the Evening Gazette or it’s then equivalent of these houses being built . I’m sure I will have copies of these but can’t find them at present !
I have a book ‘A Centenary In Retrospect’ , 100 years of F Hills , 1849-1949 and there is no mention of the houses in it so I presume that they were built after 1949 ?
The Second World War just like the space race or the 20th Century brought fantastic advances in all aspects of life and of course technology , including housing and companies were keen to use their wartime expertise in peace time and Hills were no different . In 1947 just across the River Tees in Thornaby the Mandale Estate was being built using Orlit houses , very square perhaps even a pre-fab type of construction and designed by the Orlit Company of Middlesex who during the war built huts and temporary buildings for the Air Ministry but that as they say , is a different story !
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Hi David, If you find the articles on the houses being built please can you send me the link or maybe possibly get me a copy of it as I would love to have a read of it. I’m so fascinated by the pictures I have found on here and the history of the house as I am living in the one on the right of the picture currently, its so good to know the true history of a house particularly when they are unusual looking. Have you looked at the new pictures on here of the construction of the houses?? Again they are wrongly listed as Fairfield.
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Definitely Durham Road the ones on Fairfield had the bunkers near the front door so less glass than the Durham Road ones.
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I seem to have caused a bit of a debate since I last commented on this photo!! I’m 100% that the picture above is of my house. I am set right back from Durham Road so you cannot compare the house now on Google street view as all you see is the garage and a hedge! I have looked at Bishopton Court on Google street view and there are some differences from the picture above, as in the top dormer windows that Kevin has already mentioned. The brick flowerbed in front of the house is still partially there now too. I would be more than happy to take some pictures of my house as it is now and post them on here if it is possible for me to do so?? My neighbours house is actually currently up for sale so searching on rightmove will possibly give you a decent look from the front and also of the outhouse at the back. Their front garden has changed dramatically to how it used to be, whereas mine does have some original bits, such as the flowerbed. The back of my house has been extended and the outhouse has been rendered and made into a kitchen but on my neighbours you can see where it has been joined to the house as it is not rendered. I would love to be able to find some more archive photos (possibly when the house has been up for sale throughout the years) but I don’t know where I could possibly start looking!
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The houses in the picture shown have brick flowerbeds at the front. The Fairfield ones have a concrete path instead. The ground in the picture slopes down quite noticeably to the left. The Fairfield ones are more or less on level ground. The ground floor of the houses have bare brickwork at window height. The Fairfield ones are all rendered while the Durham Road ones still have bare brick. The front porches in the picture have a short wall to the side of the door. This wall is much lower than than the Fairfield ones which are the same height as the waisterail that runs around the houses just below the ground floor windows.
Look at the picture of the rear of the houses. Above the outbuilding you can see the roofs of the houses to the north (still there today), which as Frank says, were built to an entirely different design. It is unwise to rely on memory of 60 years ago when there is plenty of modern evidence available to settle the discussion. I’m glad that Bob Irwin has confirmed the discrepancy in the window design. At last we are getting somewhere!
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Just drove past these houses today up at Bishopton Court but didn’t see any like these. The middle windows were not as close together as these and a lot of the houses had a double window with a couple of single ones. I also noticed that the gable ends were all rendered.
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There are certainly no dutch barn houses on Roseworth. Nearest are Durham Road.
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You will not find any Dutch Barn Houses on Roseworth Kevin as none were built, and re-reading my post apart from some spelling mistakes I did not say any were. What I did say was the houses built on Roseworth by various builders all differed until they started to build the utility McMillan houses and even they varied from builder to builder. Unlike modern mass builders who get a one off design then build to it, those different builders back then with men who were at times not actually fully trained builders but Dilutees, used what they had to make a near enough house to the design. The path is the give away on the picture shown, it shows a crosspath then a path off at an acute angle to the front door. The Durham Road houses had a straight path from Durham Road to the front door, if memory has not deserted me they also had a very slight dip down to those houses and the ones on each side of the Dutch houses which were built to an entirely different design.
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This is proving harder than I thought! After spending some time exploring the area again via Google Streetview, I agree the design of the Fairfield houses varies a little. However every single one of them has individual dormer windows, whereas the house in the photograph clearly has the two centre windows structurally joined and sharing a single gutter.
The Durham Road ones have the same layout. Also, these two centre windows are much closer together than any of the Fairfield houses. All of the Fairfield houses have small, square brick chimneys. The one in the picture has large rectangular chimneys, just like the the one on Durham road. It also has tiles gables, again like the Durham road house. All of the Fairfield houses have rendered gables. The house in the picture has 3 steps leading up to the porch, all of the Fairfield houses have a single step.
It is possible that the council removed the gable tiles at some point, but it would be extremely unlikely that they would go to the expense of separating the center windows and moving them further apart. Then reducing the size of the chimneys, and in both cases filling the gaps with new roof tiles with the same degree of weathering as the existing ones.
I’m sorry to keep harping on (I’ve obviously got too much time on my hands!), but the dissenters are relying on memory, while I am using hard evidence. I was interested in Franks comments that there are similar Dutch barn houses in Roseworth, so perhaps these are the ones in the photo. I have been unable to find them either on streetview or Bing maps birdseye views (which provide excellent aerial views of Stockton by the way). I’m not doubting Frank but would like to know where they are so I can make further comparisons.
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Those houses on Durham Road were built 64-66 years ago purely as samples for the council to choose a model. Although they had some modern elements the shortages of material especially wood made some short cuts a necessity, wood once America cut off all aid to us in 1945-6 was so scarce that anything that came in a packing case was hastily unpacked then a fight would ensue for the wood. The square houses next door to the Dutch ones on Durham raod were the first ones built, not forgetting you did not have one main builder but many, so they same type varied from pattern. Go round any of the estates and look you will see many variations. The first houses being built on Roseworth all varied and some of those builders built so well they went broke. Even the McMillan houses they finally built differed from builder to builder. The Dutch barn houses on Fairfield would vary from the start to finish of the project plus looking at them now those still council will have been refurbished more than once again changes made. Having worked in the Durham road houses I would take bets the ones pictured are not those.
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What people may not be aware of when looking at these houses is, that just in Bishopton Court itself, there are approx 7 different designs although they all look just the same. When the refurb was done mid eighties (I think) the clerk of the works got a surprise in finding out that the drawings they had did not show the different variations. I am not talking about the alterations that people had done to the interiours over the years but just in basic layout. Some are actually back to front in there design. The windows and lack of rendering on the leading photos show an earlier period and may, I say may!, be from another estate/place. My own house, for example, has thicker exteriour walls on front and rear because the block was used as an experiment for heat treatment way back in late 50/60’s.
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The Durham Road Dutch houses were set back about 50 metres from the Durham road curbs, so I think these must be the ones in Fairfield. One of my school friends Peter Mason lived in the Durham road houses, if he is still around maybe he can shed some light on the argument.
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I’d be interested to know how other readers who still believe this is Fairfield, would account for the discrepancy in the dormer window layout I mentioned in an earlier post. Not wishing to start an argument, especially as the Picture Stockton Team, quite rightly, discourage that sort of thing, but I think we might be in for a bit of heated discussion here. Just like the High St/Finkle St debate we had a while ago (search for ‘Finkle Street looking towards the High Street’ to know what I mean).17/04/2012 20:44:55
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I used to live next door to the Durham Road Houses. This is not them.
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Are you Chris Copeland from Newtown Junior School?
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I think Rebecca is correct that these are the Durham Road houses after comparing them on Google Streetview. All of the Fairfield houses have 4 individual dormer windows, whereas the Durham road ones have the centre windows joined together, just like the houses in the photograph.
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HELLO AGAIN KEVIN. YOU ARE JOKING – THE WALK BACK TO OXBRIDGE TAKES ABOUT TEN MINUTES SO YOU MUST HAVE HAD QUITE A FEW PINTS ALTHOUGH YOUR MARGARET ALWAYS SAID YOU DIDN’T LIKE TO WALK. SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT GLENIS. I ONLY MET HER THE ONCE AT, I THINK, YOUR MAMS HOUSE WHEN I TOOK MARGARET AND VIV WALES HOME FROM THE DANCE.
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Its been a while since I contributed but couldn’t let this pass. My dear wife Glenis and her family lived in the ‘Dutch houses’ on Bishopton Court in the fifties and sixties. She was a ‘Keating’ in those days not a ‘McCullough’. She her brothers Bev and Nicky along with sister Helen and her Mom and Dad lived there when I first started ‘courting’ her. Needless to say I had a long trek back home to Oxbridge after taking her home and missing the last #4 bus. After a exhausting night at the Maison coupled with more than a few pints of whatever the Brunswick was selling in those days walking home past the cemetry wasn’t a highlight of my Saturday night, though ‘snoggin’ with Glenis in the little cut thru to the court before delivering her to her front door was!! However on looking at the second photo on this site, particularly the background which shows some kind of hill with bushes on it behind the houses, leads me to believe this isn’t Bishopton Court or I had way more beer than I thought I did in those days ; the surrounding area always looked flat to me. Sadly Glenis (the love of my life) passed five years ago (2006) and she was always sober so she could have let me know if my remembrance of those days was ‘cloudy’ or not… I don’t think this is Bishopton Court. Hello to everyone in Teesside from sunny California.
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Others that lived in these houses were Keith Barker, Sandra Middleton, Dave & Peter Beeston. Bob Thompson the drummer in the Phantoms Group can be seen in the the band photo on the Stan Laundon website, he was replaced as the Phantoms drummer by Terry Poole.
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Sorry Rebecca, these are not the Durham Road houses of which a pair were built in 1945-6 as samples along side two of the houses later built on Daventry Avenue. That pair of houses are much further back from the main Durham Road. I remember them as they caused me some very nasty blisters and bloody hands as we tried to get the Swedish Stainless steel sink units and tops to fit. My Pal Steve Small was the sheet iron worker and I was the apprentice working for Browns Sheet Iron Works at the time. Arthur Brown lived in a house on Durham Road not far from those houses built so that the council could choose which to build at the start of a massive housing scheme, when the tops were found to be too big the day before the Council were due to inspect them we were called in. Stainless steel is not easy to work on with hand tools as we found to our cost. Several hours later amidst a lot of blue air we finally managed to fit those units, wipe the blood off and polish them ready for next days inspection. One chap told Arthur Brown we had done a good job as you could not see where it had been cut and reformed. A sharp learning curve for me who would have given up, Steve was made of much sterner stuff, he showed me how to keep at it as no job was impossible to him. The house in the picture will be the Fairfield ones.
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I am pretty certain this is the house at the entrance to Bishopton Court. I love these houses. I lived at 133 Bishopton Road West in the 1970’s.
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I live in one of these houses at Fairfield and if my memory serves me there are three locations in Teesside for this design. Fairfield, of course, in the Bishopton Court/Fairfield Road/Bishopton Road area, the couple that are set back on Durham Road and the other place is situated in South Bank. The roof design was by Hills and I have been told that the curved cross sections in the roof/loft were from templates of the profile of airoplane wings which if you could see them would make sence because Hills were making airoplane parts at the time.
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I have been trying to find some pictures of my house on the internet as I was told it was a showhouse back in the day and I came across this. This is most definitely my house and I live on Durham Road, Stockton. I know there are similar houses in Fairfield but this definitely looks like mine.
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I have just located this whilst browsing and found a lot of names I knew and which resulted in some very nice memories. I lived at No.36 Bishopton Court which was changed to 40 when the police houses were built later. Peter Etherington is correct with his explanation as the houses were built immediately after the second world war, when we were still suffering shortages. The court was an excellent environment for us children. The green area was a pitch for football, cricket and rounders. The road was a running track, a third of a mile I think it was. At one time there was even a Llamella Sports Club, organised by parents, for social activities and days out. Great times and nice memories.
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Bob, if you contact the site and ask for my email address, I’ll fill you in on the details too…
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Rob Thompson went to Australia with Derick Atkinson and Brian Stephenson in 1968. I bumped into them one day in Melbourne and then knocked about together for maybe a year, Derick and myself went to Tasmania with another mate and by all accounts Rob went to South Africa, then the trail ends so I don’t know his whereabouts now.
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Hello Brian, indeed he is my uncle and I recall The Phantoms being mentioned, they had a very good guitarist who was killed in a car crash if memory serves me well? Robert also played in a band called The Ravons, who I think had some local success. If you ask the site for my email address (rather than go off on a tangent) I’m sure I can fill in more gaps for you. J
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Julian – is your uncle, Robert ‘Bob’ Thompson, Diane’s brother? Robert and I went to the same school and in the early 1960’s we were keen to get a group together or bands as they are known now. Bob taught himself to play the drums and I had a bass guitar but we never did get anywhere. Bob was very ambitious and to hear him talk we would be playing the Maison within a few months! He went on to play with the Middlesbrough group the Phantoms for a short while. The last I heard of him was when he had a shop in Middleton St George, where is he now?
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We lived next door to the house that burned down, my Mum left me a message at work ‘don’t be surprised to see the fire engines when you come home’. I remember the Thompson’s, the Kell’s and the Todd’s, who lived in the house that burned down which was 155 Fairfield Road, and many of the other names listed in this thread. I can remember the Rimswell pub being built and Rimswell Manor which was behind the pub.
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What an interesting read….lots of names sound familiar to me from early childhood. My grandparents used to live at 125 Fairfield Rd (The first or the last of ‘The Dutch Houses’, depending on the direction of travel). Does anyone remember my grandmother – Molly Thompson, silver haired lady often seen throughout Fairfield on her red cycle, or dogwalking! Next door were the prefabs and I remember one lady, Joan Brown lived there – she had a son, Calvert, who was tragically killed on duty during the Northern Ireland conflict. Nice guy he was, he used to let me play on his pool table. I remember Mr Kell – store mamger at Doggetts and further down the road of prefabs (last house to Bishopton Close?) was a family of Italian origin? They had two grandaughters – one of which was called Vanessa. I also remember John Oliver very well, we spent Primary and Junior School together. Ken Lavery – didn’t he run a painting and decorating business before he had the shop in the Court?
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I used to live at 119, Fairfield Road from 1950 (in the non Dutch houses) which were themselves an experiment in ‘easy to build’ housing consisting of an exterior of concrete slabs finished in pebble dash . And I remember The Thompsons well: ( I even had a few sessions playing guitar to Bobby’s drums but decided to stick with the day job!) ;The Browns,including Calvert ,The Kells who were one of the first to introduce the world of TV’s and motor cars to Fairfield and then there was us…The Kitchings…but that’s another tale…
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Robert Thompson is alive and well!! and lives in Middelton-St-George,also part of the year in S.E.Queensland,Australia. All the comments re-Fairfield Rd I read with great interest and nostalgia,Percy the FISHO!! what about Locock Bros soft drink vendors? Bob King,Melbourne,also Mally King – I could tell a story or two!!
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My mum is Kath O’Keeffe (nee Todd) and she lived in the dutch barn house when it burnt down, my auntie is Ann, along with all the other sisters my mum has. They both remember the fire whenever we would go past they would mention about the fire and tell stories about it. One I specifically remember is how my Grandad was helping the firemen to get everything out of the house and would be carrying cookers and washing machines to get them out of the fire.
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I remember Kathleen and Ann. Ann was the same age as me and I think we were in the same class in junior school. Kathleen was my patrol leader when I joined the Guides. 🙂 I was Helen McDiarmid then.
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Great times in the Court. John ‘Olly’ Oliver helping to build massive bondies – no good today as they would pull them down! Characters like me Nana ‘Patty’ White, Louie Johnstone and many others. Times when you could go exploring the Generators and garden hopping and play footy till it was dark – brill time. Iris Cardbury lived next door to my Nan, ours being 13 – when my Nan passed away my Dad got the house. Can anyone else think of the people who lived there?
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And then there was ‘Rolfie the egg man’.
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I fondly remember Mrs Dobson. My dad Ronald Fox was a great friend of Len, her husband who was a real gent. They used to spend many an hour in the Rimswell pub putting the world to right. I also remember Jean who is just a year older then me, and Sandra, who, if I remember right used to work in Mortons opticians.
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THE GOOD OLD DAYS. I LIVED AT NO 28 – THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. FRIENDS INCLUDED DAVY STRAUGHAN, ALLAN JOHNSON, PHILL JOHNSON, JOHN POOLE, HARRY BISHOP, COL JEFFELS, GRAHAM KNOX, ROB GIBBONS, THERE STU, DAVE BARROW, ROB LISTERTHE, GRANTS. REALLY GOOD DAYS, WE WOULD PLAY CRICKET OR FOOTBALL ON THE GREEN. THEY WILL BE ALL SETTLED DOWN NOW. I MYSELF LIVE IN HARTBURN BUT JUST REMEMBERING THE GOOD OLD DAYS.
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These houses when built were known as Lamella Houses (not Dutch Barn). Lamalla may have been the name of the designer. The roof shape was based on the same construction as the Wellington Bomber designed by Wallace Barnes. This aeroplane used short lengths of timber in its construction (Geodynamic construction was its name I believe). The roof shape was designed to use short pieces of timber. Timber immediately after the war being licenced and in very short supply this construction allowed waste timber cuts to be employed. I believe F. Hills was the manufacturer. I was working in the building trade when they were built.
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I think you mean Barnes Wallace!
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We moved into number 28 Bishopton Court about 1968-69, having lived in Oxbridge before then. The Poole family lived in number 26 and Dave Straughn lived the other side of us in number 30. My younger brother, Steve, ended up buying one himself years later when he got married, near the cut at the Rimswell end.
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Yes indeed, Percy the fishman was a character and he did have a false leg. One day my sister-in-law told him that she wouldn”t be requiring any eggs or fish for a fortnight because she was going to holiday to Italy. Straight back he says “have a look for me leg over there then would ya, thats where I lost it” Whether this was a war wound or not we never knew.
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I didn”t think Mr Rhodes was of an age to remember Percy and Mr Kelsey but he is right, Percy was a character and sold very nice and tasty fish.
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I remember you when you were a little girl, Sanda Dobson. I was a friend of Jean”s and went to school with her. I remember your Mum, and didn”t your grandma live with you too? I also recall a Christine Smith (I think) who lived a few doors from you.
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