Joan Phillips
Joan belongs to: Cullercoats Community Centre
Joan was born in Cullercoats. She worked abroad before returning to Cullercoats. Joan now spends her time writing.
Joan was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 1 March 2006. The interview took place at Cullercoats Community Centre and lasted 31 minutes and 8 seconds.
Going with her sister to sell fish
"I never went with my Gran but I went with my sister. She had a little van and she would, she would go to outlying areas of the places "
I never went with my Gran but I went with my sister. She had a little van and she would, she would go to outlying areas of the places where my granny went, where she couldn’t get to, really. For instance, at Stocksfield, my sister used to drive up to New Ridley which was quite a, would have been quite a long walk for my granny, and she had people there, and she also used to go on to Appley Dene.
And I think I once caught sight of Dr. Ethel Williams, who was the first, I think the first female doctor to practice in the North East, if not, in the whole of England, and I think she died in, I think she died in 1948, so it must have been certainly before then, and I’m sure she lived down at Appley Dene. And Ethel Williams is now, there used to be an Ethel Williams Hostel or something at Benton for students- Newcastle University students, but I think it’s just called the Williams now, or something like that.
But my sister used to go to Appley Dene and then she used to go on to Minstracres, which is now a monastery, and serve the people on that estate because they were nearly all Catholics and of course used to do well on a Friday with fish.
I used to love going away with my sister because I, I used to go up, knock on doors and ask people what they wanted, and come back and tell her and then dash back with it, so I used to see some lovely houses, meet lots of nice people, lots of nice dogs, babies, that sort of thing.
And she used to go to Slaley as well, which is a good way out, and I remember there was a vicar there who had tame geese and they used to follow him to funerals and weddings, they used to just quack in his wake as he walked, you know, from the door up to the church. And I remember he once left an order for some fish, and he said, “please can I have three filets of soul,”- S-O-U-L. He got mixed up with his soles.
Joan has 9 memories in the memorynet:
Joan's memories with a Women theme:
Going away with fish- Her Grandmother's routine
- Going with her sister to sell fish
Joan's great grandmother- Joan's great uncle and aunt
- Joan's grandmother
- Mrs Hardesty Brown's tea parties
Joan's other memories:
This memory has these themes:
Childhood | Roles and Routines | The North East | Women | Work
Use this form to add your comment to the memorynet: