Eleanor's Life - Let there be Light and Entertainment

Electricity did not come to the 'top end' of Greenside until very late, approximately at the early 1960s, so lighting and cooking in Milton Street was supplied by gas. 

When clearing out Eleanor's house in 2005 we found two gas mantles, that had been there for over 35 years. 

The mantles, and a lot of other things, were carefully transported to Kilmarnock in Scotland where I lived at the time, and then when I moved back 'home' to the North East, they were again carefully transported back, and survived! 

Photograph of Gas Mantle from Eleanor's House

I assume in the 1930s that all the family members contributed towards the purchase of a Peerless Gramaphone that was housed in a cabinet.  I still have all the old records and more that I bought at a local market. No electricity needed you just wound the handle! 

Turntable of Peerless Gramophone

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Peerless Gramophone Cabinet

Inside the Peerless I found this brand new Cossor Valve, I assume Grandma and Grandpa owned a Cossor Wireless.

Cossor Valve

  
Wireless became a boom industry in the 1930s, and every town had shops selling, renting, repairing and supplying them. The shop that the folks of Greenside used was in Crawcrook, (a village close by) called Morley's.

Here is a picture of an old Cossor Wireless 

Households without electricity bought Valve Radios (Wireless) that required electricity from batteries, a large high tension battery giving about 120 volts, and a low tension accumulator.

I remember accumulators - households would have two, one in use and the other (at Morley's) being charged.  Morley's van used to call and pick up the used one, and the following week would return the recharged one for a reasonable amount.  

These glass containers were very heavy, weighing a few pounds.  My mam and dad warned us never to touch them as they were full of acid.

Accumulator

Greenside eventually had its own cinema, The Ritz which opened in 1939.  It was the hope that entertainment would provide relief from the stress and anxiety of the war years. Shows were twice nightly, with three changes each weekly. I remember as a small child being taken to see "Gone with the Wind" it was an absolute sell out at every show, so much so people sat on the stairs. Sadly audiences declined, and it became a bingo hall in the 1960s, and was demolished in 1979.

Derelict Greemsode Ritz in the 1970s