For those who may be interested, here are a few details concerning myself:
I was born in Danesfield, Jarrow-on-Tyne, on 14th October 1948, another product of the post-war baby boom. Our first family home was in what would now be called a bedsit at 8 Claremont Road, Newcastle, which is why I was baptised at St Andrew's in Worswick Street. My godfather was an England Test cricketer - Jim McConnon, who came from Burnopfield, and who had met my father when playing cricket for Leslies in Hebburn. Dad, who was a schoolteacher, used to cycle to work at North Shields along the Coast Road - pleasant enough with the wind behind your back, but not so good if it was blowing the other way.
The earliest memory I am able to date with any precision is the birth of my sister Anne in April 1952. We were then living at 26 Maple Street, Jarrow. I travelled to Newcastle with my father to bring Mum and the baby home. We took a trolley bus from Clayton Street for the short ride up Elswick Road to Hopedene, a Salvation Army Hostel for "fallen girls" which also functioned as a private maternity clinic.
My mother was a Hebburn girl, Kathleen Rowan, whose widowed mother (nee Maria Laydon) lived with her spinster sister Catherine (Kitty) in the Laydon family residence at 24 Victoria Road, Hebburn. My mother's grandparents came originally from Leitrim, and had established themselves in Hebburn around the turn of the century, becoming the owners of a grocer's shop in Bewick Street. At the time of my birth this was being managed by Kitty. My father's family also originated in Ireland. His Brennan great-grandparents emigrated from Galway to Jarrow around 1870, and intermarried with the families of other Irish immigrants, in particular the Rooneys who farmed Lake House Farm in East Jarrow from circa 1884 to 1925.
When I was seven years old my parents bought a house at 219 Albert Road, Jarrow, and we left our rented property at Maple Street. We remained there until the 1960's, when my parents moved to Fulwell and I lost contact with the town. At the time I was at University in Sheffield, but my parents were kind enough to tell me their new address! Since then I've lived in Leicestershire, Cheshire, Dublin and my present home (since 1983) - Rowlands Gill.
My family have accused me (with some justification) of developing obsessive hobbies. Over the years I have learned Russian, studied the Saxophone (I own 4 instruments) and totally freaked-out on mountain biking. The latter is a very efficient way to dispose of surplus income! I have completed the C2C ride twice (best time - two days), and travelled to Mammoth Mountain, California to ride the famous Kamikaze downhill course. This I completed in 6 mins 50 seconds, which is pretty pedestrian by pro standards, but it scared the sh*t out of me.
I took up researching family history in 1993, and since then I have branched out into other aspects of local history. I recently published a history of WW1 womens' football teams - "The Munitionettes", which is selling slowly but steadily. I have two other interests - my family, and Karate (Goju-ryu). For an account of my early exploits in the latter visit my Karate page.
Patrick Brennan