1 Noble Street
For a list of all Noble Street Houses and a history of Noble Street overall please refer to the Noble Street page.
* Information Supplied by Clive Dalton January 2024.
No 1. Bensons
Tommy Benson the father worked at the Steele gun testing site at Broomhope between Reedsmouth and West Woodburn, and he biked there every day except in winter when because of deep snow he walked the miles across the open fell to the old Rede Bridge where the Wannie railway crossing gates were controlled by a Benson relative. It was called Benson’s Crossing.
Tommy’s wife we called ‘Mrs. Benson’ to her face or ‘Ma Benson’ behind her back and she was the mother of Jean the eldest who had left home, and married Eddie Lang, Denis, Morris and Micky (Jean’s son). It was a great house for fun and games with few restrictions on behaviour.They had forms to sit on which we used to end up and slide down. My posh cousins from Lemington loved to go there for antics that were not allowed in our house. Denis did national service in the Navy and then worked on installing electricity up the Tyne valley I remember in the 1950s.
Morris was allowed to join the Scouts which I was always jealous of when I saw him dressed in his hat and uniform. Mother didn’t let me join. Micky could have been in the Cubs. Morris also had a part time job as assistant projectionist for the films shown at the town hall on a Saturday afternoon and evening after arriving on the bus from Hexham on a Friday.
The Bensons were the only folk in the street with a dog. Ma was a bit of a drama queen and one day when she pretended to faint and when Dad grabbed to save her, the dog bit him. He was not delighted. They had a small shed for odds and ends on the ground above the back lane that had clearly come from the Steele. It was so full of stuff that we kids didn’t have room to play in it. I remember the night Tommy died as we were awakened by Ma throwing small stone chips up at our bedroom window to call for help. Mum used to help with all births and deaths in the street and she didn’t please Dad when she gave his only white shirt to lay Tommy out in!
