The House That Held Our Christmas In The 1970s is a home where architectural character and estate origins converge. Lived experience also contributes to this convergence. In the early 1970s, Woodlands in Gosforth still reflected the strong interwar suburban principles on which it was built. It featured solid red-brick houses with bay fronts. There were carefully proportioned elevations, deep gardens, and a coherent streetscape, created by mature planting and long-established boundary walls. These homes were part of a neighbourhood. Its historic identity remained highly legible. The identity was shaped by the legacy of the former Coxlodge Hall estate.
We hope you enjoy this guest post by John Bynon as he shares his childhood memories of Christmas at Woodlands.
A Childhood Home Filled With Traditions
I lived at 21 Woodlands with my mother, father, and brother. My most vivid memories at this time of year would be when I was 6. These include the pattern of Christmas and the walk to school.
“Houses are more than shelter; they become the backdrop against which our earliest identities form.”
Schooldays In Gosforth During the 70s
I had just started at Ascham House School in the September. Which was located at 59 Linden Road and was the Junior School at the time. My classroom was the ground floor front room. All the desks were lidded with hinged fixed seats. They made a terrible racket when an adult walked in and we all had to stand up. Incidentally I am nearly positive I saw mine and most of the others in a classroom at Beamish Museum. I looked for my initials but no JRB 1974 !
As we approached the Christmas break, we would create a festive ornament. We made it to take home on the last day of term. My project was intended to be a tree with snow. I made it out of a twig I had found on Elmfield Road. I also used some wood, moss, cotton wool, and little ornaments. However, it ended up looking more like a ‘hanging tree out in the Yorkshire Moors’. My Father would always give an honest opinion. He kept it on his desks for many years. Eventually, it died of old age. Only a curled up fossilised piece of balding moss remained on a piece of floor board.
All The Trimmings Folio
This folio allows us to conduct deeper and more detailed research. We emphasise illustrative aspects such as historical maps. News archives are included as A3 prints. We will consult census records, directories, electoral registers, maps including tithe maps and newspapers. By sourcing these archives we can uncover a detailed history of your home. Click here for more info
Walking the Winter Routes of Woodlands and Coxlodge
On the last day of term, we would be led in pairs along Linden Road. We walked to All Saints Church for the school carol service. In later lif e, I have experienced what I thought was frostbite. This brings this Church visit to mind. As for a six year old in shorts at this time of year on a cold pew that cut off the circulation behind my knee, I was seriously worried I would never be able to walk out of the church without embarrassing my parents.
All the parents were there and the organ was quite loud I remember as were the congregation. Straight after we were out the pews in perfect sync and quick marched back to 59 Linden Road to collect our artwork and bags. I was old enough to walk home on my own by then.
Straight down Linden Road to Elmfield, turn right then fist left to Westfield until The Drive then down as far as ‘ Stoney Lane’ which connects Woodlands to The Drive. This I believe to be the garden boundary wall of Coxlodge Hall. Our house was right at the opening. I remember the bright lights from our hallway through the bull nose glass of the original front door.
Holidays had officially begun.
Christmas Eve Rituals Inside a Family Home
I would sign cards my Mother would put in front of me for when relatives arrived on Christmas Day.
None of my friends were available on this day. My Mother would say their parents will be far to busy with preparing for tomorrow and will have family round.
It looked like I’d be resigned to my comfortable bean bag. I was listening to White Christmas with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Then my Mother answered the door to some neighbours. They said they were collecting their tree and asked if I’d like to come along for the ride. Ride! It was along the Military Road in a car with bouncy suspension.
When we got to Haltwhistle I was the same shade as the Christmas Trees and brought ‘my cookies up’ as my Father would say.
I was home, bathed and in bed before long.
Later that evening I got out of bed. I could hear my Mother and Father wrapping presents in the Breakfast room. My Father was testing the Grundig Cassette recorder. He used a tape of Laurel and Hardy ‘Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia’. I was overwhelmed with excitement and edged back to my room. I used only my elbows and toes to propel myself.
Christmas Morning in 1970s Gosforth
” CAN I GET UP NOW!” I can remember standing in my parents room. It was the big bay windowed room to the front. My room was the small room at the back. It overlooked the back of Oaklands, which I loved.
My brother was only 2 at the time. He was in his cot most of the time or chewing the wheels off my cars. His room was the small one next to my parents.
I was allowed to bring my Christmas sack into the big bedroom. Where I opened my presents in front of my parents. I still neatly dispatch the sellotape so I can use the paper again … never tear! These were the smaller presents. The bigger ones were under the tree. I couldn’t believe it! I’d got a red bike with white wheels.
Around 9:00 am the Salvation Army Band would arrive down the road. They would come to the door for donations or tinned food. These were to be put in a van parked on Moor Place. “Mum Mum they are coming !!” I remember shouting as they turned the bend at the top of the street. Later my Father watched me go up and down the back lane on my new bike. Superb ! I’m set for life !
Neighbours, Grandparents and Community Life
Around midday or slightly earlier, I would go with my Dad in the car. We would collect my Grandparents who lived at 24 Leslie Crescent. We would pull up outside and the front door would open before I could press the bell. My Grandfather would be there with his brown overcoat, silk paisley scarf, hat, and stick. My Grandmother would be saying ”Where’s the cat I don’t want her upstairs!”
Around 5:00 PM we would drop my Grandparents off. I’d always want to follow them into the house to see Sam the cat. My Gran would say, “She is asleep. Stay in the car, you’ll get cold.”
The Houses That Shaped a Childhood
Boxing day was the Gosforth v Northern rugby match. I would be involved with rugby not long after. This particular year I watched the match half inside my Father’s Duffle Coat. Then it was into a packed bar where I perched at the end with my tomato juice and salt and vinegar crisps.
These were happy days!
John Bynon
Why Stories Like This Matter
This account is more than a family memory. It illustrates how the design, materials and planning of early-20th-century houses continue to influence lived experience decades later. Streets like Woodlands Road play a vital role in Gosforth’s heritage. Original brickwork, joinery, boundaries, back lanes, and tree lines combine to create a coherent historic environment.
Preserving these features preserves the stories woven through them. The school walks, community rituals, and seasonal traditions that make each home uniquely significant. Such narratives form a key part of Gosforths houses their conservation and their history. They show why heritage conservation matters not only for buildings but also for the lives they contain.
Living at 21 Woodlands during this period meant inhabiting a house whose original fabric still guided daily life. High ceilings, wide staircases, and timber detailing offered practicality. The unchanged layout provided a sense of continuity with Gosforth’s early suburban development. The surrounding street pattern included the route of Stoney Lane and old estate lines. It also showed the relationship between front gardens and back lanes. These elements reinforced a feeling of place that was distinctly historic yet very much lived-in.
The everyday rituals of the 1970s take on renewed significance when seen through this lens. This includes the preparations and traditions surrounding Christmas. They form a valuable record of how families interacted with the architectural environment around them. This reveals the ways in which Gosforth’s historic houses have shaped the social life of the community. They continue to shape it today.