Front Street, Stanley

Are there any 'Blippers' on here that live in 'Stanley'?

Today we went for a mooch around 'Stanley'. Ann's Parents, Grandparents, Great Granparents, etc, etc, all lived in Stanley. Traditionally, Stanley was a very close knit mining community.

In the early 1960s, when my human was very young, obviously she used to visit both sets of Grandparents in Stanley regularly. Her parents had also grown up in Stanley, but when they'd got married in the late 1950s they'd moved a few miles away, to the 'posher' village of Whickham. 'Yuppies weren't invented until the 1980s but Ann's parents were 'upwardly mobile' and focused on a career instead of just; …......the man of the family working down the mine and his wife looking after the house and kids.

By the mid 1960s Ann's family had moved away from the 'North East' and all the traditions and community spirit that she'd grown up with, and had been part of her life during her first seven years, just disappeared forever.

Nothing will ever replace the community spirit that there was in the North East of England in the 1960s. Oh dear, this BLIP is turning into an episode of 'Call the Midwife'???

Anyway, my human hasn't been to Stanley for at least 15 years so we thought we'd do a little nostalgic trip. What a depressing place.

…..........Front Street, Stanley................ which in the 1960s (wasn't a pedestrian area) was a really busy, bustling street, full of every single shop you could ever want. It was a community. Ann's parents & grandparents couldn't walk along 'Front Street' without chatting to someone.

…............And just look at it now..........................

Concreted over...................... most of the shops/pubs boarded up (Ann's put most of her photos on FB).................nothing in 'Front Street' except 'Betting shops' and 'Job Centres' & Hostels and 'cheap cafes' and 'Bargain stores' selling whatever they can. There's a big Aldi & Asda at the end of 'Front Street' where we're guessing everyone goes for their shopping.

….................But as for 'Front Street, Stanley'?................. It must be one of the most depressing 'main town shopping streets' in the whole of the UK?

The few people that we passed today, just looked worn out and old beyond their years. There's no industry there any more. There's no work for anyone.

It is soooooo, soooooo, sad that such a lovely town has died.

In the 1960s, STANLEY was a 'town', it was a community and people looked out for each other.

It would be lovely to go back to go back to that way of life........... But obviously that's never going to happen. Boohoooo........

#westillloveStanley