Bob Harbron

The High Street - How many remeber that tall military gentleman , with his cravat, waist coat Norfolk jacket and immaculate polished shoes who walked every day from Norton to open his shop Martin the tailors to the gentry. It was situated next door to Barclays Bank. The shop moved to Norton Road in the 1970s, but the "Guards-Officer" was "on-parade"daily to within 3 weeks of his death in the early 1990"s. His shop is now one of the high-lights of Preston-Hall Victorian Street. Laesers sweet shop made its own choclate and toffee, a particular favourite being "Nut-Brittle" The choclate dislay was out of this world, cars,trains, soldiers dolls etc either solid or hollow. Christmas and Easter was a miracle of both choclate art in the window display, none of this stack it high and sell it you had the feel that you were a personal customer to the art of chocolate. 25/08/2005 13:30:44

Jim McCurley

This is a lovely picture of Stockton High Street before it was spoiled forever. Classy department stores like Doggarts, jewellery shops, confectionery shops, clothing stores for ladies and gentlemen, elegant pubs like the Vane Arms and the Black Lion. Even the bus looks classy. Gone but not forgotten. 30/08/2005 09:26:57

Ged Hutchinson

I remember "Hunter" Martin from my days in the Red Lion in Ramsgate. He was always immaculate. I don`t think that he was a drinking man but I believe that the attraction was the landlady Mrs Kathryn Watts who had been widowed early in life and was a very attractive magnet. Martin had strong competition but I always thought that Mrs Watts looked very relaxed and enjoyed Mr Martin"s attentions. 09/09/2005 10:44:27

Bob Irwin

Ged. A character if ever there was one. "Don"t think he"s a drinking man." I bet you could not keep up with him? The only thing he had was whisky. When leaving work he would have one in as many pubs as he could visit. He lived on the opposite side of the Avenue from me. I have seen him drunk but on most occasions could find his way home. 16/01/2006 08:20:38

Ged Hutchinson

Obviously Bob knew Hunter Martin much better than I did. My knowledge of the man is limited to his appearances in the Red Lion pub. I can remember that his drink was whiskey but I never saw him inebriated. Perhaps he was on his best behaviour on the occasions he popped into the Red Lion to see Mrs. Watts. That said, what sticks in my memory of him is that he was always immaculately dressed. As you say Bob, a real character. 25/01/2006 10:24:09

Bob Irwin

Hi Ged. Hunter Martin would doff his bowler at all ladies passing him. Yes he was a character. Also characters of Stockton who were well dressed gentlemen were Stan Morton, started work at Maxwells and could be taken as one of the cast od "Are You Being Served." Another one who would walk into the Town probably 4 times on a Saturday morning wearing a different rig-out each time was Daddy Horton or commonly known as Canary. He always wore yellow gloves and I believe he came from Newtown. Do you know of any more characters who either worked in the Town or visited there. 26/01/2006 15:13:35

Bob Dicken

Re Hunter Martin. He was a fine gentleman and naturally he was a good example for his business, and yes he stood out then against the crowd in those days. Can anyone imagine how he would have stood out in the High Street today? The poor dress code today has been mentioned previously in these columns. I think it was his sister who taught me (and a few hundred others) at Richard Hind School in the 1930s. She like her brother was very tall and always well dressed. 26/01/2006 15:15:27

Harry Rhodes

I have many happy memories of this stretch of Stockton High Street in particular Laeser"s Sweet Shop (about which my Wife still raves) and the Vane Arms Hotel where we celebrated our Engagement. However, I am surprised to find no reference to that Mecca for Boys, young and not so young, Darnboroughs with it"s Hornby Railway layouts, Dinky Toys and Meccano Sets. This was Paradise for me in the late "30s and "40s. I wonder whatever happened to it. 26/01/2006 15:17:50

Ged Hutchinson

Daddy Horton was well known to me as he lived only a few yards from me in Dundas Street. He certainly was a character and would parade down the High Street in various attire but always sporting yellow gloves. He would often return to his home in Dundas Street more than once to change into a fresh ensemble and had the habit of checking his appearance as he walked along. Needless to say he was the butt of many cruel jokes and we Newtown kids never let him pass by without an exchange of pleasantries. I can remember that we had to be fleet of foot to avoid retribution and were scattered in all directions more than once by the "very strange" Daddy Horton. 27/01/2006 08:08:35

Tony Scott

They has been a few characters in Stockton over the years, does anybody remember the Moon"s from Portrack, they was Gigi Moon and Les Moon, and they sister Doris ,and yes I remember Hunter Martin well as I belonged Norton, I use to see him a lot and thought how smart he was. 27/01/2006 08:13:21

Jim McCurley

I was around in much later days but I remember some of the characters mentioned, like the guy with the yellow gloves parading up and down the High Street. I didn"t know his name was Daddy Horton; we used to call him "Glovey" in my day. He would smile at everyone and point his gloved fingers at people as he walked past like he was conducting an orchestra. I also remember Giggy Moon from Portrack, and a guy with a similar affliction from Parkfield called Billy Cockles. The difference was that Giggy was a friendly character and Billy was bad tempered. All the kids were terrified of Billy Cockles. Once Tarzan did his blood-curdling yell for me and showed me how to punch a wall, though I didn"t try it. There was another guy who had a gammy leg and used to go around on a specially modified bike that he could pedal with one foot. We used to call him Mucky Arthur. Does anyone remember him? 30/01/2006 07:58:28

Barry Robinson

For Tony Scott...I remember Gigi Moon very very well and always thought what a strange character he was. Regretfully, people would ridicule him as he made his way down the street. I would see him a lot. he was very probably a gentle soul but i never got to speak with him. 30/01/2006 07:58:46

Barry Robinson

Bob; You mentioned a character called Daddy Horton a.k.a Canary because of the clothes he wore. Now I remember vividly a gentleman who was always immaculately dressed with yellow gloves and patent leather shoes, he used to stride along the street in military fashion. But we knew him as Canary King....is this the same person. 30/01/2006 07:59:14

Graham Wright

Gigi Moon, now theres a character you could not forget! I wonder if Clive will go down in the illustrious list of Stockton characters? 30/01/2006 08:25:32

Cliff Thornton

Tony asked about Gigi Moon - how could anybody forget such a character, especially the ladies walking down the High Street when he used to jump out in front of them and show off by doing his tapdance! Is it true that he never paid a busfare, or was it just that the conductors knew it was no use asking him to pay as he was skint? Then there was the time he joined a coach outing to York races, but missed the coach when it left to return to Teesside. Gigi arrived back in style 4 days later being deposited at Stockton Police Station courtesy of a police squad car that had "chauffered" him back from York where the police were fed up looking after him. With his greasy cap, Gigi was not the best dressed in town and it is said that his mates in his "local" at Portrack (Prince of Wales ?)used to donate him a new set of clothes now and again, but they insisted on giving him a good wash before he put them on. "Give us a tab?" 30/01/2006 08:18:49

Bob Irwin.

Regarding Daddy Horton. He would be probably known in different areas of Stockton by different names but describing him:- approx 6 ft tall, average build, greying thin hair, wearing rimless glasses. I believe he worked at tha Admiralty, Eaglescliffe.
JIM McCURLEY. Ref. Billy. I think he was known as Billy Marshall and either lived in Bowsfield area or Oxbridge.
Ref. Gigi Moon. I don"t think he ever paid bus fair. I remember he would go to the Boro matches on the special bus and it would be the generosity of other passengers who paid his fair. If you argued with him he would take his cap off and hit you with it. He also got into the matches free. He would shout for Mannion even if Mannion was not playing. He had a brother called Les but you would never see them together even if both were in the Town at the same time. I"ve seen them walk on opposite sides of the road purposefully to miss each other. 31/01/2006 21:31:30

Brian Swales

Regarding "Daddy Horton". My late father in law knew him as "The Yellow Canary"! Gigi Moon - that was a name I knew all too well as a child in the 1950"s but I can"t remember ever seeing him . . . . he sounded quite a character. Another local character (mentioned elsewhere on this site) was "Tarzan the Tramp". He was a scruffy, but friendly, character who I remember hanging around the Browns Bridge entrance to Newtown School in the early/mid 1950"s. I remember him punching the brick wall with his fist then showing us kids there were no marks on his hand. He also used to gather kids around him in the "Rec" on Durham road and tell them spooky stories. Apparently he was a shell shocked First World War veteran who used to sleep rough in the Clay Hole behind Hartburn village. He was found dead in a barn near the Mile House in the early 1970"s. Anyone know his name? How times have changed, anyone like that hanging around a school nowadays would be locked up. I can"t ever remember him ever being moved on by the teachers or the police. 03/02/2006 10:07:38

Stan Hilton

In the late 1940"s my grandfather Jimmy Hoey was a member of the Portrack Cons Club which I think at that time was in Palmerston Street a couple of doors from the Salvation Army. He got me on the annual childrens" trip to Seaburn and Roker. Two double deck corporation buses loaded up outside the club and just as we were about to start Gigi Moon got onto the open platform and travelled there the whole trip. I was also on the bus going to Middlesbrough on a match day when he got on. I remember somebody paid his fare when the conductor came round. As well as his "gis tab" he used to shout "how way the rocks" on match days. Now there"s a subject for this site, I remember my grandfather talking about the Portrack Shamrocks but know very little about them. 08/05/2006 08:49:55

Benny Brown

Seeing your story about Giggy Moon brought back memories for me of a day at the Empire Cinema, We were going down the tunnel to get in to the Front stalls, the cheap sixpenny seats in the theatre, Giggy was at the end of the tunnel but instead of his well known Giga,s a cig he was asking Giga"s a Penny. we gave Giggy his penny and waited in the queue to get in to the cheap seats, after about half an hours wait we managed to get in to our front row seat. On hearing a commotion coming from the toffs seats in the Balcony there was Giggy in all his slendour waving to all his benifactor"s in the cheap seats. Giggy also had a knack of getting into wedding photo,s outside the Parish Church as my brother can verify on his weddind photo"s. Giggy was a well loved character in Stockton, does any one know when he died?. 09/05/2006 08:39:24

Colin Brownlee

I can remember both Tarzan and Gigi Moon very well. Tarzan always had a retinue of kids around him, listening to his stories, which were entirely harmless, as indeed he was. I later discovered that Gigi Moon was a shell shocked veteran of WW1. 13/06/2006 10:34:30

yvonne thompson nee harper

I REMBER TARZAN VERY WELL. HE OFTEN KNOCKED ON OUR DOOR AND ASKED IF MY MAM WOULD SCALD HIS TEA LEAVES IN HIS BILLY CAN [SHE NEVER REFUSED] ONE SUNDAY HE WAS SAT ON THE TWO STEPS IN CALIFORNIA STREET TELLING A GANG OF US STORIES AND HE ASKED ME TO ASK MY MAM IF SHE WOULD BUTTER SOME BREAD HE HAD, MY MAM"S REPLY WAS HE WILL GET MARGARINE LIKE THE REST OF US.  ANN THOMAS WAS FROM A LARGE FAMILY AND HER MAM BAKED ALL SUNDAY AFTERNOON [THATS HOW I REMEMBER THE DAY] I SNEAKED INTO THEIR BACK WAY AND SMUGGLED OUT CAKES. HE THOUGHT HIS BIRTHDAY HAD COME, HE RAN TO BOTTOM OF STREET AND GIVE HIS TARZAN CALL WAVED AND WENT. I OFTEN WONDERED IF ANN GOT INTO TROUBLE OVER THE CAKES 16/08/2006 08:36:47

Colin Chapman

I remember all the aforementioned characters,but can anyone recall the chap that appeared to have no legs and sat on a bogie outside of Woodhouses corner of Wellington Street selling matches. Who was he and what became of him? 18/08/2006 09:22:53

David Mills

I remember the bloke selling matches from his bogie. My dad told me he was a war veteran, not sure if that was 1914-18 or WW11. 21/08/2006 08:42:50

Stephen Watson

My wifes dad had the Prince of Wales in portrack in the 70"s John, by the way and yes on a sunday Giggy was out side the pub standing in the bus stop across the road then at 12pm in he come giz a fag john well he got more then a fag, big pan of home made broth and a new set of clothes and yes a good wash. Portrack Lane was never the same when Giggy died. Stan Hilton - the Portrack Shamrocks were a football team.21/08/2006 08:47:01

George Clement

Stepen, nice to read about the Portrack Shamrocks football team. I lived in Portrack, not far from th Prince of Wales, but I remember the team. Their ground was next to Blacketts Brickworks. As lads we used to go to the far end of the ground searching for newts in the stream, or placing nails of the railway line that went into ICI in the hope that a train would pass and "weld" them into minature swords. 28/09/2006 07:56:46

Bob Wilson [now Leeds]

Without doubt Giggy [not Gi-gi] was everyones favourite, I went to visit someone in a nursing home in Hardwick [on the corner 50 yards past the shops] and who"s coming out but a vary smart and clean Giggy. He"d been in there some years and what a change in his appearence. Stockton should have a Giggy Moon day, when he"s remembered properly by one and all. Was his surname really Moon, I suspect it wasn"t, but who was he? Come back Giggy - we loved you then , we love you still. Does anyone remember Swim-Swam-Swum, Billy from Thornaby [pigswill barrow] you then had Mr Wm Sharp for his market eggs [2nds]the bicuit man Mr Marsh [who"d break them for you if you asked] and the Pet stall vendor near the toilets, he ended up a millionaire, pigeons 2/- unrung, 2/6 rung. Or a shilling each when he wanted rid of them. And what about the Cattle Market and the timber ships and corn mills behind the High Street. 18/10/2006 12:51:03

Richard Scott

Bob:- The correct surname is Moon. The family lived in Nicholson Street, Portrack. Lesley (Giggy ),Raymond and Doris were well known characters in the Stockton area. In addition there was Frank, Tom, and Jane Ann.If I remember rightly there was a lot of respect in the area for the way Mrs Moon cared for and looked after the family 19/10/2006 08:03:57

PETER FLETCHER.

SAW COLIN BROWNLEE WAS LOOKING FOR ANYONE THAT CAN REMEMBER HIM. I CAN REMEMBER HIM I AM SURE. I WAS AT NORTON HIGH STREET AS WELL. SHAUN PHILLIPS WAS A MATE OF HIS. I LEFT TO LIVE IN HOLLAND IN 1966 AND NOW LIVE IN SPAIN. 04/01/2007 08:16:30

laura dawson

Does anyone remember Giggy moon walking down Stockton High Street with a loaf of bread on a piece of string pretending it was a dog he did it quite regular in the early 60s 29/05/2007 12:15:35

Jean Vogler nee Dixon

I remember Giggy Moon and Billy ( the pig man) from Thornaby. Stockton High Street was great years ago. Remember Leslie Brown"s Blackett"s and Doggart"s. So many good shops compared to today. I remember going to the cattle market behind the church on the High Street. So many good memories 01/06/2007 08:56:22

chris king

I am too young to remember any of these people but I have heard alot of stories about them.... most of all Giggy Moon. My grandad Fred used to play for the Shamrocks and I heard that Giggy used to rattle an old oxo tin shuting "howay the rocks" and spit straight after. Even though I am young, I do remember "Percy" who used to sell all the fish & eggs out of his old van. I love all these stories and its a shame we have no-one like these people around today. 06/07/2007 08:18:06

Kathryn Laeser

Does anyone know more about Laeser"s Confectioners? I"m doing a Laeser family tree and I"m interested to find out if the owners may be related to me. Thanks. 24/09/2007 09:11:01

Mary Clare Dowson

I was born in Hill Street East and lived there until 1961 when the family moved to Hardwick. Jane Ann Moon, Giggy"s sister, used to do washing for us. She was disabled and she seemed to me to be old when I knew her, though she was probably only in her forties. I can remember wheeling the dirty washing to her house in an old pram and then collecting it clean and ironed a few days later: She was a lovely, kind lady. Was anyone else at Sacred Heart School from about 1951? My parents were Jean and Harold Dowson and I had three sisters, Pauline, Angela and Christine, and a brother, Anthony who went to the English Martyrs School at Hardwick. I remembers Laesers for the most delicious chocolate truffles which have never been equalled by anything in my subsequent experience, despite having lived in Belgium and France. 24/12/2007 08:23:29

Joy Mannion

My father was bred and born at Portrack his name Micky Mannion. His parents where Joe and Mary, brothers Joe, Jimmy, Martin and Billy who died a young man at portrack. Sisters Margaret, Mary, Pat, Ann & Lulu. My dad told me of the time he was a kid arguing with sister mary when giggy chased my dad from Portrack Lane all the way to Norton Avenue to his Uncle Gordys and when he came out Giggy was waiting behind a bush and chased my dad all the way back to portrack. 05/09/2008 14:16:07

D. Mallaby

can anyone remember Miss Bets, she had a tailor shop on Finkle street or there abouts. i would love to see any pictures and hear stories25/06/2009 22:11:29

brian codd

the bus in the photo was the one of many that i worked on as a apprentice fitter with stockton buses boathouse lane from 1956 to 1960 also giggy moon used to scare me as a young man always asking 'got fag mate'03/08/2009 21:39:21

ray carter

i lived at portrack thru the 50s,i went to sacred heart school.giggi used to be outside school at home time and he seen that kids got across the road safely.i used to dodge him myself,years later i worked at the malleable,i used to have a pint in the prince of wales,he was always in there.he used to eat boiled eggs without taking the shell off,and he was always asking for a pag(fag).04/08/2009 21:34:57

Kay Fiddess

There wasn't a child in Portrack that was afraid of Giggy. Many a kid was saved by him dragging them back from the road. I lived in two and a half Nicholson St (now there's an address to think about). Mrs Moon kept her home very clean, I know doris used to throw Giggy and Raymond out first thing on a morning and they only came in at teatime. Giggys famous saying was 'gis a fag mary' whether it was man or woman. The Moon family were never ridiculed by any Portrack kids, our parents would have given us a good clout. Portrack was a great place to live with great people living there. 07/08/2009 20:44:22

Malcolm Turner

Yes Kay, two & a half Nicholson Street, sandwiched between number two and the co-op, I remember it well. As a very young child I remember coming into your house to play(I lived in number two). I also remember your late brother Rony, I think after your family moved out a couple called Sargent moved in. Like you I dont think Giggy Moon frightened any of us kids. 10/08/2009 13:53:51

Dorothy Shepherdson nee Mckenzie

Mary Clare are you the Dowsons that lived in dryburn road? If you are, I remember your mam letting us all in your house to play our records and I thought you were very posh because you had a fridge. It would be great to know how your family are doing.17/09/2009 20:45:32

Ann Wilkinson

I have a copy of a Census dated 1901 and 1911 and Sir Frank Brown and his family lived at 59 High Street, Norton. Would this be on this photo? I was hoping to find a photo of the house. 13/11/2009 16:39:17

Frank Bowron

That's Stockton High Street, Ann. I think you're looking for "The Priory" and there's a a few pictures of that on this site, perhaps the best one is t5957. 16/11/2009 08:51:41

Jack Stevenson

Giggy Moon, The Yellow Canary, Tarzan, Willie Waites, Hunter Martin, I knew them all. Willie went to St Cuthberts school as did I, we used to taunt him shouting 'Willie Waites for the bus'... harmless enough but he could land a punch if he got hold of you. Outside the Odeon was his patch and if you spoke to him he would usually request a cigarette..'Gizzatab' The Yellow Canary would promenade up and down the High St on Wed/Sat which were market days. We knew him as 'Daddy Horton' as well as 'Canary'. He loved the attention and I only ever recollect him wearing open toed sandals. Tarzan was often seen on the pathway behind our house in Newham Grange. As Jim said earlier he would let out his infamous 'Johnny Weissmuller' Tarzan call either on request or just to let you know he was around and hoping for a brew up for his Billy Can. I never ever saw him unshaven, quite an achievement given his circumstances. Giggy Moon, Well it's all been said by others on this site, I was gladdened to hear that his final years were spenton some comfort at the Hardwick nursing home. Hunter Martin - argueably Stockton's Beau Nash...elegance personified. Don't think I ever saw him wear anything but a bowler(and clothes of course) I remember his shop being on Norton Rd near Wilson's the hairdressers. One year I plucked up courage and went inside and asked him what was the cheapest he could do a made to measure suit for - whatever it was I couldn't afford it. Sensing my disappointment he asked how much could I afford a week and we did a deal! I don't believe he did credit but took pity on me. All I have now are the photos, I do wish I had taken out the HM label fot posterity but only you old Stocktonions would understand the significance. I felt I had earned my right to drink upstairs at The Vane Arms! How lucky were we to have these colourful characters in our midst and how sad that todays generation will never be able to look back as we can remembering what a community was all about. God bless 'em all. Do any of you remember the manager of The Odeon? - Bernard Goldthorpe, always in an evening suit and would give you the 'once over' as you entered the magnificent foyer of the premier picture house.20/12/2009 15:37:51

Tony Jackson

My late father born 94 years ago told (long forgotten) tales of "Yarm Harry", another High Street dandy by all accounts. Can anyone recall him in more detail?21/12/2009 16:00:28

Aline Chapman nee Smith

Having just read your comments, Jack Stevenson. I am a not so old Stocktonion born in 1945 but all the characters you talk about I remember well, they all made my childhood so great and I am so pleased other people have good memmories of the Stockton that was so special to us and only we (STOCKTONIONS) can appreciate22/12/2009 13:40:17

Malcolm (Mick) Turner

That's right Aline, born in 1946 myself and I too appreciate the fact that I was brought up with, and still remember fondly characters such as Daddy Horton, Tarzan, Giggy Moon and his brother Raymond, who on market days would be seen dragging a wooden box containing reject fruit home to Portack. If these people were alive today they could probably make money out of the local legends that they have become.22/12/2009 19:05:35

joan codd

Tony Jackson talked about the Stockton Dandy, well we called him the 'yellow canary'. He would ride his bike round Stockton High Street wearing yellow gloves and smiling at the ladies and I tnink he wore a yellow tie and shirt08/02/2010 11:09:05

Bob Irwin

I remember Tarzan quite well and he was not scruffy. He was clean shaven, wore a tie and trilby and was always clean. Any stranger seeing him would not recognise him as being a tramp. He was invalided out of the forces from the 1stWW and wore the silver badge in his lapel depicting this. 09/02/2010 19:11:25

Pamela Grantham

I have loved reading all the comments about the old characters of Stockton. I remember them all. My early life was spent in Park Terrace, not there now of course. It was on the end of Holy Trinity churchyard and down to Bridge street. I was head girl of the committee at the Odeon Saturday morning pictures and knew Bernard Goldthorpe (a real gentleman). I went to Bailey Street school and used to take a short cut along the riverbank when the ships used to come in there and trains used to load up. A different world from today. 04/04/2010 20:09:53

Glynis Bolton

Hi Pamela Grantham - My grandparents lived in Park Terrace. Did you live in Park Terrace? My grandparents lived at no 10. 11/07/2010 20:14:47

Pamela Grantham

I lived in Park Terrace until I was about 5 years old, when we moved to Roseworth. I don't remember any names of the neighbours, apart from the Franks family who ran a taxi company. 14/07/2010 21:54:45