History

By the late 1950s skiffle was in vogue, and the Boys’ club had its own band, the Red Planets. In 1958 they were chosen to take part in the annual Frankie Vaughan Boys’ Club variety show at the Royal Festival Hall in London. 20 year old John White, was also invited to take part. John was a comedian and was given a ten minute solo spot whilst the Red Planets accompanied Frankie in a song. The local press pointed out that this was the first time anyone from north of Birmingham had been chosen for the variety show. Frankie Vaughan... Read More

New manager appointed by Wallsend Boys Club. Ernest (Sandy) Laws left Wallsend Boys’ Club in 1952. With Alan Ruse appointed manager from 1st June 1952 on a salary of £400 per annum. His contract was for three months in the first instance and would be subject to confirmation at the end of that period when he became eligible for inclusion in the N.A.B.C. insurance and superannuation scheme. His letter of appointment outlined his duties and responsibilities as club leader. It pointed out that the Club was open five nights a week and he was expected to be present at each... Read More

The first Pantomime’s performed at Wallsend Boys’ Club. The first pantomime produced and performed at the club was “Robin Hood” in December 1939. As with the subsequent shows, Sandy Laws was the writer, producer, and director, and also played a leading role, invariably the Dame. About 30 of the members took part in that first show, and of course, all the female roles were played by boys! A tradition going back to Shakespeare’s time! Approximately thirty boys were in the cast. It would appear that the pantomimes became an almost annual event each December or January, with records remaining of... Read More

Football was of course becoming even more popular in the North East by the 1950s. Wallsend Boys’ Club had junior teams organised at that time into two age groups, 14-16 and 16-18. Norman Livingstone has clear memories of his time in the older squad in the 1951-1952 season. He recalls that in 1950 Dave Henderson (Right Half), Robert Rowe (Goalkeeper) and he (Left Back) were apprentices at the North Eastern Marine and playing for Wallsend St. Peters 14 to 16 age group. Being a church club they brought in a rule that you had to go to church on a... Read More

In 1942, Wallsend Boys Club performed their third Annual Pantomime “Babes InThe Wood” and again this was a sell out. The Boys Club produced its fourth pantomime in 1943, “Robinson Crusoe”, again in the club premises. They were well booked up for a week’s run including a Saturday matinee, and hoped to raise £50 for club funds. Forty members of the clubs 250 were in the show, in which they played all the roles, principals and chorus, and some of them made remarkably “good” girls. The scenario was as in the past performances, by Sandy Laws, and the scenery was... Read More

During the war years there was an Army Cadet Corps based at the Boys’ Club run by Sergeant Major George Wilson. To encourage the boys to ‘knuckle down’, he would give some of his junior soldiers “rankings” within the Cadet Corps. Jack Carruthers was elevated to the three stripes of a sergeant. One weekend the Cadet Corps sent a group of members to the rifle rage at Ponteland which was run by full time army staff. Jack was among the lads sent there and on arrival all the juniors had to stand on parade to meet the commanding officer. The... Read More

Although Wallsend Boys’ club is now associated so strongly with football, it is clear that the club begun in 1938, had a very wide range of activities. These took place under the leadership of Ernest “Sandy” Laws who was club leader from 1938 to 1952. Founder member Jimmy McBlain recalls that in 1938 subscription fees for the new Wallsend Boys’ Club was 1d (one old penny). When war came in September 1939 the Boys’ club continued to meet, undoubtedly providing some much needed light relief for those involved with it, although inevitably being touched with tragedy at times when members... Read More

On April 13th 1939, some months after opening its doors to members, the club was officially launched. The ceremony was carried out by the Duchess of Northumberland in the presence of local dignitaries and guests. Mr Sheriton Clements Swan, president of the club, presided over the large gathering. In his introduction to the president, Mr Pearson (club secretary and a Swan Hunter employee) said that he was sure that Sheriton, would not just be a president in name because the association of the firm with the club was a very real one. This was certainly true. Not only had Swan’s... Read More

The official history of Wallsend Boys’ Club starts in the years of the Great Depression in Wallsend. Like many areas of the country, Wallsend had had rough times in the twenty years after World War I ended. The 1920s had seen the slow collapse of old industries like coal mining and shipbuilding, and of course there had been industrial unrest with the General Strike taking place in 1926. This situation wasn’t unique to Wallsend of course, so in the mid-1930s the government started to identify areas where they feared high unemployment rates were having an adverse effect on young men,... Read More

The beginning of clubs for boys (the fore runner to Wallsend Boys’ Club). In 1883 George Burton Hunter built the ‘Wallsend Café’ on the south west corner of the junction of Station Road and the High Street. His purpose in providing this facility was to encourage his twin interests in temperance and education. Young apprentices from the shipyard were particularly encouraged to use these educational facilities. By the turn of the century this commitment to the welfare of the apprentices had taken another turn, with a Boys’ Club being opened officially on November 14th1904. The club had two rooms which... Read More