The photos and description on this page were kindly supplied by Janet Biddle, who lived in Vincent Street (moved to Hong Kong) -
also see photos of children from Northwood C of E school.

Vincent Street, Northwood used to run from Cardwell Street to Botany Bay Road. Part of Vincent Street has now been demolished.

Botany Bay Road ran alongside the Botany Bay Colour works that was built over by the Mayfield Drive development.

The main road nearest this area is Keelings Road.

Coronation Day 1953
Lower end of Vincent Street near the junction with Botany Bay Road
Northwood

This is especially interesting to me because it shows the vanished part of Vincent Street, where I lived. In the left corner a sign is just visible showing where Green’s grocery shop was. We lived on the right, near the lady standing arms akimbo. 

The houses here were I believe mainly rented and owned by a Mr Cooper who lived on Leek Road near the railway bridge. The houses were very poor quality and badly maintained although they were not back to back and each had it’s own outside lavatory at the bottom of a small patch of enclosed yard or garden at the back of the house.

I am the three year old with blond hair carrying my plate and spoon for the feast of jelly awaiting us at the end of the procession.

Mothers with their Coronation babies
Vincent Street junction with Botany Bay Road

Only babies born in 1953 were given a commemorative crown and not many on this photo qualified but my brother James Biddle being held by my mother second from the left, certainly did.  

Here is another photograph taken in 1953 in the back yard of our next door neighbour Mrs Pennington at 75 Vincent Street. The yards were accessed by an entry between 73 & 75 which also led on to numbers 71 and 77.

It’s clear from the poor standard of brickwork on the wall behind Mrs Pennington and my sister Lesley that the houses themselves were shoddily built. They also had no damp course and were very wet indoors at times. A document that has recently come to light confirms that the properties were owned by a Mr Thomas Cooper of Leek Road. It is a receipt for a deposit of £100 against the price of the house (£500) dated 6^th March 1952. Behind the yard walls can be seen the backs of Percival Street, also built to a similar standard.

The houses appear to have been built for itinerant coalminers and in fact the 1891 Census shows Thomas Ford, a 54 year old general labourer and his wife 48 year old wife Annie living at number 73 Vincent Street together with their two unmarried sons, John (20) and James (16), both coalminers. However a map of Northwood dated 1890 shows the lowest part of the street not built on so given that the census was 6^th May 1891 the original builder must have put a shift on to complete them and Thomas Ford and his family seem likely to have been the first tenants.