Last year Hartlepool Life featured Daine Thompson who asked readers for memories of Middleton – the small district once situated behind what is now Hartlepool Marina.
Now she is asking readers for memories of the Smallcrafts pub, which is all that remains of Middleton, and was known back then as the Prince of Wales Hotel.
Daine said: “Hartlepool Life readers were very helpful in my request on Middleton. I am still on with my research but I have found myself currently centred on the Prince of Wales public house which nowadays is known as The Smallcrafts Association, or the Smallies.
“I would once again ask readers if they would share memories of The Smallcrafts Association and if possible share any memorabilia and photos with me.”
Daine’s father, George William “Bill” Thompson, was born in Middleton in 1921, grew up on Commercial Street and Princes Street before going to school there at St John’s School and later Henry Smiths School.
Bill worked at Steetley then, after serving in WW2, he became a school teacher at Golden Flatts, Lynnfield and St Helens schools.
At its height in the late 19th century, the area had three shipyards and two engineering works, based in Middleton, which was a community in its own right, consisting of three streets of terraced houses and a number of pubs. Middleton was demolished in the early 1950s.
Readers can email [email protected] which will be forwarded on to Daine.
