catmag 336 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 (edited) You know you're from Washington when: *Someone asks you where it is, you're never quite sure to answer with "in Sunderland", "in Gateshead", "near Newcastle" or "on Tyneside" *You know that 'The Galleries' is not, in fact, a couture art exhibition, but rather a concrete monstrosity masquerading as a shopping centre and housing a population of teenage mothers and pasty-babies *You worked at the Child Benefit Centre either over the summer holidays or were put there for work's experience when you were 14 *You've been drunk in Princess 'Prinny' Anne Park at least once *You went to either Biddick, Bobs, Washy or Uzzy (God rest it's soul) comp and hated all of the others with a fiery passion (which often resulted in fistycuffs) *You took eggs and flour in on the last day of summer term *You were part of the child-labour 'Clean up Washington' campaign which involved you being sent out with a pair of rubber gloves at breaktime to remove anything from the schoolyard that might harm a hedgehog *You have an entirely different postcode to your friend living up the street... apparently one of you lives in Durham, the other in Newcastle *You used to hang out at the bowling alley... but rarely actually bowled. Playing in the arcade and trying to sneak beer in was the way forward *You snuck into the Oasis as a teenager *Learning to drive was a nightmare because of all the friggin roundabouts *You're aware that the nightlife consists solely of The Village with it's 3 pubs or The Riverside with it's 3 pubs. *School trips consisted of Beamish, Beamish and Beamish. The 90th time you see a bored-looking bloke on community service pretending to be a 19th Century miner, the whole thing becomes a lot less believable. Anyone remember the plasterboard mine with the comedy waxworks and dripping ceiling? Brilliant. *You went to Stevie Y's/The Ranch/Redskins in one of it's many incarnations... and were scared witless *You worked in either the Keys, the Arms, the Bull, the Bush, the Mill House or the Steps at some point *You're vaguely aware of which district you live in but never use it to direct anyone there *You pronounce Penshaw "Pen-shaa" and know that 'Glebe' is NOT prounounced "Gleeeb-ie". *You were hurt when they made the Inn Between into a trendy wine-bar *If you dated someone you were "meeting" them, and if it became serious they were then fondly known as "me lad" or "me lass" *You are often asked to recount the Lambton Worm story in the full-accented version... *... and were forced to do numerous, pointless plays about it at Primary School *You know what Greggs is *You've broken the law at least once in your life *You know that the "ing" in 'Washington' is pronounced silently *Your Primary school is likely to have been since knocked down, intergrated with another one or renamed *You know when Thanksgiving and Independence Day are. *You used to "go out drinking" as a 13 year old... which meant sharing a bottle of White Lightning down the railway tracks and hiding from "the bizzies" *You fell victim to the 'School Kid Curfew' of the mid-90s and were escorted home by the police *You used to sneak on the Metro *Glebe park was THE place to hang out in the evening *The 194 bus was the gateway to magical worlds *You've nearly killed yourself trying to drive over the speed bumps either outside of the F Pit or Bobs. Speed bumps are NOT meant to be the height of small children, Washington Council. Take heed. *You were forced to go to the sodding Kite Festival year after year after year. Possibly THE dullest and most surreal thing ever *You always know that you're nearly home when driving on the motorway when you can see Penshaw Monument (how many other pit towns have a random Greek-style sculpture at the top of a high hill?) *You don't think that 'Fatfield', 'Spout Lane' or 'Biddick' are hilarious place names *The house your parents bought for about 10p twenty years ago is now worth a surprising amount *Concord: World's most famous jet plane or small, dilapidated front street where no-one dares set foot in after 8pm? *You remember Freddie Bell *You very likely once reffered to your teenage friendship group as "The Washy Posse" *It's impossible not to know someone else who grew up here. Everyone in Washy is either connected by family, friends, school or notoriety *Bandnights at the Art's Centre were 'cool' *You call Sainsbury's 'Savacentre' *You pulled 'tire-tracks' (or 'tram lines', s) in your school tie, the wore it as a 'tiddler/kipper'. If you didn't, you were mocked. *You know/dated/are related to someone who works at Nissan *You know or either know someone who knows either Heather Mills-McCartney, Bryan Ferry or Prince Naseem's ex-wife *You've either met or been chatted up by 'The Sunderland Shagger'... the lad who's famous for having seven kids by the grand old age of 21... and you also went to school with one of the unfortunate 'mams'. *You're mates or associates of either fish, fishes brother or the DMD. *You know who the DMD are. * You mourn the passing of the 194 and 294 and loathe the scabby 'M' buses Ohhhhhh so true I lived in Fatfield, went to St Bob's, went to Beamish every fucking year on school trips, used to go drinking down The Riverside and worked in Concord as a 16-year old where the shop I worked in would regularly get raided by lads with baseball bats after dark. Happy days... Edited January 9, 2007 by catmag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6187 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 You used to hang out at the bowling alley... but rarely actually bowled. Playing in the arcade and trying to sneak beer in was the way forward I friggin knew it!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmag 336 Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share Posted January 9, 2007 You used to hang out at the bowling alley... but rarely actually bowled. Playing in the arcade and trying to sneak beer in was the way forward I friggin knew it!!!! Knew what? No-one I know from Washington has an arcade game in their bloody garage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6187 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Living in chester-le-street i get a kind of outside looking in perspective on washington and have seen a fair few of those first hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6187 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 You used to hang out at the bowling alley... but rarely actually bowled. Playing in the arcade and trying to sneak beer in was the way forward I friggin knew it!!!! Knew what? No-one I know from Washington has an arcade game in their bloody garage! Only cos me mam doesnt like me hanging round the bowling alley with the kids from 'round those parts' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmag 336 Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share Posted January 9, 2007 You used to hang out at the bowling alley... but rarely actually bowled. Playing in the arcade and trying to sneak beer in was the way forward I friggin knew it!!!! Knew what? No-one I know from Washington has an arcade game in their bloody garage! Only cos me mam doesnt like me hanging round the bowling alley with the kids from 'round those parts' She's a wise woman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6187 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 (edited) That is class though. I went up to penshaw monument with my mates and sledge last winter and nearly killed myself hitting the steps. Nice to see some people on here from te 'in between land' that is chester-le-street, washington, birtley, stanley etc. Edited January 9, 2007 by J69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Top stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invicta_Toon 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 -you are/related to/shagged a mackem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6187 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 The ones that made me laugh *You took eggs and flour in on the last day of summer term *School trips consisted of Beamish, Beamish and Beamish. The 90th time you see a bored-looking bloke on community service pretending to be a 19th Century miner, the whole thing becomes a lot less believable. Anyone remember the plasterboard mine with the comedy waxworks and dripping ceiling? Brilliant. *If you dated someone you were "meeting" them, and if it became serious they were then fondly known as "me lad" or "me lass" *You know what Greggs is *You used to "go out drinking" as a 13 year old... which meant sharing a bottle of White Lightning down the railway tracks and hiding from "the bizzies" *You were forced to go to the sodding Kite Festival year after year after year. Possibly THE dullest and most surreal thing ever *You always know that you're nearly home when driving on the motorway when you can see Penshaw Monument (how many other pit towns have a random Greek-style sculpture at the top of a high hill?) *The house your parents bought for about 10p twenty years ago is now worth a surprising amount *You call Sainsbury's 'Savacentre' *You pulled 'tire-tracks' (or 'tram lines', s) in your school tie, the wore it as a 'tiddler/kipper'. If you didn't, you were mocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magma 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 You know you're from Washington when: *Someone asks you where it is, you're never quite sure to answer with "in Sunderland", "in Gateshead", "near Newcastle" or "on Tyneside" *You know that 'The Galleries' is not, in fact, a couture art exhibition, but rather a concrete monstrosity masquerading as a shopping centre and housing a population of teenage mothers and pasty-babies *You worked at the Child Benefit Centre either over the summer holidays or were put there for work's experience when you were 14 *You've been drunk in Princess 'Prinny' Anne Park at least once *You went to either Biddick, Bobs, Washy or Uzzy (God rest it's soul) comp and hated all of the others with a fiery passion (which often resulted in fistycuffs) *You took eggs and flour in on the last day of summer term *You were part of the child-labour 'Clean up Washington' campaign which involved you being sent out with a pair of rubber gloves at breaktime to remove anything from the schoolyard that might harm a hedgehog *You have an entirely different postcode to your friend living up the street... apparently one of you lives in Durham, the other in Newcastle *You used to hang out at the bowling alley... but rarely actually bowled. Playing in the arcade and trying to sneak beer in was the way forward *You snuck into the Oasis as a teenager *Learning to drive was a nightmare because of all the friggin roundabouts *You're aware that the nightlife consists solely of The Village with it's 3 pubs or The Riverside with it's 3 pubs. *School trips consisted of Beamish, Beamish and Beamish. The 90th time you see a bored-looking bloke on community service pretending to be a 19th Century miner, the whole thing becomes a lot less believable. Anyone remember the plasterboard mine with the comedy waxworks and dripping ceiling? Brilliant. *You went to Stevie Y's/The Ranch/Redskins in one of it's many incarnations... and were scared witless *You worked in either the Keys, the Arms, the Bull, the Bush, the Mill House or the Steps at some point *You're vaguely aware of which district you live in but never use it to direct anyone there *You pronounce Penshaw "Pen-shaa" and know that 'Glebe' is NOT prounounced "Gleeeb-ie". *You were hurt when they made the Inn Between into a trendy wine-bar *If you dated someone you were "meeting" them, and if it became serious they were then fondly known as "me lad" or "me lass" *You are often asked to recount the Lambton Worm story in the full-accented version... *... and were forced to do numerous, pointless plays about it at Primary School *You know what Greggs is *You've broken the law at least once in your life *You know that the "ing" in 'Washington' is pronounced silently *Your Primary school is likely to have been since knocked down, intergrated with another one or renamed *You know when Thanksgiving and Independence Day are. *You used to "go out drinking" as a 13 year old... which meant sharing a bottle of White Lightning down the railway tracks and hiding from "the bizzies" *You fell victim to the 'School Kid Curfew' of the mid-90s and were escorted home by the police *You used to sneak on the Metro *Glebe park was THE place to hang out in the evening *The 194 bus was the gateway to magical worlds *You've nearly killed yourself trying to drive over the speed bumps either outside of the F Pit or Bobs. Speed bumps are NOT meant to be the height of small children, Washington Council. Take heed. *You were forced to go to the sodding Kite Festival year after year after year. Possibly THE dullest and most surreal thing ever *You always know that you're nearly home when driving on the motorway when you can see Penshaw Monument (how many other pit towns have a random Greek-style sculpture at the top of a high hill?) *You don't think that 'Fatfield', 'Spout Lane' or 'Biddick' are hilarious place names *The house your parents bought for about 10p twenty years ago is now worth a surprising amount *Concord: World's most famous jet plane or small, dilapidated front street where no-one dares set foot in after 8pm? *You remember Freddie Bell *You very likely once reffered to your teenage friendship group as "The Washy Posse" *It's impossible not to know someone else who grew up here. Everyone in Washy is either connected by family, friends, school or notoriety *Bandnights at the Art's Centre were 'cool' *You call Sainsbury's 'Savacentre' *You pulled 'tire-tracks' (or 'tram lines', s) in your school tie, the wore it as a 'tiddler/kipper'. If you didn't, you were mocked. *You know/dated/are related to someone who works at Nissan *You know or either know someone who knows either Heather Mills-McCartney, Bryan Ferry or Prince Naseem's ex-wife *You've either met or been chatted up by 'The Sunderland Shagger'... the lad who's famous for having seven kids by the grand old age of 21... and you also went to school with one of the unfortunate 'mams'. *You're mates or associates of either fish, fishes brother or the DMD. *You know who the DMD are. * You mourn the passing of the 194 and 294 and loathe the scabby 'M' buses Ohhhhhh so true I lived in Fatfield, went to St Bob's, went to Beamish every fucking year on school trips, used to go drinking down The Riverside and worked in Concord as a 16-year old where the shop I worked in would regularly get raided by lads with baseball bats after dark. Happy days... I went to St. Bobs, but I live in Gateshead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Surprised the DMD got a mention. I always get confused when people say Sainsburys, its Savacentre!. Washy = Amazing Galleries > Eldon Square and the Metrocentre I went to Oxy though, no mention of that! No mention of the infamous cherrytree either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Surprised the DMD got a mention. I always get confused when people say Sainsburys, its Savacentre!. Washy = Amazing Galleries > Eldon Square and the Metrocentre I went to Oxy though, no mention of that! No mention of the infamous cherrytree either. Aye, the Chezza is a bit ledge, like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 No mention of Catmags da either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 No mention of Catmags da either... The man with the best tan in Washy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 No mention of Catmags da either... The man with the best tan in Washy Best darts player of all time tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 36825 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 No mention of Catmags da either... The man with the best tan in Washy Went to a fancy dress as Gandhi once apparently. I wish I'd seen that. Stick him in a white robe and whack the round glasses on him man. The fucking spit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invicta_Toon 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I imagine the galleries as what it would be like if you gave a bunch of gypsies £150m and said go build a shopping mall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 No mention of Catmags da either... The man with the best tan in Washy Went to a fancy dress as Gandhi once apparently. I wish I'd seen that. Stick him in a white robe and whack the round glasses on him man. The fucking spit. Fuck off That's genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I imagine the galleries as what it would be like if you gave a bunch of gypsies £150m and said go build a shopping mall You think if you gave £150million to some Gypo's they'd bother to build a shopping mall? The last you'd see of 'em would be the dust kicked up by their caravans as they rode off into the sunset Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invicta_Toon 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I imagine the galleries as what it would be like if you gave a bunch of gypsies £150m and said go build a shopping mall You think if you gave £150million to some Gypo's they'd bother to build a shopping mall? The last you'd see of 'em would be the dust kicked up by their caravans as they rode off into the sunset aye good point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 The Washy fair in the Galleries car park, now that was amazing. Broke my foot on it mortal at 4am, when it was blatantly shut, but thats a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmag 336 Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 No mention of Catmags da either... The man with the best tan in Washy Went to a fancy dress as Gandhi once apparently. I wish I'd seen that. Stick him in a white robe and whack the round glasses on him man. The fucking spit. Fuck off That's genius. It's absolutely true. We were on holiday in Mallorca so you can imagine the colour of him. We nicked a white sheet off the hotel bed and wrapped it round him, took the lenses out of some crappy sunglasses and moulded them into round shapes, put a pair of sandals on him and it was fucking scary. I've got a photo somewhere - if I can find it I'll post it. And yes, my dad is an absolute legend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie 0 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 My grandparents used to live in Washington, on the Garden Estate near to Usworth School and right next to the RC Primary School, so I recognise some of them. The Kite Festival ffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Carr's Gloves 3363 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 You know you're from Washington when: *You remember Freddie Bell I lived next door to his sister. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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