A Photo of the Corporation Hotel on the corner of Corporation Road and Albert Road on 16 July 1969. The actress Wendy Richards’ (EastEnders) parents ran the hotel and she lived there as a child.
The Centre North East building (Turtle Bay restaurant ground floor) now stands on this location. The County Savings Bank and British Home Stores are shown further down Corporation Road currently the Cleveland Centre.
My father ran the Corporation Hotel from 1954 until 1970, after which, it was knocked down. I lived there until I went to work in London in 1965 aged 24.
Great memories i used to go to the bar most nights when i was in town during the sixties
A good friend of mine, who passed away last year- aged 83, told me he used to go in there eegular- he was gay& he said they would all go in there
Hi John.i have in my possession a letter from your father to my farther thanking him for his services.im 80 yrs old now and my three brothers and myself worked there aa bar celler men.i myself was employed as handyman ie.must keep the fires going in the hotel .I left in 1963 my family however spent many a year employed there.And your father was a very nice person who had very high standards indeed .Hope this is abit of news for you.I met Acker Bilk there and he bought me a double diamond beer in your cocktail lounge.Wishing you the very best .
That’s nice…having that letter, Eric. Do you remember the handyman “Fred”? He used to repair shoes on the side…down in his cellar, workshop.
They were great days at the Hotel…my dad, retired to Hawes, where he and my mum bought a house…remember going up there for Xmas in 1972, from the IOW, with our new born son. We all live in Australia now…since 1980. Dad and mum moved to Bridlington sometime after that he died in May 1976. He was a wonderful man. I’m now 84…85 in December. Live in Melbourne.
My dad was head chef at the hotel Alfons Bielicki
Hi Pauline..remember Alf very well…great guy…terrific when buffets were the order of the day…he was so creative. My dad, manager, thought the world of him.
I left the hotel to go and work in London, in 1965.
I now live in Melbourne Australia
John Tuddenham
So sorry I never got back to you befor now I’m not really good on computers I’ve just come across this post I’m over the moon you had known my dad . I remember always going to see my dad at work me and my sister used to go up and down on the lift for ages we loved playing on it and play on the spinning doors thank you so much for getting back to me
Do you remember the name of the manager before your Dad
I’m sorry , Carole…I really don’t think I ever knew who preceded my dad.
Does anyone have memory of the visit to the hotel for dinner by the the footballers from Partizan Belgrade in May 1951 ?
John, my father was Robert (known as Bob) Murray, the twin of Tom. Bob passed away 3rd March 2018 at 90 years. I vaguely remember he and you remaining in touch. Our family stayed at The Corporation Hotel on several occasions, and my late mother (Pat) would take my sister and I for lunch there if she had cause to be in Middlesbrough. Many happy memories (especially around Christmas) spent at the hotel with Gerry and Gwen. Their living room always had one of the best decorated Christmas trees! I called on Gwen in the summer of 1986(?) at her home in Ventnor(?), Isle of White. Sadly she was frail then, and confused me with my much missed but always remembered cousin (Gwen’s grandson) Richard. My sister, Jane, and I had a happy childhood, and some of our earliest happy memories are the occasions shared with Gerry and Gwen at The Corporation. Did you know it was my father who gave them their poodle, Maigret? (There’s a story behind that too!)
Hi Graham,
Of course I remember your mum and dad…I remember the night before Christmas when your dad came through the swing doors, with a white poodle and black one and said to my dad “This one’s yours!!” This was all after my dad had heard Bob was getting a poodle, and had teased him, at every opportunity about it!!! My dad was not happy at that moment. However, the poodle as you correctly say, Maigret ( the house detective), stayed in my parents bedroom that night, and in the morning as dad got out of the bath, Maigret ran in and nipped his big toe and ran back into the bedroom!! They were never apart from that moment!!! Dad died in 1976 in Bridlington…mum died in 1986, in Shanklin, IOW. I am 84 now and live in Melbourne, Australia. Lovely to hear from you.
Good hearing from you John. You know the story about Maigret! Our poodle was named Simon. Tom and Pat stayed with us for your father’s funeral. Jane and I didn’t go; but we both remember the occasion. I keep in touch with Pat, Gillian and John Murphy, and Elizabeth and Sean Fitzpatrick. I am retired (actually I still do a little private work to help-out friends) and live in Selby, North Yorkshire. A few recent health scares are hopefully over with, and I am content with my lot. You may or may not know, but Middlesbrough is much changed in 60 years; and not for the better, having suffered greatly at the hands of “progressives” and government neglect.