Born in the early 1950s, Yvonne Young grew up in the West End of Newcastle. With her grandfather working as a ship painter, her Uncle Tom helping to build them, and her neighbours working for the local armament factory, she saw the city’s heart, its manufacturing, all around her. Growing up so soon after the Second World War, it was also a time of great hardship and she grew up surrounded by grinding poverty and neglect.

And yet, people made the best of what little they had, as housewives proudly competed to scrub their doorsteps clean and children turned derelict houses into playgrounds. Yvonne delighted in hearing about the characters that made up the area, seeing the chimney sweep and the coal man make the rounds, and seeing folks singing and dancing in their neighbours’ homes after closing time. It was a time when community was everything, before the city’s industry began to be dismantled and took this old way of life with it.

Cobbled Streets and Penny Sweets is an affectionate, at times hard-hitting, and beautifully evocative portrait of life in a city that has changed beyond recognition. Above all, it is a story of family, friendship, and getting through the hard times with a healthy dose of Geordie humour.