RETAIL MEMORIES : from times past in Newcastle and the North East - Page 9

ferret88 · February 5th, 2011, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBDT

T&G Allan's in Blackett Street.
image hosted on flickr

Taken over by John Menzies
image hosted on flickr

All photos from P&T Image Archive, NCC.

GBDT

How long was John Menzies there for was it right up until the building of the Monument Mall?

I can't remember it at all, although I only really know Newcastle in any great depth from the late 80s.

I can remember that there was a TG Allan inside the Monument Mall, in the basement when it was proper floor and not just a massive jumble sale - I mean TK Maxx. It didn't seem to last long.

We had a TG Allan in Hexham for many many years it was a brilliant shop, I always remember there was a raised section at the back where children's books and a small selection of toys were. It is now one of our many charity shops.

F

torrrential · February 5th, 2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferret88

That's a brilliant example of that kind of building and shop, totally of its time. Shop frontages are so high art and expensive nowadays but there's something very modern and pleasing about that type, I'd like to think it was very clean, black and shiny like glass or even black marble. At least for the first few years anyway!

F

I'm afraid I'm firmly in the Prince Charles architectural school when it comes to modern advertising plastic covering perfectly well designed traditional buildings.
I agree with your comment about that building though, it is designed to have that type of shop front, and it shows.

I do wonder about that window unit above Smith's though!

***Newcastle Historian*** · February 5th, 2011, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by torrrential

I'm afraid I'm firmly in the Prince Charles architectural school when it comes to modern advertising plastic covering perfectly well designed traditional buildings.
I agree with your comment about that building though, it is designed to have that type of shop front, and it shows.

I do wonder about that window unit above Smith's though!

If you look in the 2009 photo in Post 805 you will see that window has been replaced.

torrrential · February 5th, 2011, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newcastle Historian

If you look in the 2009 photo in Post 805 you will see that window has been replaced.

And a big improvement too! In fact the chemist has quite a tasteful shop front overall.

leauk · February 5th, 2011, 07:05 PM

I used to love going into TG Allan when there was one here in Ashington.

delicolor · February 5th, 2011, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrahamSoult

I'm trying to pinpoint the location of the old Woolies in North Kenton's Arndale Centre, so that I can pop over there and get a photo to add to the collection.

From what someone else told me, I believe it was where the Nisa store is today:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...97.65,,0,-1.23

This echoes my hunch, which is that Woolies would have occupied the section that is set forward from the main parade - looking at other 50s shopping parades, my impression is that Woolworths tended to occupy the most prominent spot in such developments.

See, for example, the former Woolies in New Washington (Concord) - also an Arndale Centre - which opened in 1959:

http://www.soultsretailview.co.uk/20...er-woolworths/

Any more insights welcome!

Yes, the Woolies was where NISA is when you follow Google street view. The other anchor store was the Co-Op at the far end round the corner. I was there a couple of months back and was reflecting on it myself.

We moved to Kenton Bar Estate in 1968 and I can remember going to the Woolies for Pick & Mix. It was very old fashioned and still had large domed gas fittings for secondary lighting.

delicolor · February 5th, 2011, 08:48 PM

I remember going to Aitken Brothers in High Bridge to buy components for electronics projects during the early 1970s. It is still there on streetview (as Aitken Electronics, a disco equipment supplier, but someone tells me they have recently closed.

Another quirky memory- a hardware store on the corner of the Handiside arcade with a big sign in the window saying "Watsons please call".

alf stone · February 5th, 2011, 09:12 PM

That is fascinating stuff about the Shields Road branch of Wilkes but my question was about Harmony Hall which was the city centre branch on Newgate Street opposite the old Empire Theatre. Does anyone have a photograph or know what is there now?

Incidentally the Gateshead branch looked like this:

Courtesy of Gateshead Libraries (http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/).

This is how it looks now:

***Newcastle Historian*** · February 5th, 2011, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alf stone

That is fascinating stuff about the Shields Road branch of Wilkes but my question was about Harmony Hall which was the city centre branch on Newgate Street opposite the old Empire Theatre. Does anyone have a photograph or know what is there now?

The Newgate Street branch as it was . . .

Graham56 · February 5th, 2011, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delicolor

I remember going to Aitken Brothers in High Bridge to buy components for electronics projects during the early 1970s. It is still there on streetview (as Aitken Electronics, a disco equipment supplier, but someone tells me they have recently closed.

Another quirky memory- a hardware store on the corner of the Handyside arcade with a big sign in the window saying "Watsons please call".

Henry Osborns?

alf stone · February 5th, 2011, 10:37 PM

Thank you, NH, I knew someone would come up with the goods. I remember reading a brief memoir from a man who used to work there and part of his job was to pop across to the Empire on a Monday morning to see what furniture they might require as props for that weeks show.

GBDT · February 6th, 2011, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham56

Henry Osborns?

image hosted on flickr

P&T Image Archive, NCC

Cheers

GBDT

delicolor · February 6th, 2011, 08:33 PM

Yes, it was that shop, although Henry Osborn doesn't ring a bell with the passing of the years.

A friend of mine worked there as a Teenager and was greatly amused when the Watsons Rep turned up.

GrahamSoult · February 7th, 2011, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leauk

I used to love going into TG Allan when there was one here in Ashington.

I used to enjoy going into the T&G Allan in Whitley Bay. However, since that shut at the beginning of 2009, Morpeth (below) is now the only one left.

Out of interest, ferret, whereabouts was the one in Hexham? I knew there had been one there at some point in the past, but not its location.

ferret88 · February 7th, 2011, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrahamSoult

I used to enjoy going into the T&G Allan in Whitley Bay. However, since that shut at the beginning of 2009, Morpeth (below) is now the only one left.

Out of interest, ferret, whereabouts was the one in Hexham? I knew there had been one there at some point in the past, but not its location.

It was on Battle Hill, on the left side going up the hill between Oxfam and Thomas Cook in Exelsior Buildings. It is Age Concern now

F

GrahamSoult · February 7th, 2011, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferret88

It was on Battle Hill, on the left side going up the hill between Oxfam and Thomas Cook in Exelsior Buildings. It is Age Concern now

F

Slightly off-centre then! I never tend to wander that far up Battle Hill when I'm shopping in Hexham.

At least the Morpeth one seems to do OK - it's quite well connected with the new Sanderson Arcade and bus station, and having the town's post office inside has to be a good way of bringing people through the doors.

GrahamSoult · February 9th, 2011, 03:18 PM

Something I recently blogged about, and that I thought may be of interest here, is the remarkable old Burton building in Jarrow.

It's in Ormonde Street, where Jarrow's town centre (and Woolworths!) used to be until it all moved to the Arndale Centre (now Viking Centre) in the early 1960s.

Given that the building hasn't been used as a Burton store for half a century, it's amazing how many features survive, including the original entrance mosaic and Burton logos - features that have often been removed from those stores that Burton still occupies.

I wondered whether anyone had any memories of shopping in the old Burton store - or Jarrow's old town centre more generally - that they might like to share?

Image source: http://www.soultsretailview.co.uk/20...woolies-twist/

WilfBurnsFan · February 10th, 2011, 10:20 AM

Ashington has got a good one as well (though not as swish as Jarrow), with signage for the old billiard hall upstairs as well. I read somewhere that old Montague encouraged billiard halls to take upstairs space in his buildings as (a) no danger of mice and rats to chew his stock and (b) far from seeing billiards as a sign of a mis-spent youth, he felt it kept young men out of the pubs!

***Newcastle Historian*** · February 12th, 2011, 04:44 PM

Northumberland Street Retail - 1978.

This is an interesting historical document, a plan of Northumberland Street showing exactly what shops were in place at 'a frozen moment in time' in 1978.

This plan is in the book "The Ins & Outs of Newcastle upon Tyne", which was produced as a specific guide for disabled access to (mainly) City Centre commercial premises, including Pubs, Restaurants and Shops.

It was very good for what it was produced for at the time, but now (33 years later) it has become a useful historical record of what was around in the City Centre, at that point in time.

This plan shows Northumberland street as it was during those long years (both before and after this particular year) when it was the richest shopping street in the UK (in 'revenue per square foot') after London's Oxford Street.

.

***Newcastle Historian*** · February 12th, 2011, 05:10 PM

BINNS Ltd, Department Store
Part Four - Store Plan (1978) and List of Departments (1977).

Though 'Part Three' of the Binns series took us up to their eventual closure in 1996, I have recently discovered these documents from 1978 and 1977 and thought that they were definitely worth including in this thread.

The 'store plans' particularly, take you back to those days, and looking at them you can almost be "walking through" there again!!

.

February 5th, 2011, 08:48 PM	#167
delicolor Ian Grey- Geordie Exile Join Date: May 2008 Location: Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire Posts: 477 Likes (Received): 1	Aitken Brothers I remember going to Aitken Brothers in High Bridge to buy components for electronics projects during the early 1970s. It is still there on streetview (as Aitken Electronics, a disco equipment supplier, but someone tells me they have recently closed. Another quirky memory- a hardware store on the corner of the Handiside arcade with a big sign in the window saying "Watsons please call".

February 5th, 2011, 09:12 PM	#168
alf stone Registered User Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 699 Likes (Received): 11	Geo. Wilkes Harmony Hall That is fascinating stuff about the Shields Road branch of Wilkes but my question was about Harmony Hall which was the city centre branch on Newgate Street opposite the old Empire Theatre. Does anyone have a photograph or know what is there now? Incidentally the Gateshead branch looked like this: Courtesy of Gateshead Libraries (http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/). This is how it looks now:

February 9th, 2011, 03:18 PM	#177
GrahamSoult Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Gateshead Posts: 470 Likes (Received): 2	Old Burton building in Jarrow Something I recently blogged about, and that I thought may be of interest here, is the remarkable old Burton building in Jarrow. It's in Ormonde Street, where Jarrow's town centre (and Woolworths!) used to be until it all moved to the Arndale Centre (now Viking Centre) in the early 1960s. Given that the building hasn't been used as a Burton store for half a century, it's amazing how many features survive, including the original entrance mosaic and Burton logos - features that have often been removed from those stores that Burton still occupies. I wondered whether anyone had any memories of shopping in the old Burton store - or Jarrow's old town centre more generally - that they might like to share? Image source: http://www.soultsretailview.co.uk/20...woolies-twist/

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February 5th, 2011, 07:05 PM	#165
leauk Ashington born and bred. Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ashington, Northumberland Posts: 289 Likes (Received): 1	I used to love going into TG Allan when there was one here in Ashington.

February 5th, 2011, 10:37 PM	#171
alf stone Registered User Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 699 Likes (Received): 11	Thank you, NH, I knew someone would come up with the goods. I remember reading a brief memoir from a man who used to work there and part of his job was to pop across to the Empire on a Monday morning to see what furniture they might require as props for that weeks show.

February 6th, 2011, 08:33 PM	#173
delicolor Ian Grey- Geordie Exile Join Date: May 2008 Location: Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire Posts: 477 Likes (Received): 1	Yes, it was that shop, although Henry Osborn doesn't ring a bell with the passing of the years. A friend of mine worked there as a Teenager and was greatly amused when the Watsons Rep turned up.

February 10th, 2011, 10:20 AM	#178
WilfBurnsFan Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Posts: 2,385 Likes (Received): 15	Ashington has got a good one as well (though not as swish as Jarrow), with signage for the old billiard hall upstairs as well. I read somewhere that old Montague encouraged billiard halls to take upstairs space in his buildings as (a) no danger of mice and rats to chew his stock and (b) far from seeing billiards as a sign of a mis-spent youth, he felt it kept young men out of the pubs!

February 12th, 2011, 04:44 PM	#179
*Newcastle Historian* Moderator and Archivist Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Posts: 15,091 Likes (Received): 70	Northumberland Street Retail - 1978. This is an interesting historical document, a plan of Northumberland Street showing exactly what shops were in place at 'a frozen moment in time' in 1978. This plan is in the book "The Ins & Outs of Newcastle upon Tyne", which was produced as a specific guide for disabled access to (mainly) City Centre commercial premises, including Pubs, Restaurants and Shops. It was very good for what it was produced for at the time, but now (33 years later) it has become a useful historical record of what was around in the City Centre, at that point in time. This plan shows Northumberland street as it was during those long years (both before and after this particular year) when it was the richest shopping street in the UK (in 'revenue per square foot') after London's Oxford Street. .

February 12th, 2011, 05:10 PM	#180
*Newcastle Historian* Moderator and Archivist Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Posts: 15,091 Likes (Received): 70	BINNS Ltd, Department Store Part Four - Store Plan (1978) and List of Departments (1977). Though 'Part Three' of the Binns series took us up to their eventual closure in 1996, I have recently discovered these documents from 1978 and 1977 and thought that they were definitely worth including in this thread. The 'store plans' particularly, take you back to those days, and looking at them you can almost be "walking through" there again!! .