Bomb damage 1941 South Shields

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These 'photographs taken from the Official Records of Air Raid Damage in the County Borough of South Shields' were published in 1941 by Miss A C Flagg in a book entitled Humanity And Courage. It was 'issued with the concurrence and support of the South Shields Emergency Committee and the proceeds [were] divided between the Red Cross Prisoners of War Fund and the Ingham Infirmary'.

Most of the buildings and places featured are no longer there or unrecognisable, but one that caught my eye was the record of a bomb which landed at the junction of Lawe Road and St Aidan's Road damaging buildings on both sides. Both end terraces have been demolished and replaced but the pillar box is still standing in the same position.

1941 photos © South Shields Official Records
2011 photos © Chris Perriman

New Westgate and Stoll Cinemas

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Newcastle, like the rest of the country, had a wealth of cinemas in the 20th century which are now gone. Even the Warner Brothers Multiplex at Manors has been replaced. Two that have survived are less than 150 yards from each other, on opposite sides of Westgate Road and have both been through several adaptations to survive.

The Journal Tyne Theatre, as it is known now, started life as The Tyne Theatre and Opera House in 1867 but was fitted with projectors and renamed The Stoll in 1919. By 1974 it had become outdated and was closed down, but didn't remain empty for long as it was reopened as a theatre in 1977.

The photo of The Stoll showing the view up Westgate Road is from 1928, the queue to see 'The Monster Maker' is from 1945.

The O2 Academy on the corner of Westgate Road and Clayton Street is probably best known as the Gala Bingo which lay vacant for many years until it underwent renovation and opened in its current incarnation as a live music venue in 2005. But it went through many years as a cinema before its bingo hall days. Opening in 1912 as The Picture House, it would have been among the first purpose-built cinemas, and it went through many identities to suit the fashion of the day; The Westgate Road Picture House (1914-1927), The New Westgate (1927-1937), The Westgate (1937-1950) and The Gaumont Cinema (1950-1958).

The shot of The New Westgate was taken in 1927 and seems to have been before its grand opening under that name. The date of the Gala Bingo photograph is unknown but looks to be from the early '90s.

The Stoll 1928 & 1945, New Westgate 1927, Gala Bingo © Newcastle Libraries

Tyne Theatre 2010, O2 Academy 2010 © Chris Perriman

Update

Sorry there's been no activity on this blog for almost a year, 2010 wasn't the best year for me employment- and health-wise but 2011 seems to be going well so far so I thought I'd try to resurrect this project.

I've been taking photos and have several new posts lined up so I'll get them up this week and then get back to doing this regularly. I'm going to try for once a month as it seems old photos that are interesting are harder to come by than I thought they would be initially. If anyone has seen any please leave me a link in the comments, or if anyone has old photos of their own that I could use I'd be much obliged.

One final thing, I'm on twitter now and I'll be tweeting updates as and when they happen. I'm @ChrisPerriman if you want to follow me.