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This programme of film and video material about the west end of Newcastle is brought to you by Search in collaboration with the Tyneside Cinema.
The programme is in two halves with a refreshment break in the middle
We knew how to have fun back then
“West end aged poors outing to Benton”
1923 film of older people from the west end on a day trip
Industrial change
Armstrong’s engineering factories (later Vickers) dominated employment in West Newcastle for many decades.
Armstrong’s Elswick works opened in 1847, first building heavy machinery and later bridges and armaments too. A shipyard was added on the site in 1844, giving the works the capacity to build and equip an entire warship from raw material to finished product. The site was 50 acres and stretched for three-quarters of a mile along the riverfront. At one time it was the biggest employer in Newcastle.
In 1899 Armstrong built another armaments works at Scotswood. The two world wars were boom times for Armstrong’s, with more than 20,000 people employed in the First World War and 18,500 during the Second.
From that point, employment declined. Vickers Scotswood works closed in 1979, and the Elswick works closed soon afterwards. Tank production was transferred to the Scotswood site which provided only 700 jobs.
A selection of film excerpts will be shown including
Shots of women workers in Elswick works during First and Second World Wars
Film of the Elswick works in operation in 1959-60
Film extracts of the campaign to save the Scotswood works in the 1970s
Tour of the Elswick works in the early 1980s during demolition
BREAK Refreshments available.
SECOND HALF
Shopping in Benwell
1970s television report on the new Benwell Shopping Centre – since demolished.
The changing west end
Since the Second World War the west end has seen several waves of housing clearance.
Much of the old terraced housing disappeared during the major slum clearance programmes of the 1960s and 1970s, replaced by new council estates. Some of the new housing, such as the flats at Noble Street and Norwich Place, lasted barely 20 years before having to be knocked down. During the 1990s, despite a considerable investment of money in improvement schemes, further housing areas were identified for clearance.
A selection of film excerpts will be shown, including
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1967 TV film of old Rye Hill and Elswick
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1970s film of Rye Hill being re-built
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1970s video of the South Benwell clearance area and the local tenants group
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Shots of Noble Street flats
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1980s film set in Scotswood
Gannin’ along the Scotswood Road
Scotswood Road used to be a thriving street of houses, shops and pubs, as well as a major employer. It is immortalised in the song Blaydon Races.
Our film excerpts will include
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Shots of Scotswood Road from 1980s TV programme about Jimmy Forsyth
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Extract from TV film showing Cruddas Park flats being built
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Film of the demolition of the old Scotswood Bridge & the opening of the new one
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Highlights of an amateur film of the Blaydon Races centenary celebrations in 1962
THANKS
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