Get Carter, Likely Lads and Ali’s visit
Nostalgia Editor WE return once again to one of our favourite decades - the 1970s.
It was an era which had its troubles, but was often funpacked and always vibrant.
Our selection of archive images reflect the North East during those times.
Who remembers the TV show Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? Or Newcastle United’s exhilarating but ultimately doomed FA Cup Run? Or the gritty gangster film Get Carter that was set in our region? Or pop sensations The Bay City Rollers and their splash of tartan? Or Muhammad Ali’s triumphant visit to the region when thousands took to the streets for a glimpse of the most famous man on the planet?
In the real day-to-day world of North East life, the decade began with the tradi- tional heavy industries - coalmining, shipbuilding and heavy engineering - still functioning, but facing a bleak future just around the corner.
By the end of the 1970s, a dark period of steep industrial decline was under way as cheap foreign competition and increasingly outdated working practices began to take their toll.
Along the way, in the first half of the decade, rising oil prices and industrial action saw the lights go out across Britain, and Ted Heath’s Tory government in crisis.
Labour under Harold Wilson then James Callaghan inherited the mess and, in turn, were replaced by Tory Margaret Thatcher, the nation’s first female prime minister as the 1970s gave way to the 1980s.
For shoppers, Newcastle’s American-style mall, Eldon Square, offered a new land of retail therapy in 1976, while much digging and construction work around Tyneside marked the imminent arrival of the Metro system in 1980.
In 1977, the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee with a nationwide tour which took in Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside.
In the same year, there were also the most unlikely of visits to the region in the shape of American President Jimmy Carter - and world heavyweight champion Muhammad as we’ve seen.
And as the 1970s and “winter of discontent” drew to a close against a competing soundtrack of disco music and punk rock, the 1980s lay in wait. Ali Front: Youngsters enjoy a day out at the Spanish City fairground, Whitley Bay, 1972; above, Queen Elizabeth II visits Cramlington High School, Northumberland, in 1977
Above, the fishing boat Bella on the rocks 50 yards from the shore at Tynemouth, 1972; left, Newcastle 2-0 Burnley, FA Cup semi-final at Hillsbrough, March 1974. Newcastle players applaud their supporters