Seaside town gets its day in the sun
VINTAGE STYLE POSTER TO PROMOTE TOURISM
Reporter AS seaside resorts, Whitley Bay and Tynemouth were among the visitor destinations which had their own vintage railway promotion posters.
But next door neighbour North Shields was never part of the poster club.
Now that has changed, thanks to a joint venture by the town’s Old Low Light heritage centre and art students at Tyne Met College.
They were given the task of designing a vintage-type poster to promote North Shields.
Visitors to the centre on North Shields’ Fish Quay were invited to vote for their favourite from an exhibition of the posters.
The winner, featuring a Fish Quay-inspired scene, was created by Christine Leedham, who lives in the town. Copies have now gone on sale at the centre for those who have always hankered after a poster extolling the delights of North Shields.
Christine said: “I really like the oldstyle railway posters and while Tynemouth and Whitley Bay had their posters to promote them as seaside resorts, North Shields as a working port did not. “It would be nice to think that the new North Shields poster would help promote tourism.” Pearl Saddington, heritage manager at the Old Low Light, said: “We wanted to introduce the students to the concept of working to a commercial brief, and railway art has always had a quite strong commercial aspect to it. Bearing this in mind, together with the fact that North Shields Fish Quay is becoming cultural destination in its own right, the idea of the students creating its first railway style poster seemed logical. “Visitors to the Old Low Light were invited to the vote on which poster they thought best reflected both the heritage of the North Shields and its position as a modern town and Christine’s winning poster captured the essence of a confident town with a strong identity.” Joint runners-up in the voting were posters by Michael Smith and Russel Yates. From the late 19th century, posters on stations promoted resorts and holiserved day destinations by railways. North East locations portrayed by posters also included Barnard Castle, Durham, South Shields, Bamburgh and Berwick. The inter-war years were the heyday of the railway poster with top artists, including members of the Royal Academy, commissioned to produce images. Pearl Saddington