All aboard for a ride to Haymarket station
IF Newcastle’s old Worswick Street and Marborough Crescent bus stations fell victim to progress long ago, another remains busy to this day.
Haymarket bus station mainly serves passengers heading up into Northumberland.
First opened in 1930, these images show the station as it was in February 1995.
Taken by regular Chronicle contributor, photographer Trevor Ermel who is based in Whitley Bay, they capture the Haymarket area looking down at heel nearly 23 years ago.
The row of largely closed-down shops next to the station would soon fall victim to the bulldozers.
So too would the popular Farmer’s Rest pub. If this incarnation was built in 1920, there had been an inn and hotel on this site for around 200 years.
The reason for the arrival of the wrecking ball in this part of Newcastle was the major expansion of the city’s Marks & Sparks store.
The store had served its first shoppers back in 1932.
By 1996 it would be the second largest M&S in the country after Marble Arch, following the completion of a massive redevelopment programme.
The sales floor increased from from 72, 000 sq ft to 140, 000 sq ft, and there was a new customer restaurant.
The old bus station, which had been spruced up and expanded in 1971, would be entirely rebuilt hand-in-hand with M&S.
The new £1m station was officially opened by Newcastle United star Peter Beardsley on April 1, 1996.
The Chronicle reported: “A fleet of buses ferried the footballer to the new station which boasts extra bus stands, extended footpaths, covered waiting areas and improved access for prams and wheelchairs.
“The smart new station is a far cry from its run-down predecessor and leads directly into the largest M&S food hall in the country. More than £28m has been invested in the area.”
Not without its problems, there were early issues with the station’s glass roof, and the station enjoyed a £1m makeover in 2010.
Today, around four million passengers a year use the services provided by two main bus operators Go North East and Arriva North East at Haymarket bus station.