Then and now: Bensham Road, 1980
OUR two main images are separated by nearly 40 years. We’re looking down Bensham Road, Gateshead, from the corner of Chester Place.
Once again, the pictures have been provided by amateur photographer, Trevor Ermel.
Born and bred in Gateshead, and these days living in Whitley Bay, Trevor has amassed a fine body of work which captures the changing face of urban Tyneside and the River Tyne over the last five decades. In recent years, he has kindly shared some of his fantastic photographs with the Chronicle.
Of the older image, Trevor says: “It’s 1980 and we see a barber’s shop on Chester Place.
“Prominent is a large cigarette advert on the billboard above the shop window, something we haven’t seen now for many years.
“Many of the buildings on the North side of Bensham Road, on the right, are empty and awaiting demolition, as a Northern Routemaster bus climbs uphill with a service from Whickham to Worswick Street in Newcastle.
“The building in the centre is the John Dobson-designed St Cuthbert’s Church.”
The modern image was captured earlier this year. Trevor says: “A barber’s shop, now called Boz, still stands on the same spot in 2018, but the buildings on Bensham Road have long-gone.
“But it’s nice to see the road works have been completed! Climbing the hill is another bus from Whickham, operated this time by Northern’s modern successor, Go NorthEast.
“The church building still stands, although it is now occupied by Cotfield Mirrors who, at the time I took the photo, were in the process of converting it into studios and workshops for local arts and crafts.”
Built between 1846 and 1848, the church occupies a prominent position on Bensham bank, with fine views down to the River Tyne - and beyond. The last church service at St Cuthbert’s took place in 1991.
Today, Bensham remains a busy suburb for families who work in and around Tyneside and it houses a community of around 5,000 Orthodox Jews.
Their ancestors flocked to the area in the last quarter of the 19th century - and during the World War II years when many Jews fled from Nazi Germany.