A wander down a very different memory lane

IN our photograph dating from 1933, Newcastle’s Forth Lane was basked in shadowy morning sunshine as people made their way to work.

This part of the city is all old nooks and crannies and remains relatively unchanged today.

Readers might have visited The Forth public house, which dates from around 1830. Situated on Pink Lane, next door is the Jazz Cafe, which was run by the irrepressible Newcastle character Keith Crombie. He passed away in 2012.

Further back in time, the wider Newcastle area known as ‘the Forth’ throws up an interesting history. The sprawling location outside the south-western stretch of the Town Wall was a popular recreational area from medieval times.

In the 14th century, King Edward III granted the land to the people of Newcastle for their valiant and frequent defences of the town against the Scots.

Centuries later, in November 1842, when workmen pulled down the last tree from muddy ground not far from the Old Infirmary, it was the obliteration of the last trace of Newcastle’s first public park.

Newcastle Central Station, Neville Street and the railway were built on what had been a pleasant, open green area studded with trees and public benches for seating.

Newcastle’s early morning workers walk through the lighted Forth Lane in the old-world corner, May 10 , 1933

Reporter Newcastle’s Infirmary on Forth Street was built in 1752