The Main Shopping Area Of Newburn

A Memory of Newburn.

I was 12 yrs old when this picture was taken and I remember it very well. The photo was taken from the war memorial looking down to the railway station, the footbridge is clearly visible in the centre of the picture. On the left of the photo the building was a bank, I believe it was Lloyds but being penniless we didn't have a bank account. Following on down the street the first shop was Proudlocks the drapers - further down was the billiard hall owned by an Italian family - Marchetti who also owned the adjacent ice cream shop where Mr Marchetti made the ice cream on the premises, his son Dino ran the billiard hall of which I was a frequent visitor. Next building down was the cinema (The Imperial) showing a new film every 2 days with 2 separate performances and one showing on a Sunday. Our favourites were Saturday morning matinees where we would enjoy such films as Superman (not the Christopher Reeves version).
On the right of the picture is Jacksons the bakers and out of shot to the right the road followed round to Warkworth crescent which is shown in the other newburn Frith photo c1955.
Following down Station Road from Jacksons, the shop with the canopy was 'Walter Wilson' a general store - not quite a supermarket, and further down was the fish and chip shop, run by another Italian family - Nardini.
At the bottom of Station Road stands the Station Hotel on the corner of Grange Road.
The railway which ran through Newburn was on the Newcastle-Wylam line and well used by commuters and served by a reasonably frequent service. Turning left at the bottom of Station Road one could reach the railway crossing manned by a signal box over which could be reached Newburn bridge which until 1947 had been a toll bridge.