These fantastic images of Newcastle upon Tyne taken in the 1950s and 60s were taken by employees of Turners’s Ltd. This popular photographic business stemmed from when Jack Turner, who ran a chemist shop, made the bold move to start selling cameras in 1932. Turners, by all accounts, had an excellent reputation and were commissioned by local businesses to take photos of their products and premises.
It had shops on Pink Lane, Eldon Square, Blackett Street and Clayton Street in Newcastle, as well as branches in Whitley Bay, South Shields and Darlington. Despite its relative success and popularity in the North East of England, Turners began to scale down its services in the 1980s and gradually began closing its stores.
By 1988, all its shops and photographic labs had gone.
The photos in this Flashbak collection are all courtesy of the Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.
Turners’ shop on Blackett Street, May 1953.
View of the Tyne Bridge from Gateshead Quays, July 1960.
Looking down Northumberland Street from near Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, June 1961.
View of the Tyne Bridge, November 1959.
A view of the Tyne Bridge and the Swing Bridge from the Castle Keep, Newcastle upon Tyne, August 1963.
View of the interior of the Mayfair Ballroom, March 1963. The Mayfair Ballroom and Concert Hall was one of the most popular venue’s in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, hosting a rock club, which became the largest and longest-running of its kind in Europe. Situated on the corner of Newgate Street and Low Friar Street, it closed in 1999 to make way for a leisure complex, now known as The Gate.
Shot of the Al Shaw Trio playing at the Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle upon Tyne in March 1962.
View of the Tyne Bridge from the Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, July 1960.
View of the new Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, taken from the roof of Newcastle University, July 1969.
Fenwick’s window display, Newcastle 1958.
Binns Ltd., Newcastle window display 1960.
Guildhall, Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding area, April 1958.
Guildhall, Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding area, April 1958.
Neville Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1961.
Discharging a ship at the Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, September 1957.
View of Grainger Street near junction of Market St, Newcastle upon Tyne, May 1961.
View of Blackett Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, May 1961.
View of Newgate Street, May 1961.
View of Central Station, Newcastle upon Tyne, May 1956.
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