The Pillar Box on Front Street

THEN
Front Street, New Washington  -  Lots of customers at the Post Office  -  Photo by Francis Frith

 

NOW
Front Street, Concord.    Post Box but no Post Office!
[ Photo: J.G. 10th Jan 2017 ]

•   •   ◊   •   •

Victoria Road viewed from Front Street

THEN
Can you recall the Pubs & Shops of your youth whose buildings feature in this picture?
Some have changed their names; some are long gone e.g. Den-Lea Electricals.
[ 1960: My first record player came from Den-Lea's.  Hint: Compare the roof guttering. ]

 

BETWEEN THEN & NOW
Front Street, looking towards Victoria Road.   Note New Rows Chapel, centre picture.
[ Thanks to Adrian Lupton ]

 

NOW
[ Photo: J.G. 28th Dec 2016 ]

•   •   ◊   •   •

THEN
Front Street, looking towards the New Inn and Victoria Road.   New Rows terraced houses are centre, right.

 

BETWEEN THEN & NOW
Lloyd's Bank, Noble's Drapers and New Rows Chapel, left background.
New Rows terraced houses have been replaced by Arndale Shopping Centre and Concord Bus Station.

 

NOW
Betfred has replaced Lloyds and Second Impressions furniture shop has replaced Noble’s.
[ Photo: Ernie Guy, Member of Washington History Society. 24th May 2023 ]

 

Front Street viewed via Victoria Road

THEN
Photograph taken at the junction of Victoria Road, Blue House Lane and Heworth Road.
Note the sign pointing along Heworth Road and its shadow, bottom-centre.
[ N.B. This image combines two versions of the same picture.   The best version didn't contain the road sign and the poor version omitted the shadow. ]

 

NOW
The main road runs where New Rows houses once stood and the site of the former Ritz Cinema is now a Co-op Funeral Parlour.
[ Photo: J.G. 10th Jan 2017 ]

•   •   ◊   •   •

MANY YEARS LATER

 

New Inn & Victoria Road viewed from Front Street

THEN
Front Street, Elizabeth Galley, New Inn & Spout Lane.  Cross Victoria Road to New Rows & Manor Road.
[ Posted by kind permission of Beamish Museum Resource Centre ]

 

NOW
The Bird Inn, New Inn and Spout Lane.   Victoria Road Shops start with the corner of The Coop Building.
The entrance to Manor Road is opposite The Bird Inn.
[ Photo: J.G. 23rd Jan 2017 ]

•   •   ◊   •   •

Front Street & New Inn viewed from Victoria Road

THEN
Front Street, New Inn, Spout Lane and Victoria Road

 

NOW
The main road has been moved to the left and the entrance to Spout Lane has been pedestrianized
[ Photo: J.G. 19th Jan 2017 ]

 

THEN
The Coop Building on the corner of Spout Lane, opposite the New Inn.

 

NOW
Notice C.F. Butt's Shop behind the white car.
[ Photo: Ernie Guy, Member of Washington History Society. 24th May 2023 ]

 

THEN
Charlie Butt's huge Hardware and Electrical Store stocked everything!
Straight up the stairs for the latest 45s, EPs & LPs.

 

The Police Station on Spout Lane

THEN
The Police Station on Spout Lane which replaced the 'Old Cop Shop' in The Village.
Picture: Sunderland Echo and Shipping Gazette - 25 Sept 1929.
N.B.  Spout Lane was not part of Usworth!
[ Image: Thanks to Washington History Society. ]

 

BETWEEN THEN & NOW
The Cop Shop c.1960s
Sweet Shop  -  Spout Lane Police Station  -  Washington Miners' Welfare Hall
Entrance to Washington Grammar School just off-picture, left.
Miners' Hall officially opened - 4th July 1931.

 

NOW
Former Police Station - 2024
[ Business Premises ]

 

Saint Bede's Church

THEN
Saint Bede's R.C. Church was built in 1965.
[Entrance to Coach Road Estate from Heworth Road - opposite Douglas Terrace. ]

 

NOW
Half a Century Later.
[ Photo: J.G. on Saint George's Day, 2018 ]

•   •   ◊   •   •

THEN - 1951
Saint Bede's School, but no Coach Road Estate!
[ School between 'The Flat Tops' and High Row. ]

 

THEN - Early 1960s
Saint Bede's School & The Coach Road Estate - no Saint Bede's Church, yet!
[ The Cross marks the future location of Saint Bede's Church. ]

•   •   ◊   •   •

Saint Bede's School

THEN
Lots of Smiles from the Children of Saint Bede's School.  Prefabricated Classrooms - probably 1960s.
[ Note High Row alongside the school. ]

 

THEN
Original School Buildings on Heworth Rd, formerly New Road.
[ This site is now occupied by private houses. ]

 

Blue House Lane

THEN
Havannah Terrace: left horizon.   Blue House: up the bank, on the right.   T. H. Cann Memorial Aged Miners' Homes: right.
Cyclists approaching footpath (left through fields, just beyond Well Bank Rd) to Village Lane & Raft Yard.

 

NOW
Note how the approach road to the 'new' roundabout leaves the original line of Blue House Lane.
Havannah Terrace has gone and the 'new' Havannah Road travels left from the roundabout.
[ Photo: J.G. 19th Jan 2017 ]

 

The entrance to Blue House is just down the bank, on the left.   The Miners' Cottages are further down, also on the left.

 

Washington 'F' Colliery

THEN - 1968
One month after closure - Washington 'F' Pit seen from Blue House Lane.  Viewed over the future Albany Village.
Please Note:  The future 'F' Pit Museum is the Winder House behind the large Chimney.
The 'J' Pit Winder House & Headgear are centre-picture, followed by
the Compressor House and Boiler House.
[ Photo: Courtesy of Photographer Dr Stafford Linsley, July 1968 ]

 

THEN - 1961
Tom Corrigan & Grandkids in the garden of his house on Blue House Lane.
[ 1961 Photo: Thanks to Maureen James ]

•   •   ◊   •   •

THEN
Group of Miners at Washington 'F' Pit - before compulsory white safety helmets were introduced in the mid-60s.
The Pit Road can be seen centre-right.  Blue House Lane lies just beyond the coal wagons.
Note the 'J' Pit Winder House, the Compressor House and the Boiler House.
The 'Pit Pond' is located behind the Workmen.
The Baths are in front.

 

THEN - Between 1968 & 1971
Note the remnants of the Pit Heap and the single Winding House Chimney.
Compare with the top picture and the picture below.

 

THEN - 1971
Washington 'F' Pit Winder House & Headgear, now a Museum, looking towards Blue House Lane.   Still no Albany Village!
The junction of the 'Pit Road' and Blue House Lane (just off-picture, right) was known locally as 'The Pit Road Ends'.
[ Photo: Courtesy of Photographer Dr Stafford Linsley, November 1971 ]

 

NOW - 2018
Washington 'F' Pit Museum, Albany Village, and the Old Pit Road meeting Blue House Lane at 'The Pit Road Ends'.
[ Photo: Courtesy of Google Earth ]

 

THEN
The Junction of 'The Pit Road Ends' and Blue House Lane is just off-picture, left.
The Winding Engine House that houses today's Washington 'F' Pit Museum is the one behind the large Chimney.
[ Photo: Thanks to Adrian Lupton ]

 

Washington 'F' Colliery Museum

UNDERGROUND LOCOMOTIVE
[ Details at Bottom of Page. ]

THEN
Beautifully Refurbished - Over 40 Years Ago.
[ Photographer:  David Holroyde, 2 September 1978 ]

 

NOW
Neglected, Sad and Lonely!
[ Photographer:  Railway Historian & Author, Colin E. Mountford, 23 June 2019 ]

 

NOW
A Distant View of that once Splendid Locomotive.
 Putting the vandalism & neglect to one side, who 'nicked' the Tubs?
[ Photographer:  J.G. 20 August 2019 ]

On a positive note, I visited the 'F' Pit Museum a couple of years ago and was
treated to a super demonstration of the Winding Engine in motion.
(All Above Comments: Jim)

{ Pictures & Information received from Malcolm Young, courtesy of Colin Mountford.  Their late friend David Holroyde was a fellow Railway Enthusiast. ]

N.B.  A Diesel Locomotive is regarded as Flameproof if it has been designed such that its exhaust fumes cannot ignite an explosive mixture of Methane & Air.