Blackett's corner, High Street. Blacketts was on the corner of Union St and High St and although much smaller than Binns in Fawcett St was seen as its main competitor. Joplings was another large departmental store in High St which never fully recovered from its spectacular destruction by fire in 1954.
Information from Len Charlton.
Wesleyan Chapel Durham Road. The camera is in Albion Place where six busy roads came together. The tram is entering Durham Rd while Thornhill Terrace turns off to the left . Behind the camera are the entrances to Vine Place, Stockton Rd, Mary St and Green Terrace. Green Terrace ran past the new technical college to the old village of Bishopwearmouth where the "old green" and some cottages still survived. Not surprisingly the whole area including the chapel has now completely disappeared into a major roundabout serving a new ring road (St Michael's Way) which completely changes the western access to the Wear Bridge.
Information from Len Charlton.
In this view we are looking up Holmeside towards Park Lane around 1950. Turveys were originally cycle dealers but started selling motor cars in the early 1900’s They used to have a 1904 De Dion Bouton car, just like the one in the film ‘Genevieve’, displayed in their window. The tram lines in Holmeside were removed in 1955 and the Binns shops on the right closed in 1962 when their new store opened on the corner of Fawcett Street and Borough Road. The premises occupied by Steels, the builders merchants, were taken over by Granthams in December 1955 but were burned out just a few weeks later. They took it in their stride, rebuilt their shop with one less floor, and carried on. Info from Malcolm Fraser .
The building on the left of the picture was Nelson the roofing contractor who had a full size statue of Sir Walter Raleigh on the gate post. It went missing when they moved to Toward Road. The next on the left was Turveys Garage Colin Clifford
Looking up Holmeside towards Park Lane in the 1920s. In the foreground the road is crossing the railway lines which run behind Fawcett St. The wall on the right conceals the cutting in which the lines ran to the central station. After the war this cutting as well the station platforms were covered over by shops to make an underground complex. Holmeside competed with Fawcett St for high quality shopping and Saxons on the corner was prewar the main toyshop in Sunderland.
Information from Len Charlton.
