10 photographs recalling Elswick, in Newcastle's west end, as it was in the 1970s

A game of football in a cobbled Newcastle back lane - a scene that would have been played out countless times over the decades.

It’s one of 10 striking, often gritty images pulled from the Chronicle archive which recall Elswick, in the west end of the city, as it was in the 1970s. The photographs, for the most part, capture the area - historically renowned for its heavy industry - at a point of major transformation.

Huge swathes of worn-out Victorian-era terraced housing were under demolition and being replaced by modern high-rise flats, houses and maisonettes. All the while, we see how the ruined buildings and derelict landscape would provide an exciting playground for local children. In that distant pre-digital age, many youngsters learned early life lessons amid the rough and tumble of the outdoors.

Eight of the 10 photographs were captured in 1971. The Evening Chronicle reported in January of that year: “The steep streets off Scotswood Road, once packed with humble terraced houses, are now the setting for an imaginative housing scheme. As bulldozers move in to flatten everything beside one of Britain's most famous roads, architects are planning to bring the area back to life.

“Thousands of people will eventually be rehoused in new-style homes in a setting that will contrast sharply with the Scotswood Road that gave the North East worldwide fame. Tree-lined streets without cars, but with plenty of greenery, open spaces and lavish landscaping will provide the new setting.”

The flip side, in retrospect, was that as neighbourhoods which had existed for 100 years were torn down, and people were uprooted and scattered, many would come to feel dislocated and alienated in their new surroundings, in spite of the better-quality homes with all their mod cons.

Two of our images - one from 1974, the other from 1977 - show the area’s Noble Street housing estate which over time earned a troubled reputation. Built between 1956 and 1958 at a cut-price £500,000 on the site of recently-demolished Victorian-era slum housing, the basic five-storey tenement blocks incorporating flats and maisonettes would accommodate 500 families.

The estate soon became associated with crime, vandalism, anti-social behaviour and deprivation. In 1971, it was even described as “the worst post-war estate in Britain and probably in Europe”. And in 1978, after standing for little over 20 years, run-down Noble Street flats were demolished.

Historically, from the mid-19th century onwards, Elswick was transformed from a largely rural area to become a densely populated and industrialised suburb of Newcastle. By 1900, terraced housing covered almost the entire area. The population of Elswick increased from about 300 in 1801 to 59,165 in 1901.

Scotswood Road changed from a one-time country road to a thriving thoroughfare lined with homes, shops, pubs and factories. The riverside was packed with industry, notably Armstrong’s huge factory which spread from Low Elswick as far west as Paradise in Benwell and produced ships, hydraulic machinery, locomotives, cranes, bridges and artillery.

Our 10 photographs recall scenes around Elswick and the neighbouring area in the 1970s.

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