Fact of the Day - July

July 1st, 1916

The greatest British offensive of WW1 so far begins on The Somme in France.

86 men from Tynemouth borough were killed on the disastrous first day of the 140-day long battle. Many hundreds more would die or be wounded in the months to come.

Sergeant Billy Grant - 20th Bn. Tyneside Scottish, Northumberland Fusiliers - of Tennyson Terrace, North Shields made the famous reply when one of his men shouted – ‘Aa’ve been shot in the arse’, to which Billy replied – ‘Haven’t we all son’.

19,240 British soldiers were killed that day, the worst day in the history of the British army.

July 2nd, 1840

A vessel called the Archimedes arrived in the Tyne from Leith and was the first propelled by a new patent screw, having not a sail or paddle wheels, yet overtook many vessels at great speed making nine knots going upriver.

July 3rd, 1882

The new Tynemouth Station opens, on the line which will eventually run round to Whitley Bay, Benton, Gosforth and Newcastle.

Earl Roberts VC – the great imperial hero - on a visit in 1903 remarked of the station:

‘The prettiest station I have seen in all my travels.’

Sunday 4 July, 1943

The Evening News announced that the largest tenting circus in the British Isles, the Reco Brothers Circus and Zoo, had pitched on Collingwood View Field.

Local children were encouraged to help put the circus together for free tickets.

The Reco Brothers Circus existed primarily in the 1940s and 1950s and was associated with the Belfast Royal Hippodrome and featured a variety of performers including acrobats, animal trainers and clowns.

Mr Reco himself was an exceptional artist who performed a comedy wire-walking routine, also appearing with the famous Bertram Mills Circus.

July 5th, 1668

Christ Church, North Shields was consecrated.

Following the closure of Tynemouth Priory in 1539 the parish church of St Mary, inside the castle, continued to be used until about 1659. Military action during the Civil War damaged the building so much that the roof fell in.

Building a replacement church took nine years due to the lack of money and materials. The following entry is from the parish records.

"1668. July ye 5th Anno Domini the New Church aforesaid was Consecrated by ye Right Reverend Father in God John Lord Bishop of Durham, and named Christ's Church."

Thank you to Mike Scott for sharing this with us.

July 6th, 1966

Dr Hastings Banda, formerly a doctor at Preston Hospital and a GP in North Shields, is installed as the President of Malawi, formerly the British colony of Nyasaland. He is in office until 24th May 1994.

He headed an austere, autocratic one-party regime, maintained firm control over all aspects of the government, and jailed or executed his opponents. He was declared president for life in 1971.

July 7th, 1856

The first interment in the new Tynemouth Borough Cemetery at Preston Village took place, of a Miss Isaacs of South Shields, who had died suddenly the previous day.

The cemetery is the largest in North Tyneside and one of the largest in the North East. It is also a designated wildlife site.

July 8th, 1832 - Cuthbert Skipsey, father of the famous Pitman Poet Joseph, was shot dead by a special constable during an industrial dispute near to the Pineapple Inn, Chirton. The constable, named Weddell, was subsequently imprisoned for six months for the killing.

July 9th, 1949

North Shields community leader Charles Udor Minto received his MBE (Civil), which had been announced in the New Year’s Honours List 1949. Mr Minto was a founding member of the International Coloured Mutual Aid Association which he formed while living on Clive Street in 1935.

A former Nigerian Middleweight Boxing Champion, he was responsible for establishing Colonial House, which was opened at 3 Northumberland Place on May 1st, 1942, by future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Colonial House provided accommodation for transient seamen during WW2 but took on the wider role as a centre of black life in North Shields.

In October 2023 a blue plaque was unveiled to Charles Minto at the site of Colonial House.

July 10th, 1865

Shields Daily News: Three riveters from the Smith’s Dock yard had been drinking on Sunday night and were all ‘well served’.

It appears they went down to the old ferry at about nine o’clock and, the tide being out, lay down on a sandhill.

One of the three lay with his face to the sand, and suffering from the effects of the drink, told his companions that he was dying and wished to be buried.

His obliging mates took him at his word and covered his body with sand until not a portion of him could be seen and then left him.

He was discovered still covered later that day and removed to his final place of rest.

July 11th, 1851

North and South Shields Gazette: The ‘local intelligence’ column included an item about the establishment of a ‘Chartist news room’.

At a meeting for North Shields members of the National Charter Association, with Mr Thomas Thompson in the chair, it was resolved to ‘commence a news room for the use of the working classes’.

July 12th, 1880

The Shields Daily News reports that a number of the inhabitants of Preston Village, North Shields, ‘left in brakes’ for their annual trip into the country.

It explained that ‘this movement’ originated with the committee of Preston Reading Room.

July 13th, 1905

Lancelot Wight, from Alma Place, North Shields and two friends were swimming from Tynemouth Long Sands when they noticed two men in difficulty in the water. They ‘gallantly went to their aid, and with much difficulty and risk to themselves got them to land’.

All local swimming club members, the three later received Tynemouth Trust Medals ‘for bravery in saving life at sea’ at a presentation at Priory Schools, Tynemouth, from the Rev Canon H S Hicks.

Lancelot, a district tax inspector, was closely involved with the Salem Methodist Church, later becoming President of the North Shields and District Sunday School Union and leading the annual Good Friday Procession of Witness. He was also a member of various sporting clubs.

July 14th, 1937

Her Highness Princess Helena Victoria laid the foundation stone of the Sir James Knott Youth Centre at North Shields.

Among those in the party that day were Mr F J Chamberlain CBE, national secretary of the YMCA.

The centre, on Church Way, officially opened in 1939 by King George VI and and Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), became the headquarters for boys and girls youth organisations in the borough, a revolutionary concept at the time.

July 15th, 1994

A sad day when Ralph Gardner School closed its doors after six decades of teaching the town’s children. In all, there were 18,000 Ralphie’s pupils. The school motto was Non Nobis Sed Aliis - ‘Not to us but to others’.

The school was lovingly referred to as ‘Ralph Gardner College of Knowledge’ by its pupils, many of whom lived on the nearby

Ridges Estate.

It was later demolished and the land used for Gardner Park, a new housing estate.

July 16th, 1832

North Shields experienced its second outbreak of cholera. The ‘blue death’, a novel disease, was first brought into the country at Sunderland earlier in the year. The outbreak ran until November 6th, with 125 more deaths following the initial loss of 139 lives in the spring.

Subsequent outbreaks in 1849 led to the adoption of Public Health Acts by the newly-established council, which lessened the impact of future outbreaks.

July 17th, 1937

From Shields News: The light steel bridge which now spans Borough Road in place of the former wooden structure (the last of its kind in the country) is now in regular use. It is not quite as imposing as the old bridge but is “sufficiently conspicuous in its garb of green paint laid on top of preservative coats of red and grey and will admirably serve its purpose for years to come”.

The demolished bridge, which was not far short of 100 years old, was a ‘curiosity of wooden construction’ and for this reason sections of it “have found an honoured place at the Railway Museum of York”.

July 18th, 1854

Building work started on the Tyne Sailors’ Home on New Quay, in response to the increasing number of sailors from home and abroad who were arriving in North Shields needing accommodation.

By this time North Shields had become the third port in the UK ‘in number of ships and tonnage’’. Improvements were taking place on the River Tyne and constructing the piers at the river mouth.

Discussions about a sailors’ home – like those in London, Liverpool and other seaports – were instigated and encouraged by the Duke of Northumberland. There was much support for the scheme by influential people in the town and in 1856 it opened with much fanfare and celebrations.

July 19th, 1909

In its Fish Market Reports, the Shields Daily News states that a good supply of white fish had been landed at North Shields from steam trawlers and liners. The vessels were: Prince, St Agnes, Ben Vorlich, Lily, Langley Castle, Saxon Prince, Craigellachie, Thistle, Wild Rose, Upton Castle, Alexandra, T W Mould, Cariama, Lilydale, Volunteer, Nellie, St. Gothard, Ben Lomond, Daisy, Victorian Prince, Lucania, City o’ Fife, Ranter and Mercia.

Sadly, four of the above vessels - St Agnes, Saxon Prince, T W Mould and Ranter - were lost during World War One as a result of enemy action.

July 20th, 1984

Linskill School, known locally as ‘Linka’, closed its doors after providing secondary education to young people from North Shields for more than 50 years. It is now a thriving community centre

Linskill was the first secondary modern school built by the old Borough of Tynemouth when it opened in September 1932, at a cost of £43,650. The first cohort of pupils was 480 boys and 480 girls who were educated separately. At that time, it was considered to provide a ‘new look’ in secondary modern education. Its interesting experiments around this brought many visitors from other authorities to see it first-hand.

Linskill School was named after Colonel Linskill, who became the first Mayor of Tynemouth County Borough in 1849.

July 21st, 1855

Soon after Mr. David McDowell, chemist and druggist, left his shop in Bell Street, North Shields it was seen to be on fire.

After the fire was extinguished, it was found it was not accidental. Mr. McDowell was charged with committing the act, convicted and sentenced to 15 years transportation, more than likely to Freemantle Prison in Western Australia.

Once deported, there was limited or no right of return.

July 22nd, 1901

Prominent North Shields Quaker, John Foster Spence, known as the “Grand Old Man of Shields”, died.

Running the family’s successful drapery business on the corner of Howard Street and Tyne Street until two years before his death, he was prominent in the religious, social and political life of the town.

Six decades serving the community as a councillor, mayor, alderman, magistrate and active member of more than 70 local committees and societies, earned him the Freedom of the Borough of Tynemouth in 1894 for his lifelong devotion to the improvement of the town and its people.

He was a driving force behind the establishment of the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade and his coffin was carried on the Brigade cart. He also played a key role in the development of Northumberland Park.

John Spence Community High School is named after him.

July 23rd, 1904

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show visited North Shields for one night only, travelling along Linskill Terrace to Brock Farm which occupied the fields surrounding what is now the Linskill Centre.

‘Cowboys and Indians’ could be seen ‘rushing about in the fulness of life and vigour’ preparing for the afternoon matinee and the evening show.

July 24th, 1922

The Smith’s Dock Company War Memorial is unveiled by General Sir Archibald Kerr Montgomery.

This was one of three identical memorials funded by the company to recognise more than 135 employees from their four shipyards who gave their lives in WW1. The North Shields memorial still stands today in front of where the entrance to the company’s sports and welfare grounds opened just three days earlier. The others were at Harton, South Shields and South Bank, Middlesbrough.

A local resident remembers during the 1960s the football fields being fully occupied at weekends. The more notable teams that played their home games there were Nelson Villa, The Nautilus Pub, The Pineapple Pub and of course Smith’s Dock’s own team.

July 25th, 1928

The Tynemouth Society of Antiquaries asked the Council to preserve The Sepulchre Slab at the St Leonard’s Leper Hospital site in Northumberland Park by enclosing it with a railing.

The Sepulchre Slab is plain limestone showing indentations which contained the brasses of a layman and his wife , with five smaller indents for the brasses of their daughter and four sons. A date of between 1400 and 1420 has been assigned to the the work. The workmanship suggests this family were of high status and may have been benefactors for the hospital.

The benefactor hoped to gain spiritual benefit in this life and in the world to come, assisted by the prayers of generations yet unborn.

A railing was provided at a cost of £5

July 26th, 1912

‘A Great Bank Holiday Sale’ started at the well-known D. Hill Carter and Co, Saville Street, which promised to be a ‘Joy Day’. Local newspaper advertisements urged shoppers: ‘insure yourself against disappointment by coming to this unmatched sale’.

‘All classes of artisan and fishermen’s clothing’ were being offered at specially reduced prices.

Purchases would involve ‘the minimum tax’ on the purse for ‘immediate maximum benefits’.

D. Hill Carter had two branches at the time. The one people will remember was on Union Street, but this sale was from their second premises on Saville Street.

July 27th, 1922

Liverpool Journal of Commerce reported the official opening of a new 25-acre recreation ground a few days earlier by Smith’s Dock for its staff on the north side of the Tyne.

Part of a general welfare scheme, it included tennis courts, bowling grounds, cricket pitches, football and quoit grounds and a pavilion.

July 28th, 1857

Tynemouth Town Council agreed to increase the County Borough of Tynemouth Police from 20 to 30 members.

The force came into being on January 1, 1850 (although it was very similar to the former North Shields Force as most of the officers just transferred over) and served the community for 119 years until a merger in 1969 when it became part of Northumberland Constabulary. In 1974, a further amalgamation took place when Northumberland Constabulary and part of the Durham Constabulary merged to become Northumbria Police.

July 29th, 2017

Doors closed at William Wight Ltd shipping grocer at Union Quay after almost 90 years. This much-loved family business supplied the fishing community with food and other items for many years.

The premises started life as the Highlander Hotel in 1847, becoming a grocery store in 1929.

Thank you to David Kidd for sharing this picture with us.

July 30th, 1869

The Chirton Estate was offered by auction at the Commercial Hotel, North Shields with 14 lots comprising the Hylton Lodge with stables, coach house and gardener’s cottage. a ropery warehouse, 307 cottages, seven public houses, a brass foundry, a boat builders’ yard, Meadow Well Farm, Chirton Dene farm and a market garden.

July 31st, 1921

An electric tram (car number 12) ran away down Borough Bank, and overturned killing five passengers.

The electric system opened in 1901 operating from New Quay, North Shields to Whitley Bay Links via Tynemouth and Cullercoats.

The last tram ran on August 5th, 1931 when the company converted to motorbuses.