Past & Present
If the slider between the two photos doesn't work using the mouse, try clicking to activate a pair, then using the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the slider right or left.
The 'present' photos were taken by A Curtis on 21st May 2017 as a trial project for a future exhibition of the Heddon Photography Group.
The 'present' photos were taken by A Curtis on 21st May 2017 as a trial project for a future exhibition of the Heddon Photography Group.
Past & Present 1: The past photo (c1950) shows the Hexham Road taken from the Memorial Park showing the Co-op store occupying the former single storey smithy building which jutted out from the Three Tuns. The sign above the store windows reads, "Throckley District Co-operative Society Ltd.". The Hexham Road was at that time the A69, before the bypass was built to the north of the village, and there is a sign for it attached to the vicarage wall. A bus stop just round the corner on Towne Gate shows that bus services were operated by United Automobile Services. The chimney of the old vicarage can be seen in the old photo just above the memorial cross. The second telegraph pole on the right side of the road is in the same place today, the first was removed when the co-op building was demolished, just leaving a short stub attached to the inn, and the road re-aligned in the 1960s. In the distance along the Hexham Road, the house jutting out at an angle was operating as Waugh's shop and post office.
Past & Present 2: The past photo dates from the same time as that above but was taken from the north side of the Military Road on its original line through the village, emerging close to the service station This part of the old road was closed when the roads were re-aligned in the 1960s and the old road is hidden by a hedge. Esso petrol was being sold in the old photo, now it is Shell, and the petrol station now also incorporates a Spar grocery shop and Post Office. A telegraph pole occupies the same location behind the petrol pumps in the past and present photos. The Three Tuns Inn at the junction of the Hexham Road (ahead) and Military Road (right) is little changed, apart from the pub signs. A telephone box stands outside what was the Co-op store located within the former blacksmith's shop (now mostly demolished). Other buildings at the rear of the inn (an area known as Haddock's Hole) were demolished at the same time, now providing space for the pub car-park.
Past & Present 3: Original filling station (circa 1920), with attendants in white coats. Tank House (behind, left) was only a stone-built water tank in the old photo. A private house ('Tank House') has been built on the same site. Garden House, to its right, is still there today but hidden from view by the high trees which now grow along Chare Bank. Mushroom Row, made up of 5 houses in a terrace are further right again but were demolished in the 1950s. Their gardens ran down to the Chare Bank footpath behind the filling station. The section of the Military Road on the left side of the old photograph is now closed, its line blocked by the hedge at the back of the garage forecourt.
Past & Present 4: Village pond and Three Tuns Inn (c 1900). Jerry's Pond which occupied the ditch of the Roman Vallum in the foreground, was drained and filled-in, and the War Memorial erected in 1922; the formal Memorial Park was laid out on the site in 1925. The single storey building jutting out from the inn was probably a blacksmith's shop at this time. It later became the co-op and was largely demolished apart from a short section of the building next to the inn. The present photo shows the new houses built along the Military Road by Sir James Knott as part of his proposed model village in 1920.
Past & Present 5: Heddon on the Wall War Memorial c1933 before building of the Knott Memorial Hall in 1936. The path that runs up to the west side of the church, now a grassy path behind the hall, is clearly visible.
Past & Present 6: Hadrian's Wall looking east towards Great Hill and the road to Thockley. The trees were planted on the hill on the north side of the road after open-cast mining for coal in the 1960s. The gorse growing on the hill south of the road has now extended to cover the area, hiding the Roman Vallum. Houses can now be seen on the north edge of the Vallum estate.
Past & Present 7: Blue Row, Heddon on the Wall. The single storey cottages were demolished for an access road to the Vallum housing estate. The track on the right is between Blue Row and Clayton Terrace. Although the modern photo seems to show single-storey buildings at the end of Blue Row these are actually bungalows on the other side of the road that now provides access to the Vallum Estate.
Past & Present 8: Heddon on the Wall Methodist Church on Towne Gate, before and after building of the school-room on the front of the building. Jubilee House to its left was demolished in 1955. The modern library is located behind. To fully replicate the old postcard I should have been standing on Station Road (the junction of which can be seen on the left). However, the view of the Methodist Church from the correct location is now largely blocked by the bus shelter and some large trees.
Past & Present 9: Towne Gate (circa 1900) showing the Hearse House (left), Jubilee House, the Methodist Church and the young tree planted for the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee surrounded by iron-railings set in a curving stone base. The tree is a gold leaved sycamore and now of a mature size. It now stands on the grass below the modern library. The stone base around the trunk can still be seen but the railings were removed in the second World War. Jubilee House (which presumably took its name from the tree) was demolished in the 1950s. The houses in the distance, along Towne Gate, are part of Blue Row. The single storey section was demolished in the 1960s for access to the new housing estate. The old postcard shows the edge of the Square Yard (now demolished) on the extreme right. My photo shows part of the old Reading Room (which was probably built at the time of the postcard) but the angle of view in my photo is slightly different as it is now much more dangerous to stand in the middle of the road.
Past & Present 10: Towne Gate from Military Road. The section of the Military Road through the village is now closed and the modern road realigned to the north side of the village. East Towne House is on the left (largely unchanged) and part of Town Farm on the right. The old farm building was converted into a terrace of houses, Keepers Cottage.
Past & Present 11: Aerial view of the development of Heddon village in early 1960s. Latest addition to Past & Present following an article in the blog. The present photo is taken from Google Earth.
