The first photo was taken at the top of Benton Bank in Jesmond around 1900, with Armstrong Bridge in the distance. The second one shows the same scene today for comparison. It looks idyllic, but this used to be one of the most dangerous corners of Newcastle.
The road from Tynemouth and the coast used to cross the Ouseburn River over a low stone bridge, which was a favourite spot for footpads and thieves to prey on travellers. There were many incidents of violent theft here, and two highwaymen were hanged in 1821 for robbing a farmer on his way home from a market in Newcastle.
Benton Bank was much steeper back then, but life was made easier for travellers in 1878 when Armstrong Bridge opened, high above the Ouseburn. The industrialist Lord Armstrong had laid out much of this part of Ouseburn as a private park, which he gifted to the people of Newcastle in 1883. The slope of Benton Bank was reduced a couple of decades later when the tramway extension to Heaton was introduced.
The small building on the left was a Corporation Toll House. It was built in 1867, replacing a cabin that had served the same purpose. The toll collectors were very poorly paid by the Corporation, so the toll houses sometimes doubled up as shops to help them make ends meet. Ralph Carr was the first occupant of this one; he was also a bootmaker.
One of the last collectors was an old soldier named John Ramshaw, who had seen action in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. The toll was abolished in the summer of 1910 and it became a full-time shop, and at various times it was also an auction house and an artist’s studio.
Danger returned to Benton Bank in the early days of the motor car, when it became an accident blackspot. Things got worse when Armstrong Bridge was declared unsafe; it had been built with nothing heavier in mind than a horse and cart, and was closed to cars and lorries in 1957. Traffic between Newcastle and the coast was switched to Benton Bank, which was probably more dangerous than using the bridge.
Fatalities increased over the following decade, and in the 1960s it was decided to resolve this with a new bridge that would carry a motorway across the Ouseburn Valley. This scheme was cancelled, but not before several properties were demolished, including the former Corporation Toll House. The area was finally bypassed by a dual carriageway in the 1990s, although the original road is still there too.
Meanwhile, the pedestrianised Armstrong Bridge hosted an al fresco art exhibition by local artist David Hinge in the summer of 1969, which evolved into the art market that is still held there on Sunday mornings.