Fenwick is city's version of Harrods

THE overall layout and shape remain the same - but much has changed on Newcastle's Northumberland Street since the early 1970s. The city's main shopping thoroughfare was pedestrianised in 1998. Today you'll find extensive work underway as the paved street enjoys a major cosmetic upgrade which is expected to be completed by early next year.

- By DAVID MORTON

When our main photograph was taken by Laszlo Torday more than 50 years ago, shoppers still shared the road with traffic. It's perhaps hard to believe that it was once part of the busy A1 linking London and Edinburgh, and interesting to reflect that further back in time it was a medieval route for religious pilgrims travelling to Holy Island.

Prominent on the left of our older picture of bustling Northumberland Street are three of Newcastle's most famous retailers - past and present. Woolworth had traded on the street since 1913, opening in the year before the outbreak of World War One.

'Woolies', which began in Liverpool in 1909, rapidly expanding with branches opening across the UK, seemed to sell everything under the sun: from clothing and shoes, to jewellery and cosmetics, toys and games, homeware and stationery, records and electrical goods, and food and snacks, including Woolworth's famous 'pick and mix' sweets selection.