18th century watering hole fell victim to redevelopment

WE step back to Percy Street at the dawn of the 1970s, prior to a period which would bring much change to this part of Newcastle.

- DAVID MORTON

Swathes of old buildings here and on nearby Blackett Street and Newgate Street would be demolished to make way for the development of the sprawling Eldon Square Shopping Centre which opened in 1976, radically changing the character of the city centre.

It’s fair to say our photograph, taken by the prolific Laszlo Torday, captures a scene which was beginning to look somewhat down at heel. The shops on the right are long-gone and in their place the strikingly modernist Eldon Square multi-storey car park which provides space for around 500 vehicles.