Paul Hindmarsh Exhibition

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Visitors to County Hall reception in Morpeth have had the opportunity to view a selection of images from the Paul Hindmarsh photography collection held at Northumberland Archives. Paul Hindmarsh worked as a commercial photographer from the 1960s until he retired in 2010. With his associate Don Riddell, he captured many important industrial developments throughout the region as well as the day-to-day activities of businesses and factories across Northumberland. His archive of over 20,000 negatives taken between 1968 and the mid 1980s was donated to Northumberland Archives in 2023. It features images of large-scale industrial projects such as the construction of the Tyne and Wear metro and the development of Kielder Water, factory construction, housing schemes and publicity photographs for businesses across the northeast.

When fully catalogued the Hindmarsh images will be open for the public to consult, and a selection will be made available on the Archive’s website. The scale of the collection makes it impossible to suggest when this might be but, due to the quality of the images and the likely levels of interest in them, the Archives were keen to share a sample of the collection with the public as soon as possible. Staff have selected a small number of images that give a good representation of the type of work Paul undertook throughout his career.

The exhibition has been well received by the public so far. One of the reasons for this is that, while the images remain within living memory for many, they vividly highlight the dramatic changes that have occurred in a relatively short time. Although on the surface these are practical photographs from the world of industry and commerce, the exhibition showcases a world vastly different from today’s. The photographs capture artists in a graphic design department creating technical drawings by hand with nothing but pen and paper, a ‘computer room’ where the operator is required to wear a lab coat, and even the distinctive hairstyles and trouser cuts of the era—details that feel both familiar and also now, historic.

During our appraisal of the Hindmarsh Collection and the curation of this exhibition, we were struck by the many layers of significance within the images. A core mission of the Archive Service is to preserve historically valuable materials, and the Hindmarsh Collection is certainly a rich source for anyone interested in the industrial and commercial history of the northeast—both now and in the future. Yet beyond their historical and contextual importance, these photographs also stand out for their aesthetic quality. Paul was not just a documentarian but an obviously gifted photographer, with a clear ability to capture striking compositions that hold their own as artistic works. It has been interesting for Archives staff to consider this idea; that the primary reason for the creation of the images was almost always purely practical; whether to document a specific part of a construction process, an updated manufacturing procedure, or for marketing purposes. For this reason, the curation of exhibitions featuring this type of collection is especially satisfying; an image that was perhaps never conceived as anything other than part of a 1969 advertising campaign for a northeast-based glass company can now be celebrated as both an interesting historic document as well as a brilliant photograph.

The County Hall exhibition is not the first Hindmarsh project we have undertaken. During the 1960s and 70s, Paul was employed by Washington Development Corporation to photograph the output of the architect’s department during the development of the town. As 2023 marked the 60th anniversary of the town’s foundation, we worked alongside Washington Heritage Partnership, Wessington U3A and Washington History Society to hold a series of workshops where local history societies and members of the public were invited to view a selection of Paul’s Washington images, share memories and help chose images for a digital exhibition. The finished digital exhibition is available to view on Northumberland Archive’s Youtube channel. The current County Hall exhibition will end in a few weeks, but with such a rich source of historic content covering a period of huge change in the northeast, there will be scope for more exhibitions and projects in the future as more of the material is catalogued.

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 5TH MARCH 1925

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BERWICK’S NEW BRIDGE

For the benefit of our readers we give this week a composite photo view of the Tweed valley looking up the river, and showing the view which will be obtained when the new bridge is in position. We also give below a plan of the bridge and its approaches, which will enable the public at a glance to understand the line upon which it is taken, and the properties which will have to be demolished to make way for the approach roads to either end of the bridge.

As already stated in these columns, the new ferro concrete bridge being built, is one of four spans, the longest span of which is that between the Walls at the New Road, and the fishing bat just above the Old Bridge. This span, which is believed to be the largest span of any ferro concrete bridge in existence, is no less than 360 feet. The other spans get less as they go towards the Tweedmouth side of the river. In the original plans for the bridge it was intended to have ornamental stonework facing up the piers, but this was cut out in the revised estimates, and as a result the bridge will be one of what we might term “open work design.”

In comparison with other modern bridges, the design cannot be said to be out of place in this stretch of the river where there are three crossings, and in fact, as it signalises the modern idea in construction, the Tweed valley at Berwick will now possess what few towns possess, an existing comparison of the work of Jacobean builders, the work of builders plying their tools under the direction of the great engineering genius, Stephenson, and the modern work of Messrs Holloway Brothers, London, who have practically made history as bridge builders in France and Flanders since the war.

The only stone work about the bridge will be the parapet walls which will be executed in Doddington stone. The estimate for the erection of the bridge and its approaches was £160,000, which left for contingencies £8800. Since the estimate was agreed to, however, there was an additional £600 allowed in the estimate for erection, owing to workmen having to be paid at a higher rate of pay than was estimated. This has been agreed to by the County Council and the Town Council of Berwick.

Royal Border Bridge early 1990s. Ref No. BRO 515 377

The actual work in the erection of the bridge was started in the second week in January this year, and though floods have in a measure hindered the work since, it is expected that the bridge will be completed within the time specified, viz., 2½ years. The bridge will be on a gradient of one in fifty-one, rising towards the Berwick side.

The total length of the bridge will be 1,405 feet, with a width of 46 feet, made up of a 30 foot roadway and two footpaths, each 8 feet wide. There will be two river piers in the bridge and three land piers, all composed of mass concrete, the foundation level generally being from 15 feet to 20feet below the river bed. The remainder of the structure consists of a simple decking supported by columns.

The main stand consists of an arched rib, which is 10 feet 6 inches deep at the springs, and about 7 feet deep at the crown. these ribs are in the form of a hollow box form their springing point to approximately a third point of the span, leaving the centre portion solid. Four of the ribs are transversely across the bridge, each two centre ribs being 5 feet wide, and the side ribs 3 feet 6 inches wide. From these ribs a series of uprights of varying dimensions are carried up to support the coping, which consists of transverse beams 7 inches wide by 20 inches deep. The longitudinal beams connecting the uprights are 10 inches wide by 36 inches deep. The structural members of the remaining arches are in comparative proportions.

THE APPROACHES

The plan below shows where the two new roads branch off from the Tweedmouth end of the New Bridge towards the Five Arches, and also through the field behind the West End, where the Housing site will extend shortly. The main south road sweeps through the housing site at the point where the Rangers F.C. have their field now, and the line runs through the old properties at the top of Kiln Hill, and through the Knowe Head. So far as the approach road at the Tweedmouth end is concerned, it only runs from the corner of Town farm stackyard and the Commercial Inn to where the bridge ends behind the Union Hotel on the high ground. Outside of the bridge scheme, however, it is now proposed to cut away a big portion of the Commercial Inn and the properties abutting on the Meadow Field, and also a portion of the Meadow Field itself, to straighten out the main road on the west side. On the east side of the main road, a strip of the Brewery, a strip of the yard of the Angel Inn, the properties from there to, and including the Queen’s head, will be demolished to bring the line of the road in conformity with the west side. This, of course, is a scheme of road improvement and does not come under the Bridge and approaches estimate. The dotted line on the plan shows the line of the reconstructed road from the Queen’s head to the Knowe Head.

At Berwick side of the river, as will be seen, the entire north side of Golden square is to go.

New Kids on the Block!

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Back in October, Northumberland Archives was lucky enough to attract two fantastic new Archive Assistants – Jemma and Helen. (Hang on – has somebody let Jemma and Helen write the intro?) We asked them to interview each other to find out how they’ve found their time settling into their new roles.

Jemma: What do you enjoy most about being an Archive Assistant?

Helen: I am enjoying how interesting the job is. I have been surprised at the variety of material we hold here – it means that every day I learn something new or come across something that piques my interest.

I’m also enjoying the social side of the archive – there is a lovely atmosphere behind the scenes and everyone has been supportive and keen to pass on their knowledge.

Jemma: What have you found your interests are when working with such a range of archive materials?

Helen: I have found I am particularly drawn to people’s personal testimonies from the past. Reading a letter or a diary, which sometimes mix an account of momentous events in the world with the everyday news of, for instance, what is for dinner or what happened at school or work, feels like a little bridge is created to the past.

Outside of work I write fiction and I am finding it quite inspiring to read people’s stories from long ago and get a little insight into everyday lives.

Jemma: What has been your biggest challenge when working at the archives?

Helen: The biggest challenge has not so much been any singular thing but everything! There is so much to learn that I feel we’ve had to accept not being totally sure what we’re doing for a little while. It has helped to hear more experienced members of staff saying that they are still learning even after working here for years.

Jemma: What was the most surprising/unexpected find for you here?

Helen: When we first arrived we were encouraged to search for anything we fancied looking at just to get used to using the catalogue. I looked up Ovingham, the village I was brought up in, and was interested to discover that we held a newspaper article about a poet who had lived in Ovingham. The article itself was interesting – written in the 1930s it was about Dora Greenwell a poet who was particularly known for writing hymns and who lived in the village for some time in the 1840s – but perhaps more interesting to me was the volume that the newspaper article was stored in. When I went to get the article out I discovered that the clipping was actually in a scrapbook about Ovingham made by a woman, Eliza Charlton, who lived in the village throughout the 20th century. Her entries started with articles and photos about the village school and progressed through various local events to pieces on the WI in the 1980s. I was delighted to come across some names I recognised in the latter part of her scrapbook.

Jemma: What should the public know about Northumberland Archives that you didn’t know about before working here?

Helen: They should know that we have a huge amount of items in our collection so there is bound to be something that interests them. On a pragmatic note, they might be interested to know that they can access Ancestry and Find My Past on the computers here for free and that there’s a lovely café in the museum downstairs!

Helen: How has the reality of working in the archives differed from your expectations? Has anything surprised you?

Jemma: I didn’t expect to be able to physically access so many materials daily and I think this may have been the biggest surprise to me, as well as the enormous amount housed here that is accessible to the public. I knew this would be an interesting job, I just didn’t realise how fascinating it would become.

Helen: What attracted you to work here?

Jemma: My interest in history has always been there from school, but recently my interest in local history has increased massively after starting a family tree. I soon found myself wanting to explore more than just the names in my family history and I wanted to find out about their houses, their towns and their livelihoods. It was this that made me really want to help and be a part of someone else’s journey.

Helen: What is your favourite part of the archive – what have you found most interesting?

Jemma: My favourite part, or place, in Northumberland Archives is the strong rooms where they store all the documents and items. I find the rooms peaceful, as is the search room where the public can access. An aspect of the Archives that I’ve found the most interesting is the information on coal mining – be it maps, photographs, transcripts or diaries of those who have worked in a Northumberland colliery. Having family who have worked in collieries in this area and specifically in Woodhorn colliery itself, makes every bit of information surrounding this topic interesting to me and it feels a little bit personal too.

Helen: Is there anything you’ve struggled with?

Jemma: Learning how to approach different family histories when customers request help was more difficult than I anticipated. More times than not it isn’t straight forward and sometimes people are starting from the beginning, with no previous family knowledge and so it becomes a bit of a hunt. However, when you help someone from this starting point it feels like you’ve made a real achievement.

Helen: What are you looking forward to mastering?

Jemma: The organisation and work that goes into the full process of obtaining documents to them becoming accessible to the public is extensive. The staff here are excellent and because of the hours of work and enjoyment that goes into each collection, everyone has their own little interest or expertise in an area. I’m really looking forward to carrying out each bit of this process and then from there developing my own area of knowledge…which would be around Northumberland’s coal mining history (my Grandad would be proud).

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