Originally founded in 1951 as the Photo-News Service, the Photo Centre in Berwick was a staple of town life for over 65 years as a family-run press agency and photo studio.

Their premises at 17 Bridge Street had a well-equipped studio above the shop where commercial photography took place. The business also covered newsworthy events in the area and recorded family occasions and celebrations, marking milestones in the lives of several generations of townspeople. 

The first photograph (BRO 1944/1/5015/7) was taken on 27th April 1968 and shows speedway trials at Shielfield Park ahead of Berwick Bandits first competitive match which took place on 18th May against Newcastle Colts. JAP and JAWA bikes were the most popular models of this period.

The second photograph (BRO 1944/1/4720/4) was taken on 28th January 1967, also at Shielfield Park at the beginning of a football match between Berwick Rangers and Glasgow Rangers. The match became a famous 1-0 victory for Berwick Rangers. Captains Doug Coutts and John Greig are shown here in a coin-toss with referee Eddie Thomson.

The third photograph (BRO 1944/1/202/13) shows Berwick’s outdoor swimming pool in 1952. Until the opening of an indoor pool at the former Corn Exchange in 1972, Berwick only had this outdoor pool. It was sited at the Greenses beach, where there were separate ladies’ and gentlemen’s pools, the remains of which can still be seen.

The racetrack at Charterhall, on a former RAF airfield near Greenlaw in Berwickshire, was established in 1952, and Jim Clark won his first important race there in 1957. This final photograph (BRO 1944/1/1939/9) taken in 1958 shows Jim Clark with a D Type Jaguar, which he drove in 20 races that season, winning 12 of them. He went on to become a world-famous Formula One racing driver, winning two world championships. He was tragically killed at a race in Hockenheim in 1968, aged 32.

There are still many sports organisation in Berwick including the speedway, football, rowing, rugby, motor rallying, running and tennis. Many of these have their origins back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries whilst some are more recent. For example, Berwick Rowing Club was established in 1869 and Berwick Rangers Football Club in the 1880s whilst running and gymnastic clubs have only started since the building of the Sports Centre in the 1990s.

Berwick Rangers Football Club is unusual because although the club is geographically located in England, it has played in the Scottish leagues since 1905. Its high point was beating Glasgow Rangers at Shielfield Park in the Scottish Cup in 1967. The Club now plays in the Lowland Football League.

Berwick Bandits Speedway is also based at Shielfield Park and is a very popular spectator sport in North Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. It was established in 1968 and the team competes in the British Speedway Championships.

North Northumberland and the Scottish Borders has a long association with Motorsport on all levels – Jim Clark in Formula One and Louise Aitken Walker in rallying. Jim Clark was brought up in Berwickshire and competed in local car rallies at Charterhall and other former airfields in the area. Following his death, the Jim Clark Memorial Rally was started in 1970 and there is a museum in Duns, Berwickshire dedicated to his memory. The Photo Centre collections holds images of many events involving Jim Clark, including his homecoming after winning the World Championship in 1965. Louise Aitken Walker was a British rally and saloon car racing driver from Duns who became the first Ladies World Champion in 1990. She retired from the sport in 1993.

Sports photography is the genre of photography that covers all types of sports. In most cases, professional sports photographs are a branch of photojournalism. The photographs are taken for editorial purposes, with sports photographers working for newspapers, magazines or agencies photographing sporting events and sports personalities to report, record and promote key moments in the sporting world.