Wallsend’s main junction between the High Street and Station Road has changed massively in the past century and a half. I’ve covered the Woolies site in 2023, so now for over the road – a plot with a very rich history.

This is a historically important site, given its location on the main lane to the station and the turnpike between Newcastle and Tynemouth. When pit rows stood next door, it was quickly claimed to erect a Methodist Chapel, which is seen in the 2nd shot. It was for the New Connexion congregation, one of the many dizzying Methodist sects which supplanted themselves in pit villages. It was opened in 1857, with the foundation stone laid by Sarah Love, who was endowed with a huge estate of collieries and was a proponent of the New Connexion movement. You might recognise her surname on bricks across Durham. It seated 300 and was a substantial brick construction, far superior to the other Methodist chapels in town at this time.
Its replacement came about in 1904, with services held over the road in the Wallsend Cafe until completion. The Allen Memorial Church on Park Road, a vastly bigger church still in situ today, was opened by the Hunter's.

With the plot becoming vacant, it was an attractive spot for commercial and office premises. Officially named the Central Buildings, the ground floor was advertised for let in 1904 with a Home and Colonial Tea Store neighbouring it. The upstairs appeared to be occupied in the coming years by Fleming Davidson, the architect of the Wallsend & Willington Quay Joint Hospital Board. The street-level premises became a fruit shop, with a banana-ripening room also located inside. Much of this was destroyed by a fire, with a good stock of the bananas ruined by this too.

Some might know it better as Boots, which it had been in the mid-20th century, as seen in the 3rd shot. The polychrome brickwork makes it clearly identifiable. Nowadays, a Ramsdens occupies the lot.