Peterlee Town Centre

Posted on by modernmoocher

Once more to Peterlee having posted posts on the Apollo Pavillion, housing and housing history.

Plans for the new town centre started to be developed in 1960 by Chief Architect Roy Gazzard. The process would go through eight sets of revisions before they were finally approved in 1968. Yoden Way was then pedestrianised, and the small row of shops built in 1950’s was incorporated into the new shopping precinct, forming the north western end of Yoden Way. Like many other town centres across Britain undergoing modernisation, the high-street was split onto two levels, with ramps providing access to raised walkways.

The construction of Lee House – named after Peter Lee, started in 1974. Once completed, the Development Corporation moved its Headquarters from Old Shotton Hall to Lee House in 1976, occupying the building until it was sold in 1984 and remaining staff relocated to Newton Aycliffe.

Enhancing the built environment, Peterlee Town Centre was furnished with play equipment, an ornamental pond, open air escalators, and a sculpture by John Pasmore – son of Victor.

These features were later removed after the town centre was sold to Teesdale Investments – Peterlee Limited in 1985.

Peterlee History

Access ramp at the bottom end of Yoden Way, prior to the construction of Lee House in 1973.

It’s 2021 and I arrive at the Bus Station.

Immediately adjacent is Ridgemount House. – once home to the Job Centre.

Firefighters were called to the disused Ridgemount House on Bede Way in Peterlee on Wednesday August 16th 2023 at about 8.20pm after reports of a blaze.

Crews found a fire had broken out in the first floor of the building, which was found to be the home of thousands of pounds worth of cannabis plants back in 2020, after a man converted two floors for use as a drug farm.

Tarlochan Singh, owner of Ridgemount House, has been prosecuted following the discovery of several serious fire safety breaches at the property.

Northern Echo

To the right is the Eden Bar and Vibe.

Readers have voted Peterlee nightspot Vibe as the ‘most tragic hometown club’ in the North East

Formerly known as The Dance Factory, Vibe, in Peterlee town centre, is a place famous for it’s almost impossible to get off ‘tramp stamp’ and next door neighbour The Lodge, where many locals will go for pre-drinks and some karaoke before heading to the club.

Chronicle Live

The bar which once boasted a bijou rotunda with an exclusive upper terrace, has now closed.

Back in 1973 the hotel was badged as the Norseman.

The giants of Sporting Lisbon faced Sunderland in the European Cup Winners Cup and they spent the build-up to the tie in the Norseman Hotel. They met local children, took a walk in the dene, signed autographs and even tried riding a Chopper bike. The side lost 2-1 at Roker Park to a talented Sunderland team before overcoming the Black Cats 2-0 back in Portugal.

Sunderland Echo

The rear rotunda is now a derelict shell.

Back in 2021 Sambuca was the other town centre bar – badged with Olde English type.

Formerly the Red Lion a Cameron’s estate pub.

April 20th 2014 – Happy Easter everyone.
We are open today all the way to 10pm – £2 bottles VHFs, house spirits only £3 double, buckets £4, Corona £2.50 selected shots 50p, cider cans £1 + £2 
Karaoke – from now on everyone who sings gets a free shot
Then we have the best in all your favourite dance ‘n’ house tunes to take you into Monday.

Onward to the Shopping Centre.

Yoden Way looking towards Lee House in 1977.

Photographs: JR James

The 1950’s shops are still in situ.

Though some of the original architectural detailing and features are no more.

Lee House is still standing but vacant.

Lee House was once home to charity and community groups, but in 2015 the building owners ordered them to vacate the property. Even the building’s clock has stopped working and has been stuck on the same ten-past-two reading.

However, Durham County Council has now confirmed the building is in new hands. Economic development manager Graham Wood said: “We have worked with the previous owner to try to ensure the building is secured while we await proposals for its long-term future. 

Sunderland Echo

© Lynda Golightly / Art UK

Four fire engines rushed to Lee House on Upper Yoden Way in Peterlee on Friday afternoon September 19th 2025 after a fire broke out on the first floor of the seven floor building.

Northern Echo

Clean-up campaigner Tidy Ted and Peterlee Mayor Councillor John Dickinson were helping youngsters to tidy up in the Peterlee Dene area in 1989.

Where are they now – when we need them most?

St Mary’s Church Interior

Posted on by modernmoocher

Broadfield Drive Leyland Lancashire PR25 1PD

May I first thanks Parish Administrator Catherine, for taking the time to open the church for our visiting group of Modernists this Saturday – and providing us with the warmest of welcomes, along with a brew and a biscuit or two.

The church was designed by Jerzy Faczynski of Weightman and Bullen. Cardinal Heenan blessed the foundation stone in 1962  and the new church was completed ready for its consecration and dedication by Archbishop Beck in April 1964.

The church is a testament to the ambition, imagination and optimism of its age. Significantly, the building was the collaborative work of both immigrant and native architects, artists and designers.

This has been celebrated by Owen Hatherley’s recent book The Alienation Effect.

A folded slab roof of ninety five feet in diameter, its concrete cast on site, bearing the marks of the wooden shuttering, contrasting with the smooth surface of the pre-cast valley beams.

The Crucifix Rex frame is by Alan Roberts and the ceramic figure by Adam Kossowski.

The organ is designed by JW Walker & Son.

The candlesticks and metal furnishings in all the Chapels were fashioned in the foundry of Messrs Bagnall of Kirkby to the design of Robin McGhie.

The curved benches are of Ghana mahogany and were made by the Robert Thompson Craftsmen of Kilburn, the steel work by GS Graham of Stokesley. The distinctive Mouseman mouse can be found on several of the bench ends.

Dalle de Verre stained glass by Patrick Reyntiens, thirty-six panels abstract totalling two hundred and thirty three feet in length.

The theme for the windows is taken from the first nine verses of Genesis, and the passage of Proverbs c. vii. Amorphous undifferentiated matter with the beginnings of definition and pattern, with here and there the promise of order and system.

The Stations of the Cross are the work of Liverpool sculptor Arthur Dooley.

The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is designed to seat one hundred and twenty.

The lettering on the green marble frieze is by George Thomas.

The tabernacle, crystal lamp and altar furniture were designed by Robin McGhie.

The tapestry, designed by architect Jerzy Faczynski and woven by the Edinburgh Tapestry Company, under H Jefferson Barnes and Anthony Brennan.

The etched glass panels are also by Jerzy Faczynski.

This is a church whose design and integral interior order and design, sits alongside both Coventry Cathedral and Liverpool Cathedral of Christ the King.

The finest materials and skills, working in harmony to produce a majestic whole.

Take a look outside too!

Market Stall – Halifax

Posted on by modernmoocher

I was taking folks on a Modernist walk around Halifax – I aways arrive hours early.

Having time to spare, I took a slight detour through the Halifax Borough Market.

Visiting Halifax Borough Market for the first time feels a bit like taking a step back in time. This award-winning market was first opened in 1896 and has been the beating heart of the town ever since. Its Victorian splendour can be seen throughout – on the ornate clock-tower, in the glass roof and on the intricate carvings. Décor and atmosphere combine to create a shopping experience that just cannot be matched.

Calderdale Gov

The Markets and Fairs Committee decided in 1890 to replace the overflowing market place with a new structure. Local architects Joseph and John Leeming were engaged to draw up plans. A £50,000 loan was obtained by the Corporation the following year, with the final cost rising to £130,000, which was £20,000 over budget. Work began in October 1892 and progressed slowly, until the market was officially opened on 25 July 1896 by the Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George V and Queen Mary.

Wikipedia

The life of the market along with the high street faces an uncertain future, the local authority are doing their best to ensure that both have a future.

Through UK Government funding, we’re updating this iconic Victorian market. We’re creating a warmer and more welcoming place for people to shop, eat, drink and spend time.

Future High Streets

I have very fond memories of shopping with my mam on Ashton Market, and use my local market here in Stockport. I love the conviviality and the stimulating visual displays, the overcrowded abundance, a florid cornucopia of goods and services.

However, in this instance I was beguiled by an empty stall, the former home of Illuminate Electrical Supplies.

Gone now are the rich variety of shades, plugs, flexes, batteries and lamps, what remains are the bare bones of making do.

Odds and ends, fixtures and fittings, fitted in as and when.

Roscoe Building

Posted on by modernmoocher

Local Image Collection 1964

The Roscoe Building is to the University of Manchester what the Renold Building was to UMIST; its purpose was the unification of disparate lecture rooms into one building. In this instance it was a central hub for the Faculty of Science. Both buildings are by Cruickshank and Seward and share traits, though the Renold has arguably more flare. In the Roscoe Building the ground floor houses the smaller of the two main lecture theatres, the larger is an appendage to the main building, but both are accessed from the main foyer. As one ascends, the five upper floors are served by a central corridor flanked by smaller offices and laboratories on one side and larger flexible teaching and seminar rooms to the other. The glazed stairwell is expressed as a separate element.

The appraisal of the scheme in the AJ Building Study made claim that, ‘aesthetically the relationship of this staircase with the main tower is scarcely resolved, but the design has achieved the aim of making this an exciting staircase to use’.

This was the aim of the architect – if all the seminar rooms and lecture theatres emptied at the same time, there was not enough capacity in the two lifts to move everyone. The climb up the stairs is rewarded with a good view of the city centre, a photograph of which was illustrated in the same pages. The clear expression of the component parts of this building is a functional response to the demands, but also the part of the formal language developed through Cruickshank & Seward’s practice. Strong volumetric forms became something of a motif in the work of both John Seward and Arthur Gibbon.

Mainstream Modern

The open entrance area has subsequently been compromised.

Photo: Richard Brook

Performance Electrical Limited was employed to carry out the full electrical refurbishment to the new reception at the University of Manchester’s Roscoe Building on behalf of Armitage Construction.

In common with the Renold Building the Roscoe has an elegant glazed staircase.

So I walked it up and down.

Bury Walk

Posted on by modernmoocher

Arriving at and looking around the Interchange – 1980 architects: Essex Goodman & Suggitt

It is the northern terminus of the Manchester Metrolink’s Bury Line, which prior to 1992 was a heavy-rail line.

A new short spur line was constructed to connect the new station. The railway had originally run into Bury Bolton Street which was further away from the town centre, and was closed by British Rail on the same day that Bury Interchange opened.

It also incorporates a bus station.

Bury Interchange replaced the bus termini scattered around Bury town centre, notably around Kay Gardens.

Wikipedia

Image courtesy of Roy Banks

An £80m transformation is coming to the Bury Interchange, which will see step-free access at the Metrolink, a “vertical circulation core” to better connect the Metrolink with the bus facility, and an integrated travel hub with spaces for cycle storage.

The work is much-needed, explained Transport for Greater Manchester’s Alan Lowe, he said that the interchange was built in the 1980s and very much is of its time.

Onward to the Art Picture House which is Grade II Listed – currently operating as a Wetherspoons.

The Art Picture Palace was a 1923 rebuild of the earlier Art Picture Hall both designed by architect Albert Winstanley. The Art Picture Palace was opened on 26th January 1923. A remarkably complete survivor of a 1920’s cine-variety house executed in an elaborate style.

Films ceased in February 1965 and it became a bingo club. Later converted into a billiard hall until 19th May 1991 when it became a bingo club again, it later became a Chicago Rock Cafe.

Cinema Treasures

Next door a typical steel glass and brick banded office block Maple House.

Around the corner and over the road to the Town Hall 1939-40 architects: Reginald Edmonds of Jackson & Edmonds then 1947-54.

Large and Dull – Niklaus Pevsner.

Back through the Interchange to the former Cooperative Store of the 1930’s.

The Portland Stone towers still visible – the elevation largely retro-clad in glass.

Passing through the Millgate Shopping Centre of the 1980’s.

Unambitious but successful, the floors cheerfully tiled – Niklaus Pevsner.

Down in the subway at midday.

The better to get a view of the Market Hall 1971 – architects: Harry S Fairhurst.

The Indoor Market Hall is currently closed due to the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete – within the building structure. RAAC is a lightweight type of building material that was used between the 1950s and 1990s.

Back under the road – where we find a delightful Telephone Exchange.

With an adjacent Multi Story Car Park.

Around the bend to The Rock.

The Rock is a vibrant retail and leisure centre which is home to a range of high street fashion brands, independent retailers, tantalising eateries and fantastic entertainment – it’s the perfect place to visit any day of the week. 

It is the work of architects BDP – completed in 2010 at a cost of £350 million.

Our masterplan for The Rock took into account the historical street pattern and public realm context to give the scheme its own identity, and make visual connections to local landmarks.

The retail and leisure scheme brings many exciting brands to Bury for the first time.

New pedestrian streets rejuvenate and improve connections to adjacent areas stitching the town back together.

The development will also contain 408 one and two-bedroom apartments.

Back to basics at a former Burton’s hiding its faience facade.

Typical inter-war infill on our crazy mixed up mongrel high streets.

Ribblesdale House

Application by Shop and Store Developments Ltd submitted August 1965. Architect on application was Samuel Jackson and Son of Ocean Chambers in Bradford but during the application process this changed to John Brunton & Partners – Brunton was a partner in Jackson’s firm, at the same address. It had a restaurant and shops on the first floor.

Off now to the Bury Bolton Street Station – currently home to the East Lancashire Railway.

The street level buildings were destroyed by fire on 14 May 1947 and were replaced with a new brick and concrete entrance and footbridge in 1952. 

British Rail closed the station on 17 March 1980, when it was replaced by a new bus/rail interchange station further east into the town centre. Bury Interchange railway station served up until 1991 before the entire Bury Line was converted to light rail operation. It reopened in 1992 for Metrolink operation.

Bury was once the centre of multiple train links and the lost station of Knowsley Street.

Over the road the former Temperance Billiard Hall 1910 architect Norman Evans.

Down the side and up the steps to the Unitarian Church.

The new church was designed and constructed by local architects James T Ratcliffe.

The church was opened in 1974, with a service of dedication on Saturday, 9th March. The total cost, including furnishings, was £85,000.

The People Praising by Elizabeth Mulchinock is a 12 foot high original sculpture at the front of the church which represents the family of the church.

Her work can also be seen at Sainsbury’s in West Ealing and Reading.

Next door is the former Trustee Saving Bank.

Planning application January 1965 – work started in June 1965. The architectural firm was Richard Byrom, Hill and partners. Richard Byrom was submitting building applications in the 1930s in Bury and locally.

The rendering on the building is original but the windows have been changed. The Job Centre took over the building in 1993. It is in a conservation area and the Civic Trust had some concerns!

Many thanks to David French for the above information.