Historic Newbiggin posters to go on display
Old posters which were printed more than 60 years ago to promote community events in a seaside village are to be put on display in a planned £3.4m visitor attraction.
The black and white posters were put up in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland in the mid-1940s to advertise a Remembrance Sunday parade, a concert in the Co-Op Hall and a youth convention.
Local historian Mike Kirkup with one of the posters
Three of the originals were kept by printers Davison's at their Ashington premises, and lay gathering dust for decades until they were found by members of the town's Lions Club about nine years ago.
They were given to Mike Kirkup, a local author and historian who has written a number of books about the history of the Wansbeck area.
Now the three posters are to be donated to the £3.4m heritage centre which is to be built on Newbiggin seafront to celebrate the town's proud fishing and sea rescue traditions.
The project, which was recently awarded £1m from the Government's Sea Change programme, is more than two-thirds of the way towards its fundraising target. It is hoped the centre will open next year.
The three posters were printed to promote the town's 1946 Remembrance Day parade, a vaudeville-style concert in the Co-Op Hall and a Youth Convention in the Apostolic Church - billed as a 'great rally and roll call'.
The Remembrance Day poster reads - 'The Parade leaves Dixon's Corner, West End at 1.45pm for short services at Railway Station and Colliery Memorial where wreaths will be laid in memory of the Dead, then returns to the Wallaw Cinema for a Special Service, speaker Major William Craigs'.
Yesterday Mike, who lives in Newbiggin, said: "These posters were printed by Davison's, who published the Ashington Advertiser. A few years ago I was offered about 20 posters by Ashington Lions, and some of them have been framed and displayed at Woodhorn Museum.
"These three relate to Newbiggin so I plan to give them to the maritime heritage centre when it opens. A lot of people will still remember some of the events."
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