Jimmy Blumer went high-flying over Darlington in the old days, and his archives never fail to fascinate. Echo Memories raids them once again

You may buy copies of any of the photographs on this page. A seven inch by five inch print costs £7.50; a ten inch by seven inch is £9.25. Larger sizes are available on request.

All prices include postage. Cheques should be made payable to Newsquest (North-East). Send your order, stating which copy you want, to: Photosales, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF or telephone (01325) 505300.

Picture one: This shows how irrevocably Darlington town centre changed in the course of one generation.

Darlington town centre in 1951. See the key below to the landmarks

The picture was taken in 1951. Within 25 years the ring-road had been bulldozed through, leaving only St Cuthbert's Church (No 1 on the key map), St Hilda's Church (2), the Cricketers pub (3) and the buildings on Stonebridge (4) as instantly recognisable.

The Leadyard is at the bottom of the picture. From the 1930s to the 1950s it was Darlington's bus station. In the 1960s it was cleared to make way for the Town Hall, but you can still see the old Unitarian Chapel (5) and Luck's Square (6), which the Luck family built in 1878 on top of the ancient, haunted Bishop's Palace.

On the other side of the river, Chapel Street (7), Church Street (8) and Skerne Row (9) have been cleared, but Prior Terrace (10) still stands on the waterfront.

Other streets you might have forgotten about off Clay Row (11) include Bowes Street (12), which had a tannery at its end; Brunswick Street (13), which still runs through to Borough Road; and Princess Square (14), known as the "dark hole of Calcutta" because it was filled with cheap lodging houses. Also in this area was Coburg Street (15) and Mount Street (16).

Lodge Street (17) still survives - its name comes from the lodge house to the East Mount villa which once stood there - but perhaps the most surprising memory is the importance of Freeman's Place (18). Haughton Road is now the gateway to Darlington centre for travellers coming from Middlesbrough.

Until the 1960s, Freeman's Place was that gateway, with travellers being channelled past its pub, the Woolpack (19). There is plenty of industry to spot on the picture as well. Pease's Mill (20) and the power station (21) were still around in the early 1980s, and the Darlington Transport tram and bus depot (22) hung around until the late-1990s.

Picture two: Dated 1968, this shows one of Darlington's great lost mansions: Blackwell Hill.

A centuries old farmhouse stood on this spot overlooking the River Tees until John Backhouse, of Beechwood, in Grange Road, needed a present for his daughter, who was marrying into the Barclay banking family.

He instructed local architect John Ross to create a mock-Gothic pile, and the couple moved there in 1875.

One of Darlington's great lost mansions, Blackwell Hill, pictured in 1968. It was sold for £140,000 by the Neasham family in 1972 and was demolished to make way for a street called Farrholme

Blackwell Hill was sold by the garage-owning Neasham family for £140,000 to developers in 1972, who demolished the house and replaced it with a street called Farrholme.

Incidentally, Bafta - the British Academy of Film and Television Arts - is planning a tribute to film-maker Sir Anthony Havelock-Allan, who was born just down the road in Blackwell Hall, an 18th Century mansion which was demolished in 1965.

Bafta would love to illustrate its tribute with a picture of the hall, but there does not appear to be one in existence. Unless a reader of Echo Memories can help, that is. Contact details appear below.

Picture three: The A66 and the A1: What pleasant, deserted countryside roads. Or they were in 1949, when Jimmy Blumer took this picture of the Scotch Corner Hotel.

The Scotch Corner Hotel, A66 and A1 in 1949

Picture four: The Bridge Inn, at Stapleton, in 1949. The inn takes its name from Blackwell Bridge, which was built in 1833.

The Bridge Inn, at Stapleton, as it appeared when this picture was taken by photographer Jimmy Blumer in 1949

Picture five: Alexandre's clothing factory and the houses around it in Cockerton being built in 1949. At the top of the picture, leading to a cut under the Barnard Castle branchline, is Crossfield Road. Sandriggs runs parallel to the line with, running off it to the left, Walworth Crescent, Stooperdale Avenue, Highfield Road and Meadowfield Road.

Alexandre's clothing factory, and houses aorund it, being built in 1949

Sandriggs then meets Nickstream Lane with, ahead of it, Warwick Square and Witton Crescent still under construction. In the late-1970s, Alexandre's was built on, becoming Mulheim Close and Amiens Close.

Picture six: Queen Elizabeth Grammar School - now Sixth Form College - in the middle of Darlington, is in the centre of this picture, which was taken in the 1950s.

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School - now a sixth form college - in the 1950s

Behind it is the Arts Centre; to the right is Stanhope Park

Picture seven: Hovering above Elm Ridge Methodist Church in 1949.

Elm Ridge Methodist church in 1949. The main road with the trolley bus (top left) driving along it is Coniscliffe Road

The main road with the trolley bus (top left) running on it is Coniscliffe Road, with Woodburn Drive clearly visible in the centre of the picture and the circular Stonehurst Drive just about caught at the top.

If you have any information, please write to: Echo Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF, e-mail chris.lloydnne.co.uk or telephone (01325) 505062.

All around the mulberry tree

THE article a month ago on Darlington's North Lodge Park, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of its opening on July 5, mentioned that one of the first streets to be built on it was called Mulberry Street.

The street was named after North Lodge's mulberry tree, which was pulled down, leaving only one other such tree in Darlington: in Blackwell.

AJ Peacock, of Middleton Tyas, writes to point out that there is a mulberry tree, roughly 75 years old, behind the Arts Centre, near the old Arthur Pease School.

The school is due for demolition as the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College expands, so Darlington might wind up mulberry-less altogether.

NORTH Lodge Park was formally opened in 1905 by Councillor Robert Seymour Benson, chairman of the parks committee.

Mr Benson made his money as managing director of Ashmore, Benson and Pease and Company, of Stockton, which specialised in manufacturing blast furnaces.

Don Whitfield, from Darlington, writes to say that in 1968, ABP sold its workshop in Bowesfield Lane, Stockton, to Whessoe of Darlington, and remained in business as a blast furnace designer. ABP passed through several hands, including Trafalgar House, and is now part of the Kvaener group of companies.