Tyneside in 1984: 10 photographs capturing scenes around the region 40 years ago

We step back to 1984 in our latest selection of archive photographs recalling the life and times of the region.

At St James’ Park, Newcastle United fans were celebrating the club’s return to football’s top flight after an absence of six seasons. Kevin Keegan, now 33 and the main source of inspiration during the promotion campaign, had announced his intention to completely retire from the game - but that was not the end of the story. In 1992, he would return to manage the crisis-hit Magpies with great success.

The year also marked the 40th anniversary of the D-Day landings, and the Evening Chronicle organised a return trip to the Normandy beaches for a group of North East veterans of World War II. The gentlemen pictured in Arromanche, France, were, from left, Joe Carr of West Moor, Bob Wilson of Walker, Ray Forster of Seaton Delaval, Abe Armstrong of Cramlington, Frank Duffin of Slatyford, John Cruickshank of Whitley Bay, and Joe Bowden of Alnwick. We salute them all.

March 1984 also saw the start of the bitter national miners’ strike. The year-long dispute tore communities apart, and the subsequent pit closures brought a long-standing British way of life to an end. For generations, a job at the pit had provided secure, structured work. Mining neighbourhoods were thriving and vibrant - and built around the local colliery. The code of honour that existed underground was also part of the fabric of the community. When, in early 1984, Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government announced its pit closure programme, many mining towns faced oblivion - hence the strike. At that time, there were 181,000 working coal miners in Britain; today, the figure is a small fraction of that. There were 18 collieries in our region in 1984; today there are none. Our main photograph shows striking miners, in October of that year, marching past the National Coal Board headquarters in Gateshead.

In other news 40 years ago, the Grand Hotel in Brighton was bombed during the Conservative Party conference, police officer Yvonne Fletcher was shot and killed outside the Libyan embassy in London, and York Minster was struck by lightning and badly damaged.

Thankfully, there was still some fun to be had. In the UK singles chart of this week in 1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood with Two Tribes were at number one, and there were big hits for Wham! with Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and Cyndi Lauper with Time After Time. At the flicks, the year’s top films included Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, and Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. And on television, there were debuts for Ever Decreasing Circles, The Price Is Right, and Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends.

Check out our 10 photographs recalling Tyneside of 40 years ago.