Twenty five years of Geordie shopaholic delight
Can you believe it?
The Metro Centre has been going for 25 years. A quarter of a century of shoppers walking up and down all those malls.
If you add that all together we must have joined forces to walk to the moon and back by now.
Not that we'd all be fit as fiddles, because chances are we'd have made a few stops in the food court.
The idea of combining mass shopping, all under one roof with a dedicated eating complex, a massive cinema and even a covered funfair was revolutionary. I remember it well. I had just joined the 91Èȱ¬ and was returning to my native Tyneside, just as it opened its doors.
John Hall in front of the Metro Centre whilst under construction
was the developer who can claim some credit for giving Gateshead a more prominent place on the map. I seem to recall Newcastle was a little bit sniffy about it all at the time.
Some even rather pointedly referred to it as "Europe's largest out of town car park". Well, the free parking and the building of the Western By-Pass did the trick. People flocked there from all over the north.
This was the American dream transplanted onto some disused industrial land on the outskirts of Gateshead. It's down to some pretty strong passion and belief that such a whacky project even got beyond the drawing board.
Original layout plans for the Metro Centre
Since then other British cities have followed the model.
Sheffield has , Kent has and the West Midlands has .
But we were first!
I'm making a programme about the Metro Centre so if you have any memories, whacky or interesting stories, love it or hate it, or maybe you were involved with the construction of it, do get in touch. You can email me at chrisjackson@bbc.co.uk
Hi, I'm Chris Jackson - presenter of the North East & Cumbria's very own current affairs programme, Inside Out. Welcome to my blog where I'll reveal some behind-the-scenes goings-on and share my thoughts on the stories we cover.
Comment number 1.
At 11th Jul 2011, GrandFalconRailroad wrote:To think that the first continental experience of many kids in the North East wasn't the Costa Del Sol nor a French footballer but Carrefour - - which used to be where Debenhams is now - that's going back some. I remember (just) when the only bit open was the Red Quadrant and even then I thought the place was "massive Mam....it's so big". A fair few Xmas's getting pushed around the place to "look" (the buying was done in Farnon's on Nun Street) and then the first whiff of teenage freedom in the MetroLand arcades playing Streetfighter 2....kids don't know what they've got these days :-)
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