A Brief History of our Society
by Philip Dunn
Although there was a Photographic Society founded in South Shields in 1903, it sadly ceased to exist by 1909 owing to the dearth of new members and lack of support.
Two members of this original South Shields Society were founder members of the Northern Counties Photographic Federation (NCPF). The founding president was J Davenport, 1901-03, who was succeeded by A E Cowling, 1903-05
In 1913 the NCPF were invited by Mr A E Cowling on behalf of South Shields Corporation to
hold an exhibition of prints in the town's library in Ocean Road which was attended by some 20,000 people and generated sales of some 2,200 catalogues.
Such was the interest in the exhibition that it stimulated new interest in photography, leading to the founding in September 1913 of a new South Shields Photographic Society (SSPS) as we know it today.
The first meeting of the newly formed society was held on the 21st October in what we believe was the ‘North of England’ café in King Street. The first President was Mr A E Cowling, and the first meeting was a lecture delivered by Mr R Chalmers of Sunderland, entitled ‘Home Portraiture’.
Meetings were held fortnightly from October to May, which was later changed to a weekly meeting. At the AGM in October of the same year, the new SSPS became members of the NCPF.
I suspect that many of the founders were members of the previous society, as a booklet “One Hundred Years of Photography in the North” by J Arnold Little, 1960, lists the NCPF presidents as J Davenport (1901-03) and A. E. Cowling (1903-5), both members of the former Society.
A.E. Cowling also became the first president of the newly formed South Shields Society in 1913.
Three additional members of SSPS served as president of the NCPF:
W. J. Brown F.R.P.S. 1949-52,
D. R. Morris A.R.P.S. 1954-56,
B. S. Turton A.R.P.S., A.P.A.G.B. 1988-90.
W. J. Brown was president of the Federation of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) and a regular lecturer throughout the various clubs at that time. It should be noted that other members of SSPS served as follows
Hon. Secretaries: R. P. Haw 1929-1931, D. R. Morris 1942-51
Hon Treasurers: B. S. Turton ARPS 1981- 84, T. Tomlinson 1987-92.
All of the above information was obtained from published booklets “One Hundred Years of Photography in the North” and “A History of the Northern Counties Photographic Federation 1901-2001. The earlier documented history of the Society before 1950 is now lost in time, given that the minute books and any written history before this period were either lost or destroyed; however, thanks to the living memories of several members over the years, notably J D Johnson APAGB and W Wallace, some of the recent history has been recorded.
The original society held its meetings at the Y.M.C.A. in Charlotte Terrace; this terrace ran parallel to Fowler Street down to Thomas Street, a part of it was demolished to make way for improvements to Crossgate at some time in the late 1940s onwards. It is therefore assumed that our new society is likely to meet at the same venue; however, Johnson & Wallace did recall that meetings were held in the Edinburgh Buildings located in Station Approach, which is now a pedestrian walkway by the old railway bridge spanning King Street during the 1930s, although dates cannot be verified. It was around this time that Mr W.J. Brown moved from the Manchester area to South Shields and became a member of the society. He
was an experienced photographer, particularly with landscapes and was a keen walker and climber, producing some fine images of the European Alps during his travels around Europe. It was his influences and his standing later in the NCPF & PAGB that made the society much of what it would become over the following years.
As the former society had moved to the North of England café it is therefore assumed that our new society is likely to meet at the same venue, from there the society later moved to the Edinburgh Buildings above ‘Duns the Hatters’ (later Duns the Tailors) on the corner of King Street & Station Approach which is now a pedestrian walkway next the old railway bridge spanning King Street.
By 1937, the society had little direction until Mr W.J. Brown (known as WJ) moved from the Manchester area to South Shields and became a member of the society. He was an experienced photographer, particularly with landscapes and was a keen walker and climber, producing some fine images of the European Alps during his travels in Europe. He became the driving force, not only within the society, but also within the NCPF & PAGB. It was his influences that made the society much of what it would become in the following years.
The syllabus of 1939-40 records meetings being held at the Dorset Café in Ocean Road on the opposite side to Morrison Supermarket. A member of the society, Percy Smith, was the proprietor of the Dorset Café and allowed the society to hold its normal meetings there, with further rooms on the top floor being used as a photographic studio, a functional photographic darkroom for developing films and prints, along with a storage area for equipment and an archive of prints.
Regular weekly meetings commenced on Tuesday evenings in October to May at 8.00 pm, although changed from 1944 onward to the current time of 7.30 pm, with specialist group meetings held on Thursday evenings from October until the middle of December.
The Society flourished with membership numbers approaching 200 and is regarded as having its pinnicle years during its time at the Dorset Annual.
Full subscriptions in 1944 were 35 Shillings (£68 in 2025), Ladies 10 Shillings (£38 in 2025) and Juniors, seven shillings and sixpence (£14.50 in 2025).
In 1955 Percy Smith had passed away and the Dorset Cafe closed down, a new home was found and the Society moved across the street to the Marine and Technical College (part of the old college remains converted into a pub/restaurant and Morrisons supermarket adjacent to it) where we remained in residence for seven years with the same darkroom and studio facilities. In 1962 a new college was built in Westoe Village and the society moved with them where we enjoyed holding our meeting a spacious tiered seating lecture room, however the darkroom facilities were not available to us and more and more members began to do their darkroom work at home.
Changes in the way the college was being administered saw us move in 1985 to The JohnWright Centre, Flagg Court (behind Ocean Road), which was designed for the disabled and gave access all on one level. Here we enjoyed some 20 years until the JWC faced closure and was later demolished and is now a medical centre and car park. So, in 2005 our new home was found at St Michael & All Angels Church, Westoe Road, where a number of our members attended church services. The venue provided off-road parking, storage of equipment and a degree of flexibility of our meeting times. We stayed until 2016, but due to the uncertainty of our contractual meeting nights, a temporary move to Mortimer Road Community Centre ensued. However, this venue did not suit our needs and a search for a new meeting venue began, resulting in our 2017 move to our current home at St. Bede RC Church in Westoe Road.
Membership at this period was quite strong in the lower 50’s with average attendances at each weekly meeting being over 40. However, the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 saw a dramatic change in membership status, the national ban on public meetings with the return to being able to hold meetings, after the pandemic, saw a membership decline of 50%. Through deaths, members losing interest or drifting away from photography.
Our numbers are steadily growing again, attracting new members to balance the decline at the other end. Although our membership numbers cannot compete with those during the glory years, the feedback from visiting judges and speakers is that they are greatly impressed by the friendly atmosphere within the society.
For 65 years 1940 to 2005 on display to the public at various locations around the town, we organised an International ‘Exhibition of Photography’ which attracted entries from all parts of the globe in both colour and monochrome print. Patronage was supported by ‘FIAP’, ‘PSA’ & ‘PAGB’, which led to national & international photographers supporting the event as they sought accreditation for their work.
Sadly, due to the lack of exhibition space within the town, we were forced to forego holding the event, and the NCPF took over the reins and ran it for several years, eventually ceasing due to spiralling costs.
I hope you found this little potted history interesting.
The club intends to expand this historical section on the new website, with archival materials, old photos and stories from the club's remarkable past.
Philip Dunn - Past President.