Saturday 7 December 2013

St Joseph`s, Gateshead 1954


Here is another picture from the archives. This one is clearly dated to 1954 as it was framed and given to Fr Landreth to celebrate his Silver Jubilee of ordination that year. This is a photograph of the original which I couldn`t remove from it`s holder to get onto the scanner. I think we should have a Spot the Difference competition! I said last time I think this one is later than the other as the stencilling is simplified. Our Lady has acquired a set of electric lights and two door-type structures have replaced the curtains at the sides of the high altar. For those who believe the last one was printed in reverse, it seems very odd that yet another should be and once again the wording on the high altar is not in reverse so it does seem the pulpit was on the epistle side. I`ll post a picture soon of the Sacred Heart chapel in it`s pre-wreckovation state to show the original altar from Mirk Lane from 1852 which was smashed and disposed of during the re-ordering.


12 comments:

  1. If only the old altar & altar rails etc could be resurrected. I believe the present forward facing altar was a part of the original. Weren't such altars originally intended to be portable? The present forward altar is probably portable if you have sufficient TNT & a sturdy forklift truck!!

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  2. Father,

    Would it not have been Fr Lewis Landreth? He came to our parish, St Joseph's Highfield to "retire" from Gateshead, and celebrated his Golden Jubilee with us in 1979. His sight and hearing were going, but he was a much loved and respected parish priest.
    He had a reputation as a strict disiplinarian, especially when he was Diocesan Inspector (?) of Schools, and was firmly orthodox in every way. He saw us through the upheavals in the 1970's, reluctantly but in obedience. As he said to my wife and I "The church is opening the windows on itself - trouble is, when you open windows, lots of muck comes in."
    For his Jubilee Mass, he insisted on the congregation singing the Latin Credo 3.
    A holy and devoted priest, remembered by my wife and I with much affection.

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  3. I`m sure you are right Terry. All I had to go on was L Landreth. I thought I`d heard of a Leo but it must have been Lewis.

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    1. Father,

      He had a brother, Leo, who was for manyyears parish priest at Tyne Dock.
      Of course, I should ahve given him his correct title - he came to us as CANON Landreth.

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  4. And one row of choir stalls has gone.

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  5. I'm so delighted to read these snippets.
    Fathers Lewis and Leo were my husband's great uncles, but his mother had lost touch with them and he never met them. He only heard of them when he came across their memorial cards. His mother was a lapsed Catholic and he was not brought up in the faith; but Providence is a funny thing and he made his first communion and was confirmed as an adult. We are so sorry that we never got to meet the uncle priests.

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    1. Fathers Leo and Lewis were my uncles...my father's brothers. I remember them as very jovial people entertaining my sisters and I whenever we saw them whilst visiting other relatives in Newcastle.

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    2. You must be my late mother-in-law's cousin. (Valerie). I would love to make contact with you if you see this message!

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  6. Fathers Leo and Lewis were my uncles...my father's brothers. I remember them as very jovial people who entertained my sisters and I whenever we saw them whilst visiting other relatives in Newcastle.

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  7. Fathers Leo and Lewis were my uncles...my father's brothers. I remember them as very jovial adults entertaining my sisters and I whenever we visited them whilst seeing other relatives in Newcastle.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fathers Leo and Lewis were my uncles...my father's brothers. I remember them as very jovial, funny people who really entertained my sisters and I whenever we saw them whilst visiting other relativesin Newcastle.

    ReplyDelete

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