A modest architectural gem in brown Flemish bond brickwork, this worthy building still stands stately though now attached to the newer, rather less refined Gateshead Leisure Centre. It radiates the finesse and simple detailing characteristic of its day, with flat roof accentuating the streamlined look, and patterned brickwork embellishing the openings in varied ways. Soldier courses, Flemish Bond arches and 3 dimensional stepped oriels are all featured, with marks of emphasis in stone at key locations: the deep plinth on which the building rests; arches with keystones at entrances; an elegant plaque bearing the Gateshead crest. Numbers 14, 16 and 18 Shipcote Lane continue the theme with the same lines and planes, with domestic sashes replacing the generally larger timber casements with glazing bars (although some have been lost to plastic). The other distinguishing domestic feature is the bold stone door surrounds which create an air of quality and add interest to an otherwise sparing design {1}. A modern pool had been under consideration by the Borough Council since before 1914, but serious planning didn't start until 1931. The first scheme drawn up by H Cook, council architect, had two pools and would have cost £90,000. The building would be Renaissance in style with a domed portico, 32 feet in diameter. Site works started in late 1931 but were soon halted. Building restarted in 1938. The plans had changed and the cost dropped to £35,000. There would be one pool, 100 feet x 40 feet. Shipcote Baths opened on 29 April 1942. The completed building was designed by Fred Patterson, Borough Surveyor. It was a modernist design in brick, stripped of detail, with a single storey flat-roofed entrance block in front of the pool hall. In the 1950s French and Swedish water polo club champions played against Northumberland and Durham. In 1976 a learner pool was added. In 1981 a sports centre was built on the adjoining site, in matching brick, designed by the Borough Architect and opened by the Queen. The two facilities became Gateshead Leisure Centre. In the 1980s internal walls were taken out, natural lighting introduced and a third pool was added, along with a gym, sauna, steam rooms, fitness studios, changing areas, new entrance and reception atrium and café. The architects were S&P Architects, the builders Willmott Dixon. In 2009 the building closed for a year for a £8 million overhaul. The pool reopened in April 2010. LOCAL LIST

These deceptively large, 2 ½ storey houses were designed in 1875 for Murray and Collingwood. They have retained all their robust character and simple but good quality detailing. The elevations are of nicely dressed, distinctively long stones, weathered down to a the characteristic colour of coal areas, with the eaves cornice (cleverly concealing the rainwater services) punctured intermittently with downcomers. Solid surrounds enhance the windows and doors, with eared architraves lifting the composition. Solid canted bays complement these, and join with the solid stone chimneys and (partly original) dormers to animate the façade. The slate roofs create a smart appearance and there are some original one-over-one timber sashes remaining – the whole group especially benefiting from the use of natural materials to form their character. These fine houses, well-built and from a burgeoning period in the historical development of Low Fell, are a cut above the average. Their modestly sized by attractive front gardens offer an appropriate setting, and reflect the (also Locally Listed) park laid out for the private use of the expanded Drive in the early part of the 20th century, with which the houses form an important group. ARCHITECT H Armour (Gateshead) LOCAL LIST

A short-lived cinema was opened in 1921 in one of the wooden buildings at Elisabethville left vacant by the Belgian refugees when they returned home in 1919. The cinema seated 560 people and was run by Augustine Devereaux of the Empire Theatre, Newcastle. On Sundays it was used for bible classes and Sunday Schools. The cinema closed in 1923 under the ownership of Walter Brydon.

Birtley Hall, brick-built with a corrugated iron roof, was opened as a roller skating rink in October 1910. By 1911 it was used for boxing and dancing. In October 1912 it became Birtley's biggest cinema with 900 seats and a billiard hall. It was run by Alexander Hastie. The cheap seats were wooden benches, the best were green leather. The cinema closed in 1913. In November 1916 it was reopened by Belgian refugees based at Elisabethville. When the Belgians returned home in 1919 it became a bus garage and jam factory. It became the Apollo Cinema in 1935, run by E.R. Eadie and Henry Faid who had run the Classic in Low Fell. It became a Dawe Brothers cinema in 1951. The last film was shown in November 1964. The Apollo was demolished in 1981.

The Theatre Royal or Bolam's, opened in October 1910, was a converted Primitive Methodist Chapel built in 1867. The gallery of the chapel became the circle of the cinema. Its first owner was the Armstrong Brothers, later the Premier Picture Company (Clem, Anthony and John Bolam). In 1911 a fire broke out causing £800 worth of damage. Clem Bolam rented the Co-operative Hall (HER 7382) for six weeks while his cinema was rebuilt. A new entrance was added, along with a larger stage and proscenium and 750 red plush seats. The interior was panelled in plaster mould. In 1920, W.H. Smith, a relative by marriage took over. In 1937 the cinema was refurbished again, with concealed lighting and a beige, orange, green and gold spray-painted interior, new entrance hall and cream, green and black exterior. In 1950 the cinema was taken over by Dawe Brothers and in 1958 it closed. It became a confectionary warehouse in 1965 and was demolished in 1968.

The meeting hall of the Co-operative Store, above the shops, was Birtley's first cinema, opened in September 1910 and seating 800 people. By October of the same year the competition of the Theatre Royal and the Birtley Hall cinemas caused the Co-operative hall to close. There was a fire at the Theatre Royal in 1912 and the owner hired the Co-operative hall while his theatre was rebuilt. The 'Store Hall' then continued to be run as a cinema by the Co-op until 1930. Then it was leased to L.S. Makepeace. It had two entrances, one for the stalls and one for the better seats. The cineam finally closed in December 1940.

Drinking fountain. Dated 1864. Coursed squared sandstone; cast iron bowl. DRINKING FOUNTAIN in low relief on iron bowl set in cusped stone niche; crescent and wreath carved decoration and inscription AD 1864 under coped gable. LISTED GRADE 2

War memorial. Circa 1919. Granite memorial with bronze decoration and plaques; granite piers. Tall tapered square column. Bronze wreath decoration beneath Scotia-moulded and banded coping. Three bronze plaques on projecting panels bear names of dead of both World Wars and commemorate building of memorial paid for by £7000 public subscription and £1000 from local authority funds. Dwarf walls and semi-circular steps on north and south. Low square piers flank steps. Twenty tapered square piers in outer circle formerly held chain. LISTED GRADE 2

House, now public house. Late eighteenth century. English garden wall bond brick with tooled ashlar dressings; wing of rubble with quoins; plain tiled roofs with brick chimneys. Two storeys. Twentieth century porch. Horizontal sliding sash windows with stone lintels and sills. One-storey left extension has blocked door. Rear wing shows tumbled-in brickwork at gable. Interior shows settle and boarded dado in left ground floor room; H-shaped hinges on internal doors. Shown as "Clark's Houses" on Ordnance Survey first edition of 1850. LISTED GRADE 2

War memorial. Circa 1919. Granite and marble. Two steps to square pedestal, with plinth and cornice, supporting figure of angel holding flag in left arm and laurel wreath in outstretched right arm. Wreath carved on pedestal flanked by dates 1914 and 1919; names of dead of West Allotment, Old Allotment and district in the Great War inscribed on sides. LISTED GRADE 2