WEDDING pictures dating back to the start of the last century are on display as part of a church’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
Local historian Jessie Mogie has found herself awash with weddings after putting out a call for photographs to help celebrate the anniversary of St Bede’s Church in Jarrow.
The procession of 150 wedding pictures – dating back to 1901 – are on show at Bede’s World in Jarrow until the end of next month.
“I was very surprised by the amount of photographs which people sent or brought in. The response has been just wonderful,” said Jessie, a member of Jarrow and Hebburn Local History Society.
The earliest image is the 1901 wedding of John Harrison James, of Hope Street in Jarrow to Bridget King, who lived in the town’s High Street.
What took Jessie aback was that the groom was pictured wearing his flat cap.
“I was astonished by the flat cap but he was a very elegant man,” said Jessie, who lives in Jarrow.
A groom in a 1920 picture is sporting a bowler hat, while a picture from 1941 shows only the bride.
“Apparently when the wedding party was leaving the church there was an air raid warning and everybody went to the shelter. The picture must have been taken later but I don’t know what happened to the groom and why he is not on the photograph,” said Jessie.
Images in answer to Jessie’s appeal have been sent from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. One picture shows the wedding of Jessie’s sister Ann, who now lives in Zambia. Jessie’s own wedding to husband Ronald in 1963 also features.
She said: “Every one of the wedding pictures tells a story. It has also been interesting to see how wedding fashions have changed.
“In the 1940s some of the bouquets were as big as trees but today they are much smaller and neater. Wedding dresses today are also much more fitted and revealing.”
Also on show is a finger-knitting image of the church by pupils from St Bede’s Junior School.
The now-listed church in the town centre was built by the congregation, with men contributing their labour at night and on Saturday afternoons after finishing their shifts in the local mines, shipyards and factories.
When the new church held its first service the roof was incomplete and there were no seats or glazing in the windows.
