From Village Garage to Fratelli's
We carry on with Ponteland today, moving further down the road to a combined restaurant and supermarket. Sainsbury's was built on the site on which was one of Ponteland's most popular garages.
The first garage on the site was opened in 1932 by Mr. J. Robinson who bought a wooden hut which stood here and installed 3 petrol pumps. Three years later in 1935, he built a brick garage on the site. At that time, the southern side of the road leading into Ponteland was still relatively undeveloped. The former police station (now a restaurant) was the last building on that side coming out of the village, and this garage was built in the field next to the road where the hut had stood.
The building was typical of small commercial premises built at that time. It was basically a brick shed with a corrugated iron roof. It took advantage of the closeness of Woolsington Aerodrome by painting GARAGE in large letters on the roof, advertising it to any passing aeronauts. Whilst the body of the garage was very utilitarian, the façade was designed to be noticed with an ornate stepped gable.
In 1942 J. Robinson sold his interest in the garage and moved with his son to new premises at the North Road Garage. In 1952 they took over the Main Street Garage also. In 1954 Mr. Robinson and his partner Mr. Ayton, took back control of the garage on this site and in 1959 the other two garages were closed down to focus on this site.
As the 1960's started, the old garage building was replaced with modern car showroom and a petrol forecourt. This reflected the growing prosperity of Ponteland, particularly with the growth occurring at Darras Hall and the showroom was filled with the latest models for the new residents to purchase.
Around 1983, the premises were taken over by Patterson's of Ponteland. Patterson's had previously operated at the West End of the village but moved here when their site was acquired for a new supermarket where Waitrose now is. Patterson's operated here until the garage closed in 1999. Thousands of High Street petrol stations closed at this time mainly due to competition from the major supermarkets who started selling discounted fuel at prices local distributors could not compete against.
The site stood empty for a number of years until it was acquired by Henson's, a Newcastle based property development company. Ponteland is a conservation area, so they came up with a joint project housing a supermarket and restaurant in the same building which passed through the planning process.
One of the most popular restaurants in Newcastle for over thirty years has been Sabatini by the Quayside. This was opened up by native Sicilian, Fabrizio Saba who moved to England aged 17. He lived in Ponteland and saw the potential for a new restaurant in the village. Fratelli's opened alongside Sainsbury's in 2007.