Fire not forgotten.

Byline: PAUL DELPLANQUE

THIS is not an anniversary to celebrate.

But the burning of Dickson and Benson's store 70 years ago in Middlesbrough in June 1942 is something that has never been forgotten.

The destruction of one of Middlesbrough's first department stores was not due to the Luftwaffe but the work of a young arsonist.

Dickson and Benson was established in 1880 and stood on the corner of Dundas Street and Corporation Road.

The store dealt mainly as a wholesale and retail draper, a household furnisher, a ladies and gentlemen's outfitters and perhaps, a little surprisingly, a funeral directors.

Its most famous feature was its shopping arcade and this element of the shop was promoted perhaps more than anything else in the company's advertisements.

"Dickson and Benson the Arcade Store", ran one advertisement - "Shopping at the Arcades is so pleasurable and profitable", it continued and yet ironically it was this very feature that caused the fire in 1942 to be especially ferocious.

Dickson and Benson was indeed a remarkable shop and no doubt was very popular in the years immediately before the war.

From publicity photographs stored in our archive it is apparent that there was more on offer than simply browsing around the store.

In the haberdashery department chairs were set out at each counter so the lady shopper could be seated whilst she was served.

Then she could enjoy a trip to the hairdressers and have her hair rolled or waved in the popular style of the day.

She could then meet her friends for tea and cake on one of the upper floors overlooking the arcade, served by waitresses in a stylishly panelled tearoom.

However, once war came no doubt the amount of goods on sale dwindled as the rationing of nearly every essential commodity took a grip on the nation.

The bombs fell from the sky but Dickson and Benson survived until a 13-year-old boy deliberately dropped a match through the letterbox one night.

The resulting fire took hold and the famous arcade acted as a wind tunnel creating a vortex, which whipped the flames into a white-hot furnace.

The store was completely destroyed as a famous picture from our archive shows.

But the damage was not limited to Dickson and Benson's, about 10 adjoining shops were caught up in the devastation, including Cheap Wilson's (milliners), Saltmer's, Burton's, Maypole Dairy, Mason's (jewellers), Anthony Donald, WH Smith, Charles (costumiers) and Mansfields.

Almost 500 firefighters tackled the blaze giving us an idea of just how devastating it was 70 years ago, but thankfully no one was hurt.

Dickson and Benson continued business after the war but eventually the site was occupied by C&A and now Next. Amazingly, despite having been absent from Middlesbrough for many decades, the name is still remembered.

CAPTION(S):

GUTTED: The Dickson and Benson store in Middlesbrough in June 1942 after a 13-year-old boy deliberately dropped a match through the letterbox, above, an advert for the shop, right, and the store's shopping arcade, left

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Publication:	Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England)
Geographic Code:	4EUUK
Date:	Sep 7, 2012
Words:	501
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