 Tuesday, October 31, 2006The miner Museum piece South Shields once had many coal mines dating back to the Templetown mine, others were at Harton, and Westoe, and Boldon. This is an exhibit in South Shields Museum and Art Gallery and shows a hewer working in a typical 36 inch coal seam, which was physically demanding. All of our mines are now closed. There is a great history of the Durham and Northumberland mine fields here. Map Monday, October 30, 2006Arbeia More Roman History Arbeia Roman Fort stands on The Lawe, South Shields, there are extensive excavations of the site which housed a garrison of Roman soldiers and granaries to supply Hadrian's Wall. The fort also has an excellent museum showing many of the artefacts unearthed during the lengthy and ongoing excavations. This is a picture of the reconstructed west gate, there is also a reconstruction of the living quarters of a centurion and the commanding officer. Map Sunday, October 29, 2006Sandhaven The harbour This is our harbour where the River Tyne flows into the North Sea, the picture shows the Sandhaven Hotel, Sandhaven Beach, the Groyne pier, and "the Conversation Piece" (a public sculpture commonly known as the "weebles") Map Saturday, October 28, 2006Regina Roman history This replica of the Roman godess Regina can be found in the corner of the Asda supermarket car park in South Shields. The original Roman artefact found near the site, is now housed in the Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum just a few hundred yards away. Map. Friday, October 27, 2006Crusaders The Jarrow March It is 70 years since 200 men set off on foot from Jarrow to march to London during the depression years in their quest for jobs. They were led from Jarrow by their Member of Parliament "Red Ellen" Wilkinson, this bronze statue has been erected in Jarrow town centre to commemorate the struggle of their menfolk. Map Thursday, October 26, 2006Little ships Market Dock - Captain's Wharf This is a work of public art, a collection of stainless steel ships floating in the remains of Brigham and Cowans dry dock. Amazingly this former shipyard had it's land reclaimed and redeveloped with nice new houses with a riverside view. Click on the map link to see the development. Map Wednesday, October 25, 2006Flags Market standards You can buy almost anything in South Shields market! As you will see by clicking on the map link, our market is quite big and surrounds the old Town Hall; market days are Monday and Saturday, on Friday there is a flea market. Map Tuesday, October 24, 2006Make ready to sail DFDS Ferry The DFDS ferry, King of Scandinavia, gets ready for a regular cruise to Amsterdam from her berth in North Shields. This roll on-roll off ship carries thousands of tourists and their cars to the continent every year from the International Ferry Terminal opposite the Customs House (see previous post.) As you can see, it was another grey day! Map Monday, October 23, 2006Night at the opera The Customs House This old building in the Mill Dam, South Shields, sits on the bank of the River Tyne and was formerly the Customs House used to collect revenues and taxes from the shipping that used the Port of Tyne. It has now been converted to an arts centre where you can enjoy opera, theatre, cinema, live music, art galleries, comedy, pantomines etc. It is speculated that at the time of the Roman occupation the river had a delta and this second stream ran through the town from here, the Mill Dam, creating an island which the Romans built their fort upon. Map Sunday, October 22, 2006Window Triptych Stained Glass These windows are displayed in South Shields Museum and Art Gallery, sorry about the upward looking view, I was standing on a staircase leading up to them. They were originally installed in two different churches; the two outside panes depict St. Luke (left) and St. John (right) from St. Andrew's United Reform Church in Hebburn, they were donated to the trustees in 1982, the centre pane is from Holy Trinity Church in Laygate, South Shields and was donated by the Diocese of Durham in 1980. Neither of the two churches still exist. Map. Saturday, October 21, 2006Burger Bob bogged down! Rainy day. I was planning to post something completely different today, then I thought, why not show you just what the weather brought us? This is Bob's burger van in the B&Q car park, South Shields just before noon today, it had been raining cats and dogs for at least an hour before I happened upon this scene. It took another hour for the flooding to subside. "Do mine with plenty relish Bob, and just float it out please!" Map Friday, October 20, 2006High Light Navigation Two white towering buildings stand on the north bank of the River Tyne looking at our town from North Shields. They are known as the High Light and the Low Light. They were built as navigational aids for for ships entering the harbour in the days before radio, radar, or other advanced technological methods. The ship's captain would line the two buildings up, set his course, and then he would know he was in the deep water channel. There were two similar landmarks (beacons) in South Shields, only one of which remains. Map. Thursday, October 19, 2006Our daily read. News Vendor Catching up on the news, a customer buys our local newspaper, the Shields Gazette, from one of it's vendors outside The Ship and Royal public house in Ocean Road, South Shields. The Shields Gazette and Shipping Telegraph is Britain's oldest provincial daily newspaper. Map Wednesday, October 18, 2006Watch house South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade The Life Brigade is one of the oldest established organisations of voluntary life savers in the U.K. They made the first recorded ship to shore rescue using the Breeches Buoy technique. Their watch house on the South Pier houses a small museum with atrefacts from some of the rescues from ships that have been made over the years, I'll post some interior pictures in the future. Interestingly, in the upper room of the watch house there are some small (about 4 inches square) windows that were used for poking telescopes out of when the weather was poor, they were then able to keep a good watch for ships in distress. (Click picture to enlarge.) Map Tuesday, October 17, 2006Hot wheels Toca (Touring Cars Association) We have one premier racing track in the North-East of England at the old Croft Autodrome near Darlington. It now hosts rounds of the British Touring Car Championship, Formula 3, and the G.T. Championship, amongst others. Here we have an older picture showing Kelvin Burt in the Volvo S40 approaching Whitworth Corner, originally taken on my old Ricoh XR2S SLR and scanned onto the pc. (Click picture to enlarge) Map Monday, October 16, 2006Lowry landscape? King Street This is the typical scene in our town centre, King Street is the main shopping area and this view looks towards the Old Town Hall in the Market Square. I took this from the Metro rail bridge which brings the trains in to the station. Do you think this looks a little like an L S Lowry painting? (Click picture to enlarge) Map Sunday, October 15, 2006Three Amigos The wedding. For the last couple of years South Shields Town Hall has been able to host civil wedding ceremonies, along with the Registry Office, and on any given Saturday there will be at least a couple of weddigs taking place. Many will cherish the luxurious backdrop for the wedding photographs. Here we see (left to right) the best man, the bride's father, and the groom, their facial expressions let you know they are expecting a good day! (Click picture to enlarge). Map Saturday, October 14, 2006Friday the 13th. A real storm It's been a fairly non-descript day in South Shields today, so I've dug into the archives to bring out this one and only picture I have of a coastal storm. Taken from the Leas and looking North towards the harbour and the North Pier in Tynemouth. (Click picture for enlarged view.) Map Friday, October 13, 2006Dearly departed St. Peter, Harton The parish church of St. Peter in Harton Village, South Shields, with a freshly tended grave. St. Peter's church boasts a well kept churchyard which is a favourite for wedding photographers. (This is a compressed preview, click on the picture for the full version.) Map. Thursday, October 12, 2006Blue and White The Yorkshire Wheel This giant ferris wheel has become quite an iconic sight in the historic city of York, situated next to the National Railway Museum. The wheel is so large it competes for a place on the skyline with the historic Minster. Map Wednesday, October 11, 2006Neck stiffener. The Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel The River Tyne has two tunnels running under it connecting Jarrow with Howden on the north bank, one tunnel carries vehicular traffic whilst the older tunnel is for pedestrians and cyclists. When it was constructed, the pedestrian tunnel's escalators on the south bank in Jarrow were the longest uninterrupted in the world. Now they are just the longest wooden escalators in the world, and the longest single escalator in Europe at 175 feet! You can get a stiff neck just standing at the bottom looking up! Map Tuesday, October 10, 2006Man with a long shadow Caught in the sun Just for fun, this is a picture of my shadow as I photographed my children scarpering around Blackberry Hill in South Shields. I've also adjusted the fashion in which I post, uploading the image to Blogger (in a larger format) which seems to take for ever, yet it's less than 150kb! It is then resized by clicking on the preview image and dragging the corners to fill the post box. Map Monday, October 09, 2006Ice creams and engines.
Minchella's
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This is a normal scene outside of Minchella's ice cream parlour on Sea Road, South Shields on most Sunday afternoons, or evenings during the summer. Bikers congregate here and enjoy an ice or a coffee at Minchella's (winners of several medals in international ice cream competitions). They also come to enjoy the live music which is regularly available in the Amphitheatre right next door. It makes for a great day out, even when the weather is as grey as this!  Map Sunday, October 08, 2006The Red Arrows
Great North Run 2006
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We end the week back where we started, at the 2006 Great North Run - the R.A.F. Red Arrows display team are regular visitors to the half marathon and manage to perform a great display every year. This is one of my favourite captures!  Map Saturday, October 07, 2006The Lighthouse
Saint Mary's Island
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Saint Mary's Island and it's lighthouse can often be seen when looking north from the coast in South Shields, if the sky is clear and not too cloudy. This lighthouse is a popular tourist attraction just a few miles away. (This picture is taken from my archives.) This sot is featured in this week's Best of Daily Photo.  Map Friday, October 06, 2006Quiet contemplations
St. Nicholas Church
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The church of Saint Nicholas, West Boldon. This looks like a nice rural church in the countryside, yet it is set deep within the heart of industrial Tyneside.  Map Thursday, October 05, 2006Determined
Great North Run
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Here is another picture from the weekend's half marathon. A wheelchair competitor (and there are lots of them) strives to beat a personal best within only three miles to go (Harton Nook, South Shields).  Map Wednesday, October 04, 2006Gothic Glory
Whitby Abbey
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Whitby is a small fishing port on the east coast of England, featured in Bram Stoker's "Dracula". This is the Abbey founded by St. Hilda.  Map Tuesday, October 03, 2006Dusky old mill
Whitburn Mill
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The old mill at Whitburn, around dusk as a flock of birds get busy. This mill is no longer in use.  Map Monday, October 02, 2006Exertion
Great North Run 2006
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I know that today's theme day is "taxis" but in South Shields the theme is "half marathon", so I decided to stick with our local tradition today. The Great North Run took place yesterday, the annual half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields which attracts around 40,000 competitors, the vast majority of whom are running to raise money for charitable causes. The men's race was won by Hendrick Ramalla of South Africa, and the women's race by Berhane Adere of Ethiopia. This competitor from the "women's elite" section was captured as she passed the Marsden Inn with about one mile to run.Unfortunately one 29 year old man collapsed and died during the event.  Map Sunday, October 01, 2006How still the pond?
The village pond.
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As far as I know, we only have two village ponds in South Tyneside, this is the one in Cleadon Village. The water was very still when I took this shot, thus giving a great reflection.  Map |
About Me
Born in 1956, I'm a retailer, father and husband, with two young children a son born in 1997 and a daughter in 2001. I am also a former borough Councillor who has had his passion for people and politics reawakened recently. One photo per day, please see the archives for previous posts
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