THE SUNDERLAND SITE - PAGE 003

WEARMOUTH BRIDGES - PAGE 2

May I suggest that you navigate the site re Sunderland data via the index on page 001. Do you want to make a comment? A site guestbook is here. Test. I sincerely thank Brian Wharmby of Leicestershire, U.K., for providing the fine work that appears on this page. A sepia etching of the River Wear in Sunderland, 50 cm x 35 cm in size. Only one of the two 'Wharmby' works (the other is here) is titled, specifically the image on this page. It is entitled 'Old Sunderland' & is marked 'From a Painting by Tom M Hemy and Etched by the Artist', as indeed you can see below. It was published by Hills and Co, Printsellers, of Sunderland, on Nov. 1, 1888. The work has not been removed from its frame, so it is possible that more data is recorded on the rear of the print. Brian acquired both prints at a Newcastle upon Tyne auction in May 1974. Both were, I understand, framed by J. Burnham, Gilder and Picture Frame Maker, of 1 Derwent Street, Stockton Road, Sunderland. OLD SUNDERLAND Now a work similar to the above is located in the Tyne and Wear Museums - indeed the image can be seen & enlarged in sections here at the Tyne and Wear Museums' Collection On Line. It may well be the original work depicted in the above print, because it is entitled also 'Old Sunderland' and while not identical is most similar. It would be good to be able to show the Museum painting on this page in full size. I do show, however, the large thumbnail of it which appears on the Museum site. And trust that the use of that thumbnail image on this non-profit & informational site is in order. The original work in the Tyne and Wear Museum is very large indeed. And most impressive. Almost 8 ft wide in fact. Far more impressive than I can impart via this page. Shauna Gregg, of Tyne & Wear Museums, advises that it is dated 1885. These are the words with which the Museum describes their work, which is an oil on canvas of 232.7 cm by 154.0 cm (about 92 x 61 inches): 'The busy River Wear at Ettrick's Quay, Sunderland is pictured in this scene. Huge anchors with their chains lie in heaps on the quay, and the keel (barge) at the front of the picture is also filled with anchors. Smoking chimneys add a haze to the subdued evening light. The area shown here was cleared in 1932 for the construction of Corporation Quay. Thomas Hemy lived in Sunderland for some years, before moving to London in about 1885. This is one of his most important pictures.' The two works are different, witness the angles of the ships' masts at the right edge of the images. So is the painting in the Museum truly the original? The webmaster does not pretend to be an expert on such matters, but suspects that it IS indeed the original. At right is a Raphael Tuck & Sons 'Oilette' postcard view of what also looks to be Ettrick's Quay, Sunderland. A card by artist Parsons-Norman, mailed, the e-Bay vendor advised, in Oct. 1905. It sold for GBP 10.62 or US $16.56 on Jan. 11, 2010. Now Ettrick's Quay was, Andy Dennis advised having consulted an early map, at the mouth of the river. Where the looming building is at left in the painting would seem to have been the Custom House, on 'Custom House Quay' in 1897 (and Corporation Quay today). So the painting must be of the 1888 view from the south bank looking inland & westward (maybe south westward considering the course of the river there). The two chimneys in the background of the image are from a brewery, I understand. But we are not yet sure which brewery it was. It probably was of 'Sunderland or Robertson's Brewery' however. Does anyone know for sure? But maybe the chimneys are not from a brewery at all. 'Nemo', a Sunderland resident, has written in to say that he believes they, in fact, belong to an old power station. Thanks, Nemo!   Hemy's etching would not have been produced by a mechanical process. Lines in an etching are eaten into the plate by the action of an acid rather than being gouged into the plate with a tool. One can imagine the artist working in his studio on the etching plate & looking up constantly to the original painting perhaps sitting on an easel beside him. He would look at the painting & incise the wax coating or ground on the plate. And look again & incise again. When sufficiently advanced, the plate would be submerged in an acid bath & the acid would eat into the metal plate where the wax had been removed. Lines cut as deeply as required would be coated with stopping-out varnish, & the process would be repeated to incise other areas or more deeply incise existing lines to the depth thought desirable. There would have been multiple dippings of the plate into the acid as the etching advanced to finality. And then there would be multiple proofs, with the plate being cleaned, ink applied & an impression taken. And the plate recoated & incised again. A lengthy process I suspect & truly a labour of love. Who is to say that when Thomas Hemy worked on the area with the ships' masts at the extreme right of the image, he did not think that the masts looked better at an angle. And changed that detail. There are many WWW sites which define what an 'etching' is, & should you have an interest in pursuing that matter you should best read them all. The word is applied, I read, to both the image etched onto the plate & to an impression from the plate. I was interested to read, but only in the Wikipedia description, that 'the process is believed to have been invented by Daniel Hopfer (circa 1470 - 1536) of Augsburg, Germany, who decorated armour in this way, and applied the method to printmaking.' To me that sounds rather suspect. I would truly be surprised if an armourer skilled in the forge would himself apply that process to the most different discipline of printmaking. But if he didn't, certainly others did. We sincerely thank Brian Wharmby for images of both of his etchings, i.e. the one on this page & also the one on page 002. If YOU could add more information, do please contact the webmaster. EARLY SUNDERLAND IN WORDS AND IMAGES The webmaster hopes that in the near future more material can be presented on this page & site of early industrial Sunderland. The contrast between what the River Wear looked like through to the mid 20th century, & what it looks like today is truly astonishing. The past - the docks & warehouses, the shipping, the dingy plants, the coal loading facilities & their railway lines, the shipbuilding yards, the glass works, the rope factories, the dirt, the grime, etc. etc. are all long gone, & only through old photographs & the work of artists such as Thomas Hemy can one envisage what it once looked like. Is it important to know? I think it is else I would not provide this page. And perhaps you also may think it is important since you have found your way to this very page. The few Sunderland scenes that the webmaster has so far seen are reminiscent of the sights of the east end of London of the mid-fifties & of the then dirty Thames river & its industrial bleakness. I recall as a young man the dock area of east London & the dingy rows of slum houses stretching into the distance in every direction, every one of them belching smoke from its chimney stack (just maybe burning coal that came from Sunderland!). There has indeed been giant progress. But that does not mean we should forget the past. So bear with me as data re Sunderland is located by the webmaster. But the webmaster is not a researcher. He lives far away in Canada & has no access to local image archives or museums. So if you, a visitor to this page, can provide material, it would be most welcome. And would help advance, I believe, a page or pages that deserve to be written. My inclination is that over time, this page or maybe in time many pages, will evolve into sections specifically directed a) to the shipbuilding history of Sunderland b) to the coal mining industry of the Sunderland area & c) to other areas of activity. We now, in fact, have extensive data about shipbuilding, a few pages about the potteries. More, I trust, in the future. Before advancing to the images which follow, I should advise you of a WWW site that features 400 or so postcard images of Sunderland, the postcard collection, I learn, of former Sunderland Fire Officer Tom Marshall. That collection can be seen here on the site of James Bryce (of the Southwick History And Preservation Society), whose front door is here. Do drop by! The sources of the images which follow? Just 21 images at this moment. I present the best versions of the images I can today. If you have a better image of any item, do please consider providing it to the webmaster for inclusion here. Hold your mouse over each image item to see the image number coding. The images will surely, with time, not end up numerically sequential. As re-sequencing is required. Items 1), 2) and 12) are from expired e-Bay items. Item 2 may be a postcard 'by GD & DL as part of their Star Series.' Item 3) was from a 'www.british-towns.net' website where usage for educational purposes is permitted. But I cannot find the page again! The image itself would seem to date from 1897 (that site says 1900). The original photographer's name? Don't know. The image was republished in the 1970s by 'Pamlin' of Croydon in the form of a postcard which postcard refers to the beached vessel being the 'Lady Katherine'. But are there not two beached vessels in the image? Perhaps the vessel at centre is the 'Lady Katherine'. I somewhat darkened the pale image which was available on that page for a slightly better presentation here, & resized it. And I added it in a larger size, scanned from an actual postcard, though I can see the result has less detail than the smaller image. Item 4) is from an expired e-Bay item which did not sell. Item 5) I don't know today. I found it somewhere on the WWW, most probably on e-Bay, but I do not know where exactly. Item 6) An image by C. J. Kenyon dating from 1966. It appears low on this interesting railway history page about the Lambton Railway & appeared originally in the Mar. 1991 issue, # 124, of the 'Industrial Railway Record'. Should C. J. Kenyon or 'The Industrial Railway Record' prefer that the image be removed from this page, I will of course, do so. You can obtain a copy of that issue at the address at the foot of that linked page. I lightened the image somewhat for use on this page. It was quite dark in the original. Item 7) is from an expired 'Delcampe' item. A postcard that dates I believe from 1966, since it was postmarked 'World Cup Sunderland Jul 13 - 23'. The postmarked date was not perfectly clear but I believe read 1966, when 3 preliminary World Cup matches were in fact played in Roker Park, Sunderland. A couple of copies of it were available on e-Bay in Sep. 2006. Item 8) An image by Peter Proud dating from Oct. 1966. It appears here, in full size, on the fine site of the Lambton Locomotives Trust Limited - a group of enthusiasts whose purpose is to ensure that the Lambton locomotives are preserved in perpetuity - a great purpose indeed! Item 9) is from a 'Valentine's Series' postcard entitled 'River-View, Sunderland.', which postcard sold on e-Bay in early Oct. 2006 for GBP 2.99 or approximately U.S. $5.99. I say 'from' because I was not pleased with my earlier efforts in resizing the card for presentation on this page. And, since the prime purpose is to show early images here, I have now essentially used only the image portion of the card, after removing some black marks. The postcard, as it was listed, can be seen here. A beautiful card, indeed - posted in Sep. 1902. The image also was published by Valentine's in colour, it would seem, this example being posted in 1904. Item 10) is from an e-Bay item that sold in early Oct. 2006 for GBP 0.99, approximately U.S. $1.85. Most similar to image # 4 beside it, but showing the south side of the river better. Item 11) is from a now gone e-Bay item that sold in mid Oct. 2006 for GBP 4.99, or approximately U.S. $5.65. Stated to be a page of 8.25 x 10.5 inches from 'The World: its Cities and Peoples, edited by W. W. Birdsall' Dating from 1892. Entitled 'Looking up the river, Sunderland.' A later e-Bay item stated that the image itself is of 6 x 9 in. in size. Most similar to the item a row or so below it today. Except for the coal hopper cars, all of which are horse drawn. Item 13) is image # 9 in a number of images provided by the BBC available here. We thank the photographer whose name, however, seems not to be stated. Item 14) is from an e-Bay item that sold in early Dec. 2006 for GBP 7.52, approximately U.S. $14.73. Of the Toll House of the 1796 Iron Bridge photographed in 1870. Taken in the evening or early morning (length of shadows) & maybe on the north bank looking east? Maybe not, however. A few words in Chapter X of 'The Dress Lodger' by Sheri Holman refer to the tollhouse being rather on the south bank. Item 15) is from an e-Bay item that sold in mid Feb. 2007 for GBP 7.49, approximately U.S. $14.60. An interesting 1903 image, that I would love to present here in a better quality. Item 16) is from an e-Bay item that sold in mid Feb. 2007 for GBP 11.61, approximately U.S. $22.64. A beautiful card indeed. 'Parsons Norman' seems to be, in full, George Parsons Norman (1840-1914). Another copy of the postcard was sold on Dec. 19, 2008. For GBP 16.01 or approximately U.S. $24.18, after no less than 11 bids. Somebody should start a little website about the artist whose works are most charming. It would seem that his other postcard images, & there are many of them, do not seem to command the same value as does this Sunderland card. Another such card was sold in Jan. 2010 for GBP 3.29 or US $5.25. And another in Apl. 2010 for GBP 3.50. And yet another, in Oct. 2011, for GBP 5.60 or U.S. $8.78. Item 17) is from another e-Bay item that sold in mid Jan. 2007 for GBP 7.30, approximately U.S. $14.23 Item 18) is a wonderful image of Paddle Tug-Boat Roker, which seems to date from 1904. A magnificent image in the original. I show part of it only. It sold in late Feb. 2007 for GBP 2.20. Item 19) The Winter Gardens in 1905. The significant part of a postcard image. It sold in a group of 6 postcards in Apl. 2008. Not a shipping or industrial image, but too beautiful to ignore! Item 20) The ancient dugout canoe, which is on public display at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens. In an image ex Where Ships Are Born. The canoe was discovered in 1888, along with some human remains it would seem, in the River Wear river bed a little downstream of Toby Gill. Toby Gill, itself, is just upstream of Hylton, I am advised. Keith Cockerill indicates that the canoe was given a coating of creosote-type fluid in the early days in order to preserve it. A process which had a commendable objective but is surely now regretted - since as a result the wood cannot be carbon dated. Now the canoe has always been thought to be truly ancient - 'Where Ships Were Born' suggested it might be 4000 years old. But Keith advises that based upon recent work in other parts of England, presumably on similar sorts of vessels, this type of canoe may not be as old as was first thought. Perhaps 700 years old. I learn that the boat was found by Harry Watts, as you can read here. The text is from a book entitled 'Life of Harry Watts', published in 1911 by Halls & Company at Sunderland & written by Alfred Spencer. A 'www.archive.org' volume that is available here. The text follows, provided so that search engines can find it. In the Museum in Borough Road is a Prehistoric Canoe found in the bed of the River Wear by Mr. Watts when engaged in diving operations. The account of it given in the 1910 Spring issue of the Sunderland Public Library Circular, is as follows :- "This is one of the most important additions ever made to the antiquities department of the Museum. This ancient dug-out canoe was found in the bed of the River Wear at Hylton, near Sunderland, about 25 years ago, and was recently presented to the Corporation by the River Wear Commissioners. As may be seen, it was hewn out of an oak tree trunk ; it is upwards of 2,000 years old, and may even date back to the stone age. It may, indeed, be claimed to be Sunderland's earliest boat, and the forerunner of the many noble vessels which have for centuries been launched on the Wear, and have made Sunderland's reputation as the largest shipbuilding town in the world. "The details of its discovery are as follows :- It was discovered by Mr. Harry Watts, the well-known Sunderland diver and life-saver, when employed by the Commissioners to remove the 'Brix-ons,' large stones forming the remains of a bridge which spanned the river at Hylton. The canoe lay at the river bottom, covered with alluvial mud and shingle, and contained human bones, which, unfortunately, were not secured. Its size is about eleven feet long by two feet broad, by one and a half feet deep. Stone implements shaped like chisels were also found in the bed of the stream near the same spot, together with deer horns, relics of the times when ancient Britons, clad in skins, and armed with stone axes, hunted the red deer in the primeval forests of the county of Durham. Proof of the existence of such forests in times of yore is not wanting, in the shape of huge trees found water-logged in the bed of the stream ; and it was doubtless from the trunk of a similar giant of the forest that the canoe itself was made, probably carved out by stone axes, assisted by fire." Item 21) A black & white postcard image of the 'Corner of China Saloon' of the C. W. Wilson & Sons, Glass Manufacturers & Merchants, of 86 & 87 High Street, Sunderland. An e-Bay item in Oct. 2011. Image modified for better presentation here - original. approx. 1300 AD 1870 / 1890 1890 / 1900 1900 / 1910 1910 / 1920 1960s 1990s THE SUNDERLAND FLYING BOAT As I add this next item and image, I must confess that I am not sure that it should even be on this page. I think it IS a neat image & I like it. And I hope that you do also. In searching for items re 'Sunderland' there are lots of references to the 'Sunderland' or 'Short Sunderland'. Related to the flying boat of that name. The word 'Short' does not refer to the aircraft's size but rather to 'Short Brothers', a pioneer British aircraft manufacturer with major experience in marine aircraft design. The company would seem to have been then based at Rochester, on the River Medway, in Kent, about 30 miles E. of London. With the name of 'Short Bros (Rochester & Bedford) Ltd.' But in the pages I have checked, quite a lot of them in fact, & at my library, I can see no reference as to why the aircraft came to be named the 'Sunderland'. There may or likely may not be an association with the city, however. There was a shipbuilding company in Sunderland of the very same name. Can anybody tell us, definitively, whether the two businesses were in fact related & why the aircraft was called the 'Sunderland'? So far as I can see, the businesses were not related. Nor have I read anywhere why the aircraft name was chosen. But John Appleby advises (thanks!) that since the aircraft, a seaplane, could land on runways or on water it was decided to name it after a seaport - hence it was named 'Sunderland' after the city of Sunderland. Especially so, since it was customary for Short Brothers to name their aircraft with geographical place names beginning with the letter 'S', such as Sandringham & Stranraer. In Dec. 2008, a 2 fold (6 panel) leaflet was offered for sale on e-Bay. Published by Short Brothers and Harland Ltd., of Belfast, & entitled 'Three-quarters of a Century in Aerospace, Shorts 1901-1976’. It commemorated 75 years of 'Shorts' aircraft, from Oswald and Eustace making balloons in Hove in 1901 to the Seacat, Tigercat & Blowpipe guided missiles from Belfast. 'It’s a time for looking back with pride to the achievements which have established Shorts among the great names of the industry – and for looking forward to our next 75 years and the achievements that lie ahead’. 'Shorts', the vendor advised, was bought by Bombardier Aerospace in 1989. No association whatsoever with the City of Sunderland, or none that I can see. But I leave the following image on the page regardless - because I like it. Should you be interested there are a great many WWW pages about the aircraft, a great many books & a great many photographs, as is befitting such a brilliant & successful aircraft. A search via Google or on e-Bay, or a visit to your local library, will produce a wealth of information. My conclusions may prove to be quite wrong. But the image that follows is most attractive. It is from a 1940's poster, sold on e-Bay in Sep. 2006 for just U.S. $0.99 - a 15 x 20 inch print by artist P. E. Davies. The poster sells, I believe, on e-Bay with some frequency. Next a postcard image of the 'Short Sunderland' as published by J. Salmon Ltd., & numbered 4844. Featuring the artwork of A. F. D. Bannister, a prolific artist indeed. The postcard was sold on e-Bay here with an even larger listing image than I show below. There is a puzzle re this card - I have seen other cards of identical publisher name & card number that show the plane in white or silver, as you can see here. Winston Churchill's words as Prime Minister are recorded on the card's back - 'This is a time for everyone to stand together, and hold firm!'. A 1939 advertisement for the aircraft, from a long gone source. DATA SOUGHT A listing of items that would, if available, add to my presently limited body of knowledge of Sunderland. I do not really want the following, per se. Just to read them in order to see whatever new data that they might prove to contain. If you could help in any way, drop me a line. There are many more I should add to the lists - there are a lot of books published about Sunderland. Sunderland history generally 1 'Sunderland Through Time'  by Keith Cockerill.  96 pages, soft cover, illustrated with 180 photographs. Published, in 2009, by Amberley Publishing. ISBN 1848685769 Shipbuilding and shipping 1 'Port of Sunderland 1950'. 120 pages, illustrated with photographs & maps. Published by the Port of Sunderland, it would seem. 2 'Sunderland Shipyards'. By Andrew Clark. 128 pages illustrated. Published 1998 in the 'People's History Series'. 3 'Sunderland - The Biggest Shipbuilding Town in the World' by Alan Brett and Andrew Clark. Published 2005. The bridges and the river 1 'Bridges of the River Wear' by Keith Cockerill. 128 pages illustrated. Published 2005 in the 'People's History Series'. ISBN 1902527348. 2 'Sunderland - A River of Life'. By Jack Curtis. 96 pages illustrated. Published 2003 in the 'People's History Series'. The coal mines 1 'A Wearside Mining Story, including an account of the sinking of Wearmouth Pit, Co. Durham, and the birth of the Durham Miners' Association at that Colliery' by John Elliot McCutcheon. Published in 1960 by the author at 2, Ambleside Avenue, Seaham, Co. Durham. 101 pages with over 30 photographs. 2 'Sacrifice , Achievement , Gratitude (Images of The Great Northern Coalfield in Decline)' by Aidan Doyle. 116 pages illustrated. Published 1997. Publisher name presently unknown. 3 'Adventures in Coal'. The beginnings of the coal mining firm of Henry Briggs, Son & Co. in Yorkshire c. 1826 to 1890. By John Goodchild. 96 pages. A monograph of 'Northern Mine Research Society', published Aug. 2000. British Mining No. 66. The railways 1 'Railways in England, 1826 & 1827' - by C. von Oeynhauser & H. von Dechen. 98 pages illustrated. Observations collected, I read, during a study of the railways at Darlington, Sunderland, Liverpool/Manchester, Bolton-le-Moors/Leigh, etc.  Published by the Newcomen Society by W. Heffer & Sons Ltd. of Cambridge. May I suggest that you navigate the site re Sunderland data via the index on page 001. Thomas M. M. Hemy Data Pages 01, 02 & 03 are now on site. Plus all of the other image pages, accessible though the index on page 05. To MV Danmark Slider Puzzle Page & to the Special Pages Index. A SITE SEARCH FACILITY Search This Site for Get a Free Search Engine for Your Web Site THE GUEST BOOK - GO HERE E-MAIL THIS LINK Enter recipient's e-mail: