Folks. The last of the pre orders will be going out today. You’ll get an email to confirm. If you’ve already received an email and yet to receive yours, give me a shout pls! It’s also looking like we have a few left, which we’ll pop on the website in due course.

50 responses - you guys have blown me away. In fact, whoever wrote this one I bubbled to my wife because it was so kind I've added a few extra bits, specifically about our walks for the 2026 season. It would mean the world if you could give your input: forms.gle/VdFR1hkacRvt...

Aberdeen’s Sally Army Citadel.

Cities are at such a loss when they no longer feature their own Salvation Army Citadel. They were mighty things, like castles - imposing and impenetrable like the mission they set out for through their Methodist principles in 1865, Sadly, Sunderland's iteration on Lambton Street is long gone.

Hi all - last update of the week. I've stuck the Theatre Royal on the Sports Archive thanks to its stint as a boxing venue in the 1930s. I guess you can say plenty of fights happened here in the 90s under the New Monkey banner an all. 😂 www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/sports-archi...

Sunderland is home to umpteen lost theatres, especially in the northern quarter where huge swathes of the city have been cleared for road development and commercial complexes. Bedford Street was home to one such - the Theatre Royal. Perhaps better known as the Blue Monkey...

Hi all! Over the next 2 weeks, I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts on how this project should move forwards. We're near 6 years in, and for the next 6 I'm keen to make it as robust as poss. If you have time, I'd be so grateful to hear what you think: forms.gle/CvGjfse7FrPk...

The biggie! I've added the Elephant Tea Rooms to the hundreds-strong library of historic structures in the North East. Histories, photo and contextual summary of its built environment through the decades. Have a lovely Thursday :-) www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/grid

This building has been driving me nuts the past couple days. I was convinced 116 High Street West in Sunderland was a chapel, a Salvation Army Citadel or some sort of mission. Turns out I was very wrong!

Morning all! Some digging this morn expanding the Shipbuilding Archive. I've extended the Davison & Stokoe entry to include the Mills partnership, who likely constructed 90 ships at this site inc. their last for the Hudsons Bay Co. from 1839. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/shipbuilding...

Possibly the most well known building in Sunderland? A glorious but peculiar cocktail of Hindu and Gothic architecture - the recently renovated Elephant Tea Rooms.

Little addition to the site this morning! I've popped on the Three Crowns, which is now the glorious 3 Stories on High Street East. This was one of Sunderland's most historic coaching inns on the main crossroads and at the town market. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/the...

How bloody gorgeous is The 3 Stories man 😍 a pub which has been stripped back top to bottom in 3 years to uncover its stunning toffee tiling.

I wish the North East had another municipal maritime museum alongside Hartlepool, but this is why. The amount of funds it would even take to keep static ships afloat would be a pain in the arse. Never mind getting them here in the first place. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rob is the man for anything on North Eastern railways, so I cannot wait to get my teeth stuck into this. Book Club patrons will receive theirs, alongside this years Compendium, very soon! If you fancy supporting us + a new book 6 times a year - patreon.com/NEHL 🩵

From Feb to Oct 1644, Newcastle was besieged by a Scot army while Royalist defenders held out under Sir Marlay. Traveller William Lithgow recorded the drama in vivid detail, and Miriam has done an incredible job capturing it. On the site now! www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/post/the-sie...

Always impressed that Hoults Yard has retained much of the furniture from the pottery days. This central tower is fantastic, as is the retaining wall which formed the narrow portal to the Riverside Line, shipping all these pots and plates to the masses.

Much of Sunderland's High Street West hasn't changed, but the Bridges resulted in a clearance of much of the south side. Where Primark now occupies was once the Sunderland Picture House - incorrectly labelled as Bridge Street on this postcard below.

Keel Square is the site of one of Sunderland's long lost pubs - the Rose & Crown. This one goes way back, very likely before the 1850s, when the pub was part of a much larger terraced row.

Morning everyone. I've added the famous Vaux Brewery onto the site as its own entry, with a short history and a generational timeline of historic maps. The third brewery on the library! www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/vau...

If you're local to Corbridge, Whitley Bay or Alnwick this years North East History Compendium will soon be stocked at Forum Books, the bound and The Accidental Bookshop. There's very limited stock, but I'm so proud they'll be available at the region's best indies! 🙌

Evening! A great survivor of Edwardian Sunderland is the city Magistrates Court, pride in place on the renovated town square. Ironically it stands on the site of a massive old workhouse too.

Morning all. I've added another of Northumberland's most historic football centres - Shielfiel at Tweedmouth. This place has hosted football since at least 1889, and went on to host at least 3 clubs in the area. The pitch is top left here. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/sportsarchive

And now for Vaux - one of the North East's most recognisable brands and one which is cemented within the social fabric despite being defunct for some years. So much so a phoenix brand brought it back to life.

Morning! I’ve posted our monthly update for everything NEHL on Patreon. Have a great week :-) www.patreon.com/posts/142706...

Sunderland’s new City Hall sits on the site its lesser known brewery - right next door to Vaux in fact. For this reason too, it’s difficult to find much detail about it!

Delighted to share an exclusive piece by @drmabibby.bsky.social for patrons only. It hones in on Newcastle in 1644 - one of the most dramatic years in the city’s history, from the view of Scottish writer William Lithgow who was present at the siege. www.patreon.com/posts/142572...

Evening. We're at the Stadium of Light now, but rather than focusing on the ground, we're focusing on what's under it! This was the site of one the largest, modern and the deepest coal mine in the world when it opened in 1835. It also had one of the longest lifespans, closing within living memory.

The site undoubtedly familiar to many and as much part of Sunderland's sporting & industrial heritage as the sites we've mentioned countless times - the Colliery Tavern.

Good morning! I've added the Warwick St Methodist Chapel to the site as its own entry - one of the most intriguing little places of worship I've seen for a while. It's been used for worship almost its whole life. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/war...

One of my most interesting ecclesiastical finds in recent months is this lovely converted chapel - nestled within a Sunderland terraced row.

The lads at @neheritagelib.bsky.social do excellent work and I'm very chuffed to be representing @nenature.bsky.social in this year's NE History Compendium

Time for a new series covering Wearside - Sunderland’s city centre and its inner suburbs specifically. It’s been a while since I’ve been, but the opening of the new bridge was a perfect reason to come over.

Morning! There's a few entries from the Coals Archive which didn't have too much info added back when I started it in 2021. The Coronation Pit, opened in the 1820s was one such, so I've done a refresh of the page to include a bit more data. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/coalsarchive...

First trek in aaaaaages and I’m in Sunderland on this lovely clear morning. New bridge! Pubs! Churches and a city full of vastly underrated 18th and 19th century architecture. A town on the up (more than Newcastle in a few ways 👀) which deserves far more attention.

I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend! I’ve saved this one for today as I’ll be out walking tomorrow to start a new series. There’s very very few collieries in the North East which are still materially evident of their former presence.

Time to revisit the Engine Inn at Walbottle, a pub we covered aaaaages ago - I think in 2023? This place has always interested me, specifically because of the name. In the foreground 180 years ago, you'd have caught site of a waggonway which led all the way from the Dewley Pits down to the Tyne.

Morning all! I've added Throckley's now lost Lyric Cinema to the site as its own entry. A trademark Percy Browne inter-war picture house, this replaced a burnt out tin cinema opposite the institute. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/lyr...

Absolutely over the moon to let everyone know your copies of this years North East History Compendium have arrived! They all look pretty nifty together, if I may say so myself. 🤩

2 new updates to the Shipbuilding Archive. A whole new entry at North Biddick, where the Melville's had a short stint building cargo ships in the 1830s. I've also extended the timeline of the Ayre's Quay shipyard to 1870, before Laing occupied. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/shipbuilding...

Favourite finding of the day so far. There was a pit row under the Victoria Viaduct named Botany Bay. This was "apparently" thanks to the corrupt and rough reputation the miners garnered with locals, gaining comparisons to pirates on Wearside.

Lovely crisp morning on Tyneside. This view really helps me understand why the government thought Whickham would be a potential site for an air invasion during WWII. Despite development all around, it protrudes the skyline.

Throckley has a lovely Early English style church on a high point on the West Turnpike - the second church of Newburn parish after St Michael & All Angels over at Newburn.

I've finished adding the grounds at Spittal this morning for the Sports Archive, including further tennis courts and a football pitch laid over a reservoir. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often given they're flat and normally a perfect size! www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/sportsarchive

This was once home to Throckley's own Lyric Cinema - a bit of a contrast to these days with a shop notorious for breaching hygiene standards... The Lyric was a beauty of a picture house as you can see below, and it's not a surprise it was designed by Percy L Browne.

Rise and shine! One last entry for Heddon added to the site. Frenchmens Row, though demolished in the 60s, retains its historic 18th century sundial made by the French refugees who occupied an old pit terrace here in the 1790s. www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/grid

I’ve said it before, it this resource is one of the best on the internet. Absolutely outstanding work.

At the bottom of the bank we find this delightful prefab-esque community hall, serving the residents of Throckley since the turn of the 20th century.

Ahhhh, those pre-COVID ambitions…