The first port of call was the National Glass Centre, on one of the University of Sunderland’s campuses. It’s been on the bucket list for quite a while and it was only just over a mile from the hotel - if I hadn’t been going on elsewhere I might well have cycled. It was certainly worth the visit, and is free (apart from the reasonably priced parking), with more than just glass to see. The history of glass in Sunderland is interesting, at one point the town dominated UK production based on three things, starting with coal for fuel. The main ingredient of glass is sand, brought in as ballast on the colliers (coal carrying ships), and finally the access to shipping for carrying the finished products - glass tend not to survive long distance carriage on carts or pack horses!
The Romans don’t seem to have spent much time around Sunderland, or at least little evidence of occupation has been found, so the first major appearance of glass in the area was at St Peter’s Monastery where it’s written that Bishop Biscup, who built it and the sister house at Jarrow, imported glass makers from Gaul to produce both window glass and vessels. Scroll on a few hundred years and the town became a centre for innovation in commercial glass production, both for plate glass and pressed glass vessels.
The other glass that Sunderland is famous for is Pyrex. In 1921 James A Jobling and Co secured a license from American company Corning to produce and sell their borosilicate glass throughout the British Empire (except Canada), by 1960 the company concentrated solely on Pyrex and employed around 3,500 people. Sadly the plant closed in 2007 and production was moved to France so it’s likely the jug I have in my kitchen isn’t from Sunderland (but I’m sure there’s some pieces at Dad’s that are!)
Also at the centre are a couple of contemporary art display spaces, one of which had little to interest me, I just don’t get a lot of modern sculpture but the other had an exhibition of photographs, mainly from around Teeside and dating back to my childhood. I could certainly empathise with many of them, even though I didn’t experience the world of commercial fishing that formed the basis of many of the images. I also have to commend the cafe there for an excellent cup of coffee.
The next visit was to NELSAM, the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum. I’ve been before but there were a couple of things I specifically wanted to see so a return was required. The museum was developed by the Council out of the North East Air Museum, based at what was Sunderland Airport, which was struggling at the time. In addition a military vehicle collection was needing a new home so the Council planned a more comprehensive transport museum - unfortunately until recently the Sea part never really happened! The main attraction for many people is the Vulcan Bomber, XL319, which flew in while the airport was still open. Last time I visited it was looking very sorry for itself, and it still really needs an indoor home, but it’s undergone some refurbishment work including getting Engine 4 running (courtesy of the team that restored the boat Bluebird to working order) - sadly that was a one off.
There is a new exhibition space since I was last there, which is mainly housing some trams and a trolley bus belonging to NEET, the North East Electrical Traction Trust, but there are also some pop lorries and a display of Nissan cars built next door (the factory takes up most of the old airport site).
A friend will recognise one of the destinations on this Blackpool tram, The motor car in a rare two car set.
Lorries from probably the three largest suppliers of soft drinks in the area.
The red sports car isn’t a Nissan, it’s a Clan Crusader, also built at Washington and based on a Hillman Imp Sport - they weren’t very successful with only 315 produced in either kit or ready built form. The owner volunteers at the museum and bought it for display there.
As it was time for lunch, and because a visit to Penshaw Monument is generally a given when I’m up here, I headed for the farm shop that’s nearby. It would have helped if the sat nav had taken me to the monument itself, not the pub of the same name, but they’re less than a mile apart. The cafe was absolutely packed with a long queue so I just picked up a couple of things from the bakery thinking I’d eat them on the beach.
I was flying without aids heading back to the hotel, knowing roughly where I was going until I took a wrong turning and ended up at the riverside in South Hylton. That was no bad thing though as it was a nice spot for lunch and there were a couple of interesting things to view, including this boat with a huge rock in it (and no, I couldn’t find an explanation but the Brother might) and a wooden crane post. One thing I must do on a future trip is to follow the River Wear Trail to the west of the city centre as there are a few interesting sights.
On the way back to the hotel I spotted a Sainsbury’s so took the opportunity to fill up with petrol and attempt to sort the tyre pressure warning, however although the machine was pumping air it wasn’t getting into the tyres! I can fix it in the morning by getting the compressor out of the boot before I load the suitcase or I can ignore it until I get home. It’s showing 1psi under, but won’t reset until it’s back to 30 or over.
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