5th April: Rector Gray Day
Annual Lunchen, with a Commemoration in Church and a Luncheon at the Hearts
of Oak. The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mrs Mary Smith and Carol Freeman, (Carol
of the Echo), will have unveiled the first two Historic Blue Plaques, on the
Parish Church and on
10-11 Church Street East, the Hearts of Oak, respectively. Three Honorary
Freemen of Old Sunderland will have been inaugurated at the Luncheon - Eddie
Grattan, singer extraordinaire; Carol Freeman, sometime historical writer
of articles in the Sunderland Echo and a good friend of Old Sunderland and
Shirley Wunibald, whose family connections go back many generations and whose
Dover forbears gave old Sunderland an number of sea-captains.
'Sites of the first two plaques in the Historic Trail'
Saturday 26th April: Traditional
annual get-together with "Voices Together" at the Hearts of Oak.
A good relaxed night with a Pie and Pea Supper, some singing from "Voices
Together" and
lively games of Beetle. It starts at 7.30pm and only 30 places are available,
so please ring Robert on (01207) 562 957 to book.
May
Saturday 3rd May: The Society will have a stand at the South Shields History Fair, to be held in South Shields Museum, Ocean Road from 10am - 4pm. At 3pm there will be a PowerPoint Presentation by Robert Moon, entitled "Tugs of the Tyne and the Wear. We would be most grateful for any offers of help in manning the stand.
Saturday 17th May: "Voices Together" will perform their Spring Concert in the Parish Church at 2.15pm. If your name is not on our mailing list, please ring (01207) 562 957 for a ticket.
Monday 26th May: This is the Bank Holiday Open Day at the Parish Church, 1pm - 4pm.
June
Saturday 7th June: We have a stand at Sunderland
History Fair at the Seaburn Centre and this is Sunderland's own All-day Fair.
Please support us, can anyone help on our stand please?
Saturday 14th June: The annual visit of the
ever popular Durham Constabulary Band, performing a concert of light summer
music. The
concert will commence in the Old Parish Church at 7.30pm. If you need a ticket
please ring (01207) 562 957.
JULY
Friday, 11th July at 5.30pm in the Old Parish
Church we host "The Red Nile Project". A short guided tour around
the immediate area of the Church building will be
followed by local artists discussing and demonstrating their work.
Saturday 19th July at 2.00pm in the Old Parish
Church: A concert in aid of Mencap featuring a host of talent headed by Eddie
Grattan, performing a well-balanced
afternoon's entertainment. Strawberries & cream will be served. Entry
at the door £3.
AUGUST
Tuesday 12th August at 7.00pm: An evening
walk starting and ending at the Old Parish Church. We will follow the trail
of historic Blue Plaques recently installed in old Sunderland by the Society,
each plaque with its own fascinating story. Refreshments will be served in
the church after the walk.
Monday 25th August between 1pm and 4pm: An open afternoon in the Old Parish Church. Special feature will be an exhibition of work by our own late photographer in residence, Noël Lundgren. Refreshments will be served
Noël Lundgren
SEPTEMBER
Saturday 6th September at 2.00pm in the Old Parish Church: A concert to mark the 289th Anniversary of the Church's Consecration in 1719. Admission £3 at the door.
Saturday, 13th September, 12 noon - 4.30pm: the church will be open as part of the National Heritage Open Days.
Sunday, 14th September, 12 noon - 4.30 pm: By kind permission of Dave and Nancy Longstaff we will open the Hearts of Oak, 10 Church Street East, as part of the National Heritage Open Days. See the Trafalgar Room in this 1710-1711 Merchant's House. There will also be an exhibition of old Sunderland photographs and a short local walk. Afternoon Tea will be available.
The Society's book, The Sundered Land:
the Story of a Seaport and its Township will be available at all events, priced
£7.
SOCIETY EVENTS IN PAST YEARS
April 2003 to March 2004
The Society was founded on 12th April, 2003 at a public meeting
in Sunderland Old Parish Church and given the title of ‘Friends of Sunderland
Old Parish Church, The Rector Gray Society’.
During that first year we held two open days, three church tours, three concerts,
two walks, one exhibition, two river cruises, three talks and a Christmas
Tea.
April 2004 to March 2005
This year saw a Thanksgiving Day, followed by a formal luncheon to mark the life of Rector Robert Gray, whose name forms part of our title. The year also included three open days, four church tours, three concerts, two walks, three exhibitions, two talks, a Trafalgar Day Celebration, a Carol Concert and a Christmas Tea.
From March 2005
We had a full season of events marking the 200th Anniversary
of the Battle of Trafalgar. The events for the year consisted of a Patriotic
Concert and a three-day Flower Festival during which Durham Constabulary Band
gave a concert featuring appropriate music. This concert was held in the church
filled with the biggest Flower Festival Sunderland has ever seen.
Our Rector Gray Day with its Church Service and Luncheon also incorporated
the anniversary of Nelson’s great victory at Copenhagen on 2nd April,
1801. We had a Nelson and Lady Hamilton exhibition. In October a Sea Service
in church, together with a full Trafalagar Re-enactment, was followed by a
Georgian Buffet at the Hearts of Oak. Later in October we transferred the
Trafalgar artefacts to the Hearts of Oak and with the kind permission of Dave
and Nancy Longstaff we transformed their Function Room into the permanent
Trafalagar Room.
Our final event was the release of balloons marking the thirty-three British
Ships at Trafalgar, seventy-six Sunderland seamen present at the Battle and
the three British Admirals: Lord Nelson, Commander in Chief, Cuthbert Collingwood
and Lord North-esk.
Sunderland furnished an annual quota of 795 sailors during the Napoleonic
Wars and seventy-six of these men were at Trafalgar with Nelson.
At the same time throughout the year we carried out our normal programme and finished the year with Carols by Candlelight in church?
2006 to 2007
Both years saw our normal programmes being undertaken, including
a Gala Concert for the Queen’s 80th Birthday as well as a concert in
honour of her and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Diamond Wedding. In addition
we began a two-year project in which we studied the background of Sunderland
as a major seaport and entitled: ‘Sunderland – the Story of a
Seaport’. This project proved vast as it gained momentum, gradually
acquired a life of its own and went far beyond our original agenda.
Throughout both years we used Sunderland Old Parish Church as the venue for
many events. It had been the Church of the Seaport as well as its Town Hall
and Magistrate’s Court, thus making it the hub of a seaport township.
Our terms of reference were to explore Sunderland in its role of 18th, 19th
and 20th Century seaport of some standing and its effect on the lives of its
people, its industries, crafts, growth, music and history.
In Church
We held a number of planning meetings, five open days with Seaport themes, two workshops, seven exhibitions, two Gala Heritage concerts and an event in collaboration with the University of Sunderland.
THROUGHOUT THE SEAPORT AREA, THE CITY AND BEYOND
We arranged three Glass Workshops giving participants hands-on
experience and as a lasting memento our own artist-in-residence created a
glass panel illustrating Seaport Sunderland. This now hangs in the Trafalgar
Room of the Hearts of Oak.
Two pottery workshops proved interesting and another memento also on show
at the Hearts of Oak is a Sunderland Garrison Pottery style was created by
our artist.
The rope-making workshop was fascinating, as was a clippie-mat (local handicraft)
workshop. We studied local folk music, sea-shanties and the Northumbrian Pipes
at concerts and workshops. We truly had an insight into the work and play
of bygone Sunderland.
To round off our workshops we visited Hartlepool Quays where we were able
to witness first-hand life in an 18th Century seaport with its quayside shops
and businesses. This would have been typical of life in the 18th Century seaport
of Sunderland. We then visited Beamish North Country Open-air Museum, where
aspects of a typical North Country town in the 19th and 20th century proved
valuable. While at this museum we had a tour of buildings removed from Sunderland
and re-erected at Beamish and a Sunderland tramcar. From all these workshops
and visits we gained a vivid picture of how Sunderland and its seaport must
have been in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries.
The foyer of Sunderland Central Library with its through-flow of 5,000 visitors
per week proved an ideal location for our five major exhibitions exploring
the many aspects of the seaport and its township. The exhibitions ranged from
professionally mounted photographic studies of old and modern photographs
and our artist-in-residence exhibited her impressions of yesteryear, stories
and illustrations of the past and much, much more.
Both 2006 and 2007 saw us participating in National Heritage Open Days using
the theme of our project.
We have delivered nine talks and a dozen PowerPoint Presentations of three
aspects of the seaport and all have played in a variety of locations throughout
the city.
We have reached and informed many, many thousands of people, who are all eager
to learn of their city and its seaport.
Our lasting legacy has been two-fold. Firstly with the Blue Plaque Historic
Trail we have installed in Old Seaport Sunderland. These plaques explain many
key locations, all of which have played their parts in Sunderland’s
rise as a seaport. Walks connected with these sites are ongoing and we even
had an exploration of the ghostly past. In addition self-walk booklets we
published are available to those wishing to explore at their own pace.
The jewel in the crown of our endeavours is undoubtedly our covering book
for the project The Sundered Land – the Story of a Seaport and its Township.
This very readable book tells Sunderland’s story from the ice-age and
follows its rise from fishing village to major seaport. The book is proving
very popular and has found its way to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the
United States of America, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Denmark as well as throughout
Britain from the Shetlands to the Channel Islands. Local consumption has been
amazing and even Prince Charles appreciates his copy.
The whole project has been hard work, involved many people and has reached
many thousands within the local community and beyond. It is proving to be
ongoing as we explore other aspects connected with schools and young people.
We are grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their financial support and
we know too that we have given value for money, as the hard work has produced
pleasure for so many people.
Glass Workshop
Seaport Sunderland glass panel created by our artist-in-residence
3. Seaport Sunderland jug by our artist-in-residence Sally Schoon
Glass Panel, Jug and example of rope made at Hartlepool.
Clippy Mat Workshop
Second Clippy Mat Workshop with-in the Parish Church
Sunderland Tram at Beamish Workshop visit
Hartlepool Quays 18th Century seaport Workshop
Hartlepool Quays 18th Century seaport Workshop 2
Ann Donnan, leading a folk-song workshop
Society's main venue, Sunderland Old Parish Church
A patriotic event in Sunderland Old Parish Church
A Sunderland Seaport Exhibition in the foyer of Sunderland Central Library
An example of artist-in-residence Sally Schoon's work
The Society's late secretary, Sheila Lindsley, with the Mayoress
A social evening in the Hearts of Oak pub
A Sunderland Seaport tour of our base, Sunderland Old Parish Church
An external tour of the area of Seaport Sunderland
The Mayor of Sunderland, Mrs Mary Smith, unveiling the church's new blue plaque
The First Blue Plaque of the Trail
The Blue Plaque, marking Sunderland's Trafalgar Square
The book entitled ' the Sundered-land the Story of a Seaport and its Township
Rear cover of the book, a history for ordinary people.