Gannin’ Shoppin’ in Shields

Originally developed in 2011 through a partnership between Remembering The Past, North Shields Chamber of Trade, Queen Alexandra College and the North Shields Live At Home Scheme, this project gathered vivid memories and photographs that revealed how local shops shaped everyday life.

‘In central North Shields you could come and buy every type of home comfort and necessity, ranging from ironmongery at Huss’s to a cooker at the NEEB or Gas Board showrooms and high quality furnishings at Graham’s. Many an engagement ring was purchased at Grant’s the Jeweller’

North Shields Heritage Action Zone

The North Shields High Street Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) project  delivered a four-year programme of physical improvements, community and cultural activities focussing on Howard Street and Northumberland Square. This is an area with a rich history that contains some of North Shields’ most elegant buildings and public spaces.

Whilst the builders and gardeners worked on the physical changes to the area, Remembering The Past’s team of volunteers collected stories from North Shields residents past and present about what it means to local people.

I trained as a hairdresser when I was 14 years old and worked until I was 70. I worked in a salon at the top of Nile Street. I can remember working late on a New Years Eve and running to Northumberland Square to be there when they fired the gun to welcome the New Year in.

Pearey House at 150

Pearey House, in Preston Park, North Shields, is a social hub for the visually impaired in North Tyneside. While the charity has been based at Pearey House since it began in 1950, it began life as the Northumberland and Durham Home Teaching Society in 1873. To celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2023, Remembering The Past was commissioned to collect memories of people connected to Pearey House over the past 50 years. This resulting commemoriative CD and booklet added the voices of lived experience into the ‘offical’ historic record of the building.

Herring Girls

In order to recognise the role and contribution that women have played over the years in the local fishing industry, the North Shields Fishermen’s Heritage Project .commissioned a life-size sculpture of a Herring-Girl to be located within the regeneration area of the Fish Quay. As part of the project, Remembering the Past was commissioned to record a set of oral history interviews of people with memories of the herring girls and working in the fishing industry.  Collecting these stories not only recognises and records their contribution to our region, but also celebrates their character and resilience.

Smiths Dock

As part of the Port of Tyne Shipyard memories project, we collected several stories from ex shipyard workers who had worked at Smiths Dock, a ship repair yard in North Shields which operated from the 1850s through to the 1990s.