All posts by Alan Hayward

About Alan Hayward

I've been working as an archivist at the Discovery Museum for over ten years. I really enjoy the variety of the job. My time is usually divided between selecting which documents should be preserved in the Archives, cataloguing them and helping visitors to our searchroom to interpret and understand them. I recently completed a special fifteen month project to catalogue the Sunderland shipbuilding records we hold.

From Sunderland to Seville: Diary of life at sea in 1865 (part 1)

Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum   Local History   Maritime History   Social History   The Archives
Posted by Alan Hayward on June 18, 2013     Permalink     Leave a comment

Recent blogs have highlighted some of the fascinating diaries that Tyne & Wear Archives holds. Ian Whitehead’s blog about First World War Patrol boats makes excellent use of the diary of William Bartram written in 1916, while an earlier one… Read more

Do we have plans of your house, school or place or work?

Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum   Local History   Social History   South Shields Museum & Art Gallery   The Archives
Posted by Alan Hayward on May 23, 2013     Permalink     Leave a comment

Tyne & Wear Archives is jointly funded by the five metropolitan districts councils in Tyne & Wear. We hold a large quantity of local authority records including Council minute books, school records, public health records and coroners records. One of… Read more

Bringing a touch of royal glamour to Post-War Sunderland

Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum   Local History   Maritime History   Social History   The Archives
Posted by Alan Hayward on April 21, 2013     Permalink     Comments (3)

Today is the Queen’s Birthday – she was born on 21 April 1926. To celebrate lets go back nearly 67 years to a time before she was on the throne, before she was even married. The year is 1946 and for… Read more

Do we have historic aerial photographs of your neighbourhood?

Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum   Local History   The Archives
Posted by Alan Hayward on April 2, 2013     Permalink     Comments (2)

Tyne & Wear Archives holds thousands of fascinating collections covering an amazing variety of subjects. There are so many interesting collections that it would be very difficult to pick a favourite. Two kinds of documents do have a special place… Read more

Fascinating collection of love letters donated to Tyne & Wear Archives

Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum   Local History   Maritime History   Social History   The Archives
Posted by Alan Hayward on February 15, 2013     Permalink     Leave a comment

The Archives holds thousands of collections, covering a wide variety of subjects. One subject that is not well covered in our collections but which has exercised the minds of writers and poets for hundreds of years is ‘love’. I’m delighted… Read more