I’m delighted to be able to report the addition of another diary to the Archives collections. The new arrival is an account of a voyage in 1865 on the merchant ship ‘Success’, written during its passage from Sunderland to Seville and back to Hull (TWAM ref. DX1527/1). The diary doesn’t tell us much about the ‘Success’ but an entry for 9 August 1859 in the Customs and Excise register for Sunderland (TWAM ref. EX.SU/1/36) records that she was a two-masted sailing ship of 149 tons, built in 1858 at St Martins, New Brunswick in Canada.

Sketch of the ship by John Hall (TWAM ref. DX1527/1)

The diary’s author was a John Hall of 62 Lawrence Street, Sunderland, son of the ship’s owner, George Hall. John Hall was onboard to take care of his father’s business interests and his entries suggest that he was pretty inexperienced. Within a day of departure he admits that he was “Weary already with the monotony of a life at Sea” (21 May). Hall’s pain, however, is our gain since with little else to do he had plenty of time to write his diary. The daily entries are all the more interesting because the author is open with his thoughts and feelings.

John Hall’s motives for coming to sea are hinted at in his entry for 2 June, writing “… generally felt a landsman at sea … and this is called coming to Sea ‘for Pleasure’ or for ones Health”.  The situation had not improved by 6 June when he complains “… the time is wearisome and it is with difficulty I find anything to occupy my mind”. By mid June, though, he’d settled down and was feeling the benefits of his voyage.

“The air however feels so soft & mild & it seems to do me good. I am constantly in a gentle perspiration which seems to relieve me of those distressing pains which in cold weather affect me so much” (13 June).

Diary entry, 13 June 1865 (TWAM ref. DX1527/1)

At about this time Hall’s diary starts to focus a bit more on the ship’s Captain, Thomas Holburn. His entry for 10 June notes “at night the wind increased & Captn orders the men to shorten sail. He seems timid & dare not ‘carry on’ as some do”.  Within a week it becomes clear that relations between the Captain and his crew were very difficult. Hall writes of the Captain “I knew how he was disliked by every man on board & his disagreeable manner towards everyone has rendered him almost detestable” (16 June).

Hall’s diary regularly records the ship’s progress and as it passed along the southern coast of Portugal he mentions a strange story he heard.

“In the afternoon we rounded Cape San Vincent, a high rugged rock on which stands the Lighthouse & a nunnery about which some strange stories are told about the Priests and the nuns for this Cape is near the Sea & the water very deep & as the Nunnery is on the extreme edge of the cliff there is the greatest facility for disposing of any body that was unwelcome. Hence the Fishermen of Lisbon etc are reported to have seen or even picked up the bodies of several new born infants undoubtedly thrown over the Cliff by the Priests or their attendants, these Infants having been brought into the world through the Combined agency of Priests & Nuns …” (20 June).

Diary entry, 20 June 1865 (TWAM ref. DX1527/1)

The diary is very much a personal account and inevitably reflects the prejudices of its author. This story should perhaps be taken (like the meat onboard) with a large pinch of salt.

On 26 June the ‘Success’ reached Seville.  Our author’s initial impression was that “Seville seems to be a dusty dirty place” (27 June) but after exploring the city he viewed it more favourably, describing the Cathedral as “a superb building” (29 June).

During the first half of July the ship’s cargo of ground flint was unloaded and replaced with a consignment of 80 tons of lead and 10 tons of olive oil. While on shore some of the crew took the opportunity to let their hair down and our author reports with dismay

“The Captn has been on shore all day spending his time in drinking and dissipation as is evident from the fact of his bloated countenance & unsteady gait … Such alas is the manner in which hundreds of Englishmen spend the Sabbath in a foreign country” (16 July).

Diary entry, 16 July 1865 (TWAM ref. DX1527/1)

Nearly 150 years on and the same complaint could just as easily apply today. Captain Holburn’s behaviour was to be a warning of troubles ahead. On 19 July the ‘Success’ left Seville. The journey to Spain had been plain sailing, but the return to England was to prove anything but.

2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War, a four-year international conflict that marked the lives of people from every nation. This is a subject you will be hearing a lot about over the next year as we build up in the UK to commemorating the anniversary. Museums and galleries will not be slow in developing programmes around the commemoration; indeed TWAM has a number of projects already underway.

The collections in our museums and galleries relating to this conflict are small in number but large in significance. One example is this painting from the collection at the Laing Art Gallery:

French Artillery Crossing the Flooded Aisne and Saving the Guns (1915) by John Charlton (1849-1917) C10000

During the First World War, the British Government (specifically the Ministry of Information) realised they needed a powerful and immediate way of communicating news from the Front- and indeed their overall message about the war- to the public at home. Artists were commissioned from 1915 to record the battlefields in person. The results, as would be expected from the variety of artists eventually commissioned, were a mixed range including topographical, futurist and traditional perspectives on the events witnessed. This work is an excellent example of a more traditional, historic battle scene.

The range of artistic responses to the First World War mirror, of course, the huge diversity of political and societal responses to the conflict. Some believed the war to be vital, some that it was unnecessarily prolonged, others that it should never have started at all. This list is in itself a very simplified version of the range of views!

So we should perhaps not be surprised that now, as the anniversary approaches, there are competing and dissenting voices on how, as a country, we should observe and commemorate. The government has announced a £50 million fund for key events to mark the anniversary. David Cameron said:

‘Our ambition is a truly national commemoration worthy of this historic centenary.’

‘A commemoration that captures our national spirit in every corner of the country, from our schools and workplaces, to our town halls and local communities.

‘A commemoration that, like the diamond jubilee celebrations this year, says something about who we are as a people. Remembrance must be the hallmark of our commemorations.’

On the other hand, this has not been received well elsewhere, as a letter to the Guardian (extracts below- go to http://bit.ly/13FLb4c for full letter) from a number of public figures on 21 May demonstrated:

‘Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the first world war. Far from being a “war to end all wars” or a “victory for democracy”, this was a military disaster and a human catastrophe.

We are disturbed, therefore, that David Cameron plans to spend £55m on a “truly national commemoration” to mark this anniversary. Mr Cameron quite inappropriately compared these events to the “diamond jubilee celebrations” and stated that their aim will be to stress our “national spirit”. That they will be run at least in part by former generals and ex-defence secretaries reveals just how misconceived these plans are.’

Still more commentators believe the Government is doing too little, too late. They also argue that:

‘politicians and officials are focusing too much on British defeats and the carnage and futility of the war, because they are too anxious to avoid upsetting Germans and want to make sure the events are not considered triumphalist.

However…. by doing so, the Government is presenting only the modern, orthodox view of the conflict: that it was avoidable and unnecessary. It thus ignores arguments that, like the Second World War, it was a fight for survival.’

A ‘commemoration that captures our national spirit’ or ‘misconceived’? What are your thoughts? Do you think there is such a thing as a ‘national spirit’ to be captured? Is the commemoration of this fundamentally controversial and devastating part of our collective history a time to reflect on our identity, to celebrate our national spirit, or to simply remember the dead?

This blog is part of a partnership between Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and Northumbria University to encourage new thinking and comment around important subjects.

Each week we’ll be blogging about a museum object and posing a question for you to respond to.  Please help us get the discussion going by adding your comments below, whatever comes to mind.  Staff from the university and from TWAM will then lead a live debate on the most hotly contested issues so watch this space!

In addition TWAM would like to know more about your thoughts on commemorating the First World War, which could inform our programmes for the next four years.

I look forward to your comments!

thanks to http://st-travelblog.blogspot.co.uk/ for the bus pic.

The 21 leaves from Eldon Square bus station – stand G – every 7 to 8 minutes – and goes past St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Black Gate, and the Castle Keep, then across the High Level Bridge (best seen from the front seats of the top deck).

On the way back it goes across the Tyne Bridge.

The stop for the Shipley is Durham Road, Shipcote, the next stop after Springfield motors which is easy to spot on the left side of the bus.

Hedley’s paintings look glossy in the gallery lighting, and details showed up well.

For instance you can read titles of lots of the ballad sheets in The ballad seller, the Black Gate, Newcastle (1884)…

…in The winnowing sheet (1898), the grains of corn tossing and blowing in the sheet are sculpted in 3D paint, as if they were blowing off the canvas…

…and in a display case near to the painting Duty Paid (1896) is a quick sketch of the painting by Hedley.

Turbinia

This iconic image of Turbinia conveys an impression of speed like no other. The rearing stem, the massive bow wave and the foaming ‘rooster’s tail’ wake all play their part, but perhaps the most unusual element for a maritime photograph is the figure braced against a bar on the conning tower. It is as if a wing walker from the age of flight has intruded on the scene. The man leans forward to resist the near gale while with his left hand he pulls on a cord that operates Turbinia’s steam whistle. He looks towards the camera but his face is buffeted by the wind and his hair streams back off his forehead.

So who is the man on the conning tower?

John Maxtone Graham in his book, ‘Queen Mary 2 – The Greatest Ocean Liner of Our Time’, captions the image, ‘Sir Charles Parsons on the flying bridge of his little Turbinia, the world’s first turbine-driven vessel’ (1). On the other hand Ken Smith in his 1996 book, ‘Turbinia – The Story of Charles Parsons and his Ocean Greyhound’ writes of the same image, ‘Turbinia works up to over 30 knots on one of her runs. Her captain and lookout, Christopher Leyland, stands atop the conning tower’ (2).

Rollo Appleyard’s 1933 biography of Parsons makes it clear that Parsons was usually at the engine-room controls, in the engine-room cab. ‘On board the Turbinia, Parsons generally took charge of the controls in the engine-room assisted by two engineers’ (3). In another passage he refers to the difficulties faced by the stokers caused by the forced draught fan being driven by the central turbine shaft. The faster the engine rotated the more work the stokers had to do to keep up. Appleyard says that the stokers ‘sometimes wondered whether Mr Parsons at the controls had them too much at his mercy, and whether his great conception had included a fan to impart liveliness to their movements’

Parsons in his customary position by the engine room controls

In the same section we are also told that: ‘Steering and conning-tower operations were undertaken by Mr. Barnard, who was at that time a manager.’ Much of the trials work with Turbinia took place in the River Tyne because the North Sea was not usually calm enough for her speed trials. In the river there was almost a straight mile alongside Northumberland Dock. When there was no traffic Turbinia would utilise this section of the river, accelerating quickly before cutting her speed just as rapidly at the end of the run. She was breaking the speed limit but the River Tyne Commissioners took a benevolent view of Parsons’ experiments. Robert Barnard was a marine engineer and naval architect. He was a key figure in the success of Turbinia and the further development of the marine steam turbine. Barnard assisted in the designs of the “Turbinia” and oversaw her construction. He supervised the construction of the “Viper”, the “King Edward,” and also the “Cobra” (4).  Although not spelt out by Appleyard, there is an implication that Robert Barnard took command of Turbinia during these runs in the river.

Turbinia running trials in the River Tyne

For official speed runs Turbinia needed to go beyond Tynemouth Piers into the North Sea. She would carry out pairs of runs in opposite directions on the official Hartley measured mile, to the north of the Tyne. Her mean speed could then be calculated. On those occasions C. (Christopher) J. Leyland was usually aboard and took command of the vessel.

Plate from one of the four posts defining the Hartley Mile, the measured mile used for Turbinia's speed trials TWCMS : E3100

Christopher Leyland had been for some years in the Royal Navy before inheriting a large estate in Wales. He moved to Haggerston Castle in Northumberland and was both a friend and financial backer of Parsons. He was a director of the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company (5). We know from Leyland’s own account that, in addition to being the captain of Turbinia, he also steered and acted as lookout. Leyland switched between roles as circumstances required, but on at least one important occasion we can be certain that he was positioned on the conning tower, acting as captain and lookout.

At the Spithead Review of 1897 Leyland had responded to a request from Prince Henry of Prussiato show a turn of speed. As Turbinia worked up to full power a vedette – a small naval boat – tried to head her off. Turbinia just managed to steer a course astern of the vedette, while the vedette’s crew dashed into her bows and her Lieutenant unbuckled his sword, expecting to have to swim. To quoteLeyland, “he evidently spoke to me, and I said something to him, but as we were passing at nearly 45 knots, it may have been just as well that out impromptu remarks did not carry”. ForLeyland to have been able to respond under such circumstances he could not have been down below in the wheelhouse, he must have been positioned on the conning tower (6).

The two probable candidates for the man on the conning tower are Christopher Leyland and Robert Barnard. It seems highly unlikely that it could have been Charles Parsons. Leaving aside our knowledge of Parsons’ role as chief engineer of Turbinia we also know that as an adult he always wore glasses and would have struggled to see anything after a few moments exposed to the salt spray. The man on the conning tower in the photograph does not look like Parsons and is not wearing glasses.

A portrait of Parsons that appeared in a 1905 collection of short biographies

The photograph was taken by Alfred J West of Southsea, a marine photographer and pioneer cinematographer.  In his unpublished autobiography ‘Sea Salts and Celluloid’ (1936) he recalled how he successfully photographed Turbinia at the 1897 Spithead Review and was subsequently invited by Parsons to come to Newcastle to photograph and film her on the Tyne (7).

Turbinia at speed in the North Sea by Alfred J West

West’s iconic image is not of Turbinia at Spithead, nor of her on the Tyne, but almost certainly of her in the North Sea, just off the mouth of theTyne. There are no landmarks in shot to anchor the image to the North East but there is a pretty good clue in the background. If you look on the horizon, midway between bow and conning tower and just above the safety rail, there appears to be a Tyne paddle tug, with her foresail set, towing two fishing boats. This would have been a familiar sight off the North East coast in the 1890s, as the adoption of steam-powered fishing boats was just starting, and tugs frequently towed herring boats out to the fishing grounds.

The open sea location for the image would seem to make Leylandthe favourite for the man on the conning tower. We know he took command for the official sea trials on the Hartley Mile. To capture the best photograph Turbinia would have to be steered at full speed very close to the photographer’s launch. Under those circumstances I doubt that the duties of captain and of lookout would have been entrusted to anybody other than Leyland.

Christopher Leyland pictured in the same 1905 publication of short biographies

Images of Leyland exist and they can be compared with the Turbinia at speed image, although it is not easy. One can’t draw too many conclusions about the appearance of a man whose face is being buffeted by a 40 mph wind! Leyland’s waxed moustache is a striking feature of his formal portraits but one imagines, even if he bothered to wax his moustache on trials days, the effect wouldn’t have survived the wind and spray. However, the basic geometry of the man’s face appears to match that of Leyland.

Cropped version of Turbinia at Speed

Unlike Leyland, the alternative candidate, Robert Barnard, did not live to reminisce about Turbinia in his old age. Barnard was drowned when the torpedo boat destroyer Cobra broke in half and sank in heavy weather in the North Sea on September 18^th 1901 while on passage from the Tyne toPortsmouth. In total 67 men were drowned with only 12 being saved. Barnard was the manager of the Parsons’s Turbine Company Ltd., and the senior man of the 24 Parsons employees aboard, of whom only 2 were rescued (8). He was 35 years old and left a widow, Mary, a daughter of 12, also Mary, and a son of 8, William (9).

Drawing of Robert Barnard from a photograph by G West of Southsea

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle of Friday 20^th September covered the tragedy and published a print of Barnard taken from a photo by G. West and Son, of Southsea, Alfred J West’s company. There is a distinct possibility that Barnard’s portrait photograph was taken when West visited the Tyne to photograph and film Turbinia and therefore it may be contemporary with the famous image of Turbinia at speed. And here perhaps we have a real stroke of luck in our search for the identity of the man on the conning tower. In the Chronicle print Robert Barnard is sporting a full beard! In contrast the left hand side of conning tower man’s jaw is clearly clean shaven.

Cropped image of Turbinia at speed

The man on the conning tower is almost certainly Christopher Leyland. It is not Charles Parsons because he typically stationed himself at the engine room controls. It could be Robert Barnard because he took charge of the conning tower and steering when Turbinia was being worked up in the Tyne. However, the open sea location for the photograph and the clean shaven jaw of conning tower man make it unlikely that it was Robert Barnard. In West’s iconic photograph of Turbinia at speed, conning tower man is Christopher J Leyland.

REFERENCES

1.         Maxtone-Graham, John, Queen Mary 2 – The Greatest Ocean Liner of Our Time, P106, Bulfinch Press,New York, 2004.

2.         Smith, Ken, Turbinia – The Story of Charles Parsons and his Ocean Greyhound, P4,TyneBridgePublishing,Newcastle, 1996

3.         Appleyard, Rollo, Charles Parsons – His Life and Work, P105 Constable & Co.,London1933

4.         Transactions of theNorth East CoastInstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, Vol. XVIII (1901-2), P359

5.         A Dictionary of Edwardian Biography – Northumberland, Edinburgh 1985. A reprint of the biographical part of “Northumberland at the Opening of the Twentieth Century”, first published in 1905

6.        Leyland, Christopher, Heaton Works Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1 (June 1935), P25-32, “Turbinia” Jottings

7.         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_John_West

8.         Newcastle Evening Chronicle, September 20^th, 1901

9.         1901 Census Return, Northumberland

Each week, for four weeks, we’ll be blogging about a museum object and posing a question for you to respond to.  Please help us get the discussion going by adding your comments below, whatever comes to mind.  Later in the summer, your comments may be fed into a live debate where we hope you’ll have the opportunity to join academics and curators discussing the most popular topic.

So, the theme for this week is “migration”, I’ve chosen to represent this with a 2010 Northumbria University prospectus written in Chinese.

There have been a growing number of groups warning the government that changes to student visas will drive international students away from British education. Universities in particular are asking the Home Office to not include foreign students, who bring in £8 billion to the economy each year, in net immigration counts.

The government rejects claims that a crackdown on immigration would harm universities and cost the economy billions. Immigration Minister Damian Green argues that the policy does not stop ‘genuine’ students coming to the UK, and states that the government is “determined to prevent the abuse of student visas”.

However in 2012 The Economist stated that “In the past two years the Tories have made it much harder for students, foreign workers and family members to enter and settle in the country. Britain is not only losing the war for global talent, it is scarcely competing.”

Do you think limiting international student visas is a good idea?

How will this affect the North East?

Newcastle University Fine Art Degree Show 2013, Hatton Gallery.

It’s that time of the year again – another group of students reaching the end of their Art Degree journey, ready to enter the art world.

This year’s show is home to 58 students.

The thing I always find pleasant each year at this show is the contrast between the old architecture of the Art school; tiled floors, hallways full of figurative statues, acting as a backdrop, in contrast to the contemporary and conceptual nature of the students’ work. That contrast creates a charming representation of how many art schools still are today.

This year’s show, full of diversity and ambition, represents today’s students and their creativity capabilities at their peak. With a unique combination of risk taking, processes and subject matter, the art works reflect what is key to Fine Art practice: risk-taking and experimentation.

“Logic will take you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere.”

– Albert Einstein

The show is a creative space for students to display their work where the public are free to wander, interact, and challenge their own perceptions of Art. The exhibition also further reflects Newcastle’s Art School as an institution – this year students have done a good job at this.

Work which particularly stood out to me was that of Lilly Williams. Her drawings bring together fragments of dreams, imaginations, and mystical charismata like that of folk tales, and Surrealism. She says that her practice ‘starts with a telling of a tale’ however her drawings are ‘not the whole story’ – the work steams from the truth within these tales and takes a visual and partly written form.

Go to http://www.nclfineart2013.com/williams.html for more information on Lily’s work.

Lilly Williams: Untitled | Watercolour on Paper | 28cm x 28cm

Another student whose work appealed to me was Dan Linden. In the exhibition catalogue he states ‘there are often spaces within spaces…reflections that hint new spaces without fully depicting them’. Linden’s paintings are dreamlike, through their form – interiors and landscapes float in a soft, ambiguous space. However as he stated, his works simultaneously hold a sense of peril – broken spaces, faint uncertain forms, and a hint of the concept of time passage. Go to http://danlinden.com/index.php/paintings for more information on his practice.

Dan Linden: ‘Vienna Woods’ | Oil on linen | 160cm x 160

For more information and a full list of students profiles in the show go to: http://www.nclfineart2013.com/

But of course an important part of any keeper’s job is the collections! Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums has recently teamed up with researchers at Northumbria University to encourage new thinking and comment around important subjects. I have been asked, along with colleagues, to write a blog post about an item from the collections as part of a weekly programme to stimulate debate about issues that are important to us all, such as Britishness, migration and culture in an industrial region.

Each week, for four weeks, we’ll be blogging about a museum object and posing a question for you to respond to.  Please help us get the discussion going by adding your comments below, whatever comes to mind.  Staff from the university and from TWAM will then lead a live debate on the most hotly contested issues so watch this space!

So, the theme for my post is “Culture in an Industrial Region”. I have chosen a group of objects we had photographed this week to provoke some discussion:-

Selection of Venetian-style glass produced by Sowerby's Ellison Works, late 19th century. Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead

From the 17th century, glassmaking was an important industry on the Tyne. It did have it’s ups and downs; much like our economy today…. But in the 19th century a number of companies were established on the south side of the river and amongst those was Sowerbys.

In 1852 Sowerby’s Ellison Glass Works opened in Gateshead. John Sowerby is said to have arranged for 50 skilled glassmakers and their families to move from Birmingham to Gateshead, travelling on a specially chartered train!

Sowerby’s also recognised the skills of Italian craftsmen, and of course those well-known glassblowers in Venice. During the second half of the 19th century they employed a number of Italian glassblowers at the Gateshead factory, and this exquisite group of glassware is a good example of their work.

By 1865 the firm employed over 450 people and was considered to be the largest pressed-glass factory in the country. It forms an important part of our industrial heritage.

Production at Sowerby’s continued until 1972, with glass exported throughout the world including the USA and China. The glass items produced by the factory are recognizable as widely available, attractive domestic ware available to the wider public. As the Pottery Gazette wrote, commenting on Sowerby’s exhibits at an exhibition in South Kensington all the way back in 1884; ‘fancy glass should have been in the art gallery, but being of such a cheap and popular character, we suppose they were inadmissable; still, in taste and artistic treatment they rank as art goods… We may call it art for the million!’.

So, ‘art for the million’ was produced in large quantities on Tyneside in the 19th and 20th century, partly thanks to the skills of glassworkers from elsewhere in the UK and from Italy.

What do you think about this? Do you think diversity in our communities is a natural result of industrialisation? What effect does this have on our region today?

Also, should art be available to all? Is this important to the pride of people living in an industrial region? Or do you think art should be made in small quantities and expensively sold?

Looking forward to hearing your views!

Some really special historical paintings by Zurbarán and Van Dyck have been lent from the National Gallery, London. However, the core of the exhibition is from the museum service’s collection of fine old master paintings. It includes lovely pictures by European masters such as Wtewael, Janssens and Procaccini.

Pippa, Divine Bodies exhibition curator, displays Procaccini’s Drunkeness of Noah (from the Hatton collection).  Mark and Garry have the heavy work.

There are many striking combinations of old master pictures and more recent art in the exhibition. Contemporary and modern works include sculpture by Ron Mueck, and paintings and photographic art by Cindy Sherman, Marlene Dumas, Tom Hunter, David LaChapelle and John Currin.

Photographers for the Art Fund have come to record some of the installation of the exhibition. Pippa is the National Gallery Curatorial Trainee supported by the Art Fund. She has been working with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums for 15 months, and has undertaken a lot of valuable research on the old master collections, as well as developing this fantastic exhibition.

Some mini films are being made featuring aspects of the exhibition, so look out for these on the website in the coming weeks. The first focuses on the work the museum conservators have been doing on old masters in the collection ready for the exhibition.

The exhibition is on show from 8 June – 29 September 2013 at the Laing Art Gallery. Read more here – http://bit.ly/16s1bhR

Each week, for four weeks, we’ll be blogging about a museum object and posing a question for you to respond to.  Please help us get the discussion going by adding your comments below, whatever comes to mind.  Later in the summer, your comments may be fed into a live debate where we hope you’ll have the opportunity to join academics and curators discussing the most popular topic.

So, the theme for this week is “Britishness”, which I’ve chosen to represent with this Union Flag from our collection:-

And the question I’d like to pose is…

What does the Union Flag mean to you?

Does it represent the political and administrative achievement of the Union of England, Scotland and Ireland…or enslavement, war and death as the British Empire grew to dominate the world?

Now that the Empire is no more, does the flag fill you with nostalgia and pride or does it merely represent racism and ill-considered nationalism?

How will you feel if Scotland leaves the Union and the flag loses its St Andrew’s Cross (the blue segments and broad white diagonal cross) leaving just the red crosses of England and (Northern) Ireland on a white background?

Are you proud to be British or does “flag waving” make you feel uncomfortable?

The Councils were given these plans by architects and property developers when they applied for permission to build new properties or alter existing ones. Building control plans often survive well and we hold them for many properties built in Tyne & Wear before 1974. The plans are a fantastic resource for people researching the history of their house or business. The plans usually include sections, elevations and floor plans. The following examples relate to Brentwood Gardens, Jesmond.

Floor plans of houses at Brentwood Gardens, Jesmond, 1905 (TWAM ref. T186/21558)

Sections and elevations of houses at Brentwood Gardens, Jesmond, 1905 (TWAM ref. T186/21558)

The plans are often very attractive and many visitors have ordered copies so that they can hang them on their walls at home. The Archives scans and prints the plans on our premises and we can also arrange to have them framed by our conservators. We recently got a very nice thank you after we supplied copies to a customer in Gosforth http://instagram.com/p/YXvtMpzLa6/#

The plans don’t just relate to houses but cover other types of buildings such as offices, shops, pubs, hotels, theatres, hospitals and schools. We hold thousands of building control plans for Sunderland, including these plans of the Dun Cow public house in High Street West, which is a Grade II listed building.

Elevations of the Dun Cow Hotel, 1900 (TWAM ref. 269/3163)

Floor plans of the Dun Cow Hotel, 1900 (TWAM ref. 269/3163)

You can get a general idea of the areas and dates that the building control plans cover by taking a look at the user guide on our website. The best way to find out whether we have plans of a particular property, though, is by visiting our searchroom and looking through the indexes and registers that we hold.

Pages from Whickham Urban District Council building control register, 1925 (TWAM ref. T292/1/2)

The building control registers are arranged in date order but are usually indexed at the front by street. This makes them fairly quick and easy to search, even if you’re not exactly sure when your property was built. If you find the right entry the register will give you a plan number. Once we have this plan number we can quickly check to see whether we have the plans that you’re looking for.

Please do pay us a visit. Our location and opening times can be found on our website. Don’t worry if you haven’t visited the Archives before and aren’t sure how to use our searchroom. Members of staff are on hand and will be glad to help you. If you can’t visit us in person but would like us to search for plans of a property for you then this can be done via our paid research service.

If you’d like to learn more about tracing the history of your house, I’m giving a talk at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery on Monday 3 June. No booking is required. For further information see the Museum’s webpages.