Stories of Wallsend: A Week of History and Community

National World - LocalTV

Wallsend History Week returned this summer, uniting the community in a celebration of the town’s rich and fascinating past;  the very history that shaped the Wallsend we know today.

Transcript

00:00To keep history alive, you've got to keep reminding people, especially younger people,

00:05of things that happened in the past and how it's shaped where we are now.

00:10So from my point of view, I've always liked history because history is a window in the past

00:16of what the future could be if you do things a bit better or whatever, you know.

00:20So I think it's important, especially like young school kids,

00:24they don't particularly know about a lot of the stuff that happened.

00:28Maybe it's 50, like 100 years ago.

00:31So being able to host events like this is very informative for them.

00:37And as part of this, we're actually doing talks in a local school with their school children.

00:43I think it's year two school children in there.

00:46So we've done a few of them in the past where we've done it and we've done guided tours.

00:50So it isn't just myself who does them, it's other people who are doing them.

00:54You know, the whole idea, as I say, it's just about sharing the history of Wall's End

00:58and trying to enthuse people, if you like, for the future.

01:02You know, they're taking an interest in history as well.

01:05Wall's End's name is rooted in history.

01:07It's the very end of Hadrian's Wall and was once home to the Roman fort Segedunum,

01:11which guarded the eastern terminus.

01:14During the 18th and 19th centuries, coal mining boomed with seven pits active between 7078 and 1935,

01:21employing 2,000 workers.

01:23Later, Wall's End became synonymous with shipbuilding.

01:26The Wigan Richardson Yard merged into Swan Hunter, where iconic vessels like the RMS Maritania,

01:31holder of the blue ribbon for the fastest Atlantic crossing, were constructed.

01:36Obviously, the things that excited us about Wall's End is the fact of all the history that's here.

01:41And most people know, obviously, about the Romans and the Segedunum Fort, which was the end of the Roman wall.

01:49But they don't really realise all the history that came after the Romans.

01:54And if you like, from our point of view in the History Society, we want to have the Romans,

02:00which is very important, but also have the rest of the stuff like the first colliery wagon wares that came here.

02:07You know, the world beating Wall's End colliery at the time with John Buddle,

02:12this famous viewer of a colliery who invented, like, splitting the air system and, you know,

02:18and the dumb furnace or stuff that people don't really realise about.

02:22Well, these were all monumental, like, facts about Wall's End.

02:26Something else is that people probably don't realise that Wall's End was one of the first places to have power generation.

02:33They had two power stations and, because of that, they could actually power all the industries on the town.

02:39And it also enabled them to actually run a tram service from about 1901.

02:45And also, the Riverside Branch and Wall's End, a part of it, was the first branch lane,

02:53which was electrified outside of London's underground.

02:56And most people don't know these type of facts.

03:00So, yeah.

03:01So, wait.

03:02No, no, no.

03:03No, no, no.

03:04Okay.

03:05Yeah, sorry.

03:06We're in the next process.

03:07We do.

03:08We do.

03:09Bye.

03:10Leave.

03:11Bye.

03:12Bye.

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03:29Bye.

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