The Houghton Feast is an annual festival held in [[Houghton-le-Spring]], in the [[City of Sunderland]], with origins in the medieval dedication festival of the parish church of [[St Michael and All Angels, Houghton-le-Spring|St Michael and All Angels]]. Its history extends to the 12th century, making it one of the oldest continuing community festivals in north-east … Read more
Ernest Rolls, popularly known as “The Bag Man” or “The Sunderland Bag Man”, is a local character in [[Sunderland]], Tyne and Wear, who became widely recognisable during the early twenty-first century for travelling around the city centre accompanied by numerous suitcases containing his possessions. He was particularly associated with the area outside Sunderland railway station, … Read more
Brian Moore (1939–2016), popularly known as “The Spectre” or “The Sunderland Spectre”, was a Halifax-born artist who became a distinctive local character in [[Sunderland]], Tyne and Wear. After moving to Wearside during the 1970s, he became a familiar presence in Sunderland city centre, pubs and nightclubs. His Victorian-style clothes, particularly a top hat, tails and … Read more
Ford Estate, usually shortened locally to Ford, is a residential suburb of [[Sunderland]], Tyne and Wear, England, about 2.3 miles (3.7 km) west of the city centre. Unlike the large Sunderland estates constructed after the Second World War, Ford was principally an inter-war municipal housing development, begun during the 1930s on formerly agricultural land acquired … Read more
The Dun Cow is a historic public house on High Street West in central Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, immediately adjoining the Sunderland Empire. The present building was designed in 1901 by Newcastle architect Benjamin Ferdinand Simpson for the brewing company Robert Deuchar Ltd and completed in 1901–1902. It replaced an earlier Dun Cow inn documented … Read more
Jack Crawford (22 March 1775 – 10 November 1831), also known as John Crawford, was an English sailor from Sunderland who became celebrated as the ‘Hero of Camperdown’ for his actions during the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797. Serving aboard Admiral Adam Duncan’s flagship, HMS Venerable, Crawford climbed the ship’s damaged rigging during … Read more
Grindon is a residential suburb of [[Sunderland]], Tyne and Wear, England, approximately three miles (5 km) west of Sunderland city centre. Although most of the present neighbourhood consists of twentieth-century housing, Grindon is an old place-name: documentary evidence identifies a medieval settlement there by 1323, when it belonged to the territorial lordship of the [[Barons … Read more
Thorney Close is a residential suburb and former municipal housing estate in south-west [[Sunderland]], Tyne and Wear, England. The present neighbourhood was principally constructed by Sunderland Corporation between 1947 and 1950 on the former Thorney Close and Hasting Hill farms. Comprising about 2,100 dwellings in its original post-war development, it was the first large peripheral … Read more
Farringdon is a residential suburb of [[Sunderland]], Tyne and Wear, England, approximately three miles (5 km) south of the city centre. Although the present neighbourhood is principally a Sunderland Corporation housing estate built between 1952 and 1957, the name is much older: medieval Farringdon was a grange belonging to [[Hexham Priory]], situated within the territory … Read more