St Peter's Church - Sunderland

Cycling around today the weather was overcast and far from perfect for photography. Near to the end of my ride I popped into St Peter's church in search of a cup of tea and a bun, they have a cafe at the rear of the place. However on Sunday afternoons all that you can get is Sunday lunch, but the kindly chef offered me a bowl of soup and a coffee, and I can certainly recommend the excellent soup! The cafe is open for a limited period on all days except Mondays.

There is some evidence to suggest that Bede was born in Sunderland and that he spent most of his time at the St Peter's site, which at that time was a monastery. No doubt the people of Jarrow would dispute this as they claim Bede as one of theirs.

Photography was a tad difficult within the building without a flash gun or a tripod, but I managed to capture a couple of shots.



The fruits of the Harvest Festival on display in the foreground.



I have been into the church a number of times in the past, but had failed to notice the attractively painted ceiling.

Autumn on the way!

A couple of shots taken at Saltwell Park in Gateshead yesterday.



Saltwell Towers was designed and once owned by William Wailes, a prominent designer of stained glass, and was completed in 1862. It is now a tearoom and exhibition centre within the park.



First signs of autumn.

Great North Run

World class marathon runners, Haile Gebrselassie and Kiplimo Kimutai. They finished first and second respectively. Seen here on the Felling bypass, about 3 miles into the run.



The gentleman in the banana suit is Tony Audenshaw, who plays Bob Hope in Emmerdale, running for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Thanks for the wave Tony!



And last, but certainly not least, is my younger son Tom and his friend Michael, both running for a local children's charity.

Tanfield Legends of Industry Gala

The Tanfield Railway Gala starts on the Friday night with a Photographers' evening and then there are two days of frantic activity on the railway with passenger, mixed and coal trains running. This year they imported two engines, the LNER J72 tank seen above, and a Manning Wardle cabless 0-6-0 tank, while the recently restored local Stephenson tank Twizell was in good form. Other attractions included a vintage vehicle display, model boats, a fairground organ and a group playing country music.

For more pics take a look at my web site http://www.washingtonimaging.co.uk/

Rose Line Building - Wylam Wharf

The Rose Line Building at Wylam Wharf on Sunderland's riverside was restored in 1995. Originally constructed in the late 18th century the brick extension was built in 1820.




Canon 5D 24-70L

Wearside

An elderly fishing boat chugs out of the river past the University of Sunderland's buildings at St Peter's.



One of the several remaining traditional cobles still fishing (crabs or lobsters?) from the Wear.

Canon 5D 24-70L

Tyneside Trip

I cycled through to Newcastle as the weather forecast was for sunshine, but in fact there were overcast skies, and then there was the puncture. However the sun did make an appearance and, for a brief period, the wind fell away to nothing. It's not often I'm in the right place at the right time but every dog has his day.



Stopping for lunch at the Ouseburn, I had hoped to see a Kingfisher, but none were apparent.

Further along the river is St Peter's marina. It used to be the site of the Hawthorn Leslie Engineering factory, where I once worked. I couldn't find any reference to that company, but I guess that there are still some rusting relics within the river, thrown there by tired machinists on night shift when something went wrong.




If you follow the riverside path and then climb up to the old railway track you will encounter the site of the Roman fort at Segedumun, where dark skies made a dramatic setting for the observation tower.



Fortunately the rain held off until I reached the pedestrian/cycle tunnel under the Tyne but, on reaching the south bank, I was greeted by a torrential downpour. This allowed time to inspect the various photos and press cuttings describing the construction of the tunnel in the late 1940s. Apparently the workings were pressurised to keep the water out, with decompression chambers for the tunnelers. At one stage there was a major air leak and work had to be halted until silt could be dumped from barges above, to seal the fissure.

Incidentally the escalators and lift were all out of action on the north side, while only the up-escalator was working on the south side. When built they were the longest escalators in the world, and it certainly feels that way when you have to carry a heavy camera bag and bike!

Canon 5D 24-70 and 70-200 lenses.