Posts by date: April 2013

Fifties Fashion…

After years of austerity during World War II, the following era could be characterised by the revival of Haute Couture.  The structured square shoulders and shorter skirts of the war years were replaced with the softer feminine silhouette, rounded shoulders and… Read more

Ralph Hedley and Lord Dundreary

Here’s another thing you won’t see in the Ralph Hedley exhibition at the Shipley Art Gallery until 2 November 2013. I saw this carving by Ralph Hedley nearly 25 years ago, and took two photos of it at the owner’s… Read more

New Books at the Great North Museum:Hancock Library

One of the pleasures of working as the Librarian in the Great North Museum:Hancock Library is that you get to look at all of the wonderful new books that are added to stock. Ann Spencer, one of the new Library… Read more

Bringing a touch of royal glamour to Post-War Sunderland

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

P boats of the First World War – William Bartram and P23

Recently I’ve been researching a class of naval vessels that doesn’t usually attract much attention. Since there were 44 of them they weren’t exclusive or unique, although they were very special to the shipyards that built them. I’m talking about… Read more