North Shields Heritology Project

The North Shields Heritology Project tells the rich and varied history of North Shields Fish Quay using new and emerging technologies and engages with groups including school children on projects of interest to inform and educate. We are engaging with Key Stage 2 children at a local primary school to do a project around Black History in North Shields in October/November 2021.

During the Covid pandemic our work has continued and we have produced an audio drama around the life of Edward Jennings who lived on North Shields Fish Quay and was awarded a Victoria Cross for services in India and two short videos celebrating Black History in North Shields about the lives of the noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Charles Minto. These pieces are available on our project website to view and listen.

North Shields was seen as a tolerant town, in no small part due to the mix of nationalities that lived and worked on the Fish Quay – the Low Town became known as “The Street of All Nations”. The BBC are interested in our project and we have a Professor at Northumbria University who is willing to be interviewed by the school children on the subject of Black History providing an expert academic insight into a subject that has never been so high profile or important.

We will get the project professionally recorded and it can be used as an educational resource by schools and groups as well as being visible online.