About Sunderland Maritime Heritage
Sunderland Maritime Heritage (SMH) are a totally self-funded and part-time volunteer manned Local History and Heritage organisation, preserving and publicising the significant maritime heritage of Sunderland on the banks of the River Wear, in North East England. The organisation was inaugurated in 1999 primarily to raise awareness in the plight of City of Adelaide which was under threat of demolition on the Clyde at Irvine, Glasgow. The City of Adelaide was built at William Pile Shipyard on the Wear in 1764 and the intention of Sunderland Maritime Heritage was to save the ship and bring her home to Sunderland.
Throughout the campaign it became apparent of the lack of recognition Sunderland has for its Shipbuilding and maritime heritage and as a result, Sunderland Maritime Heritage broadened its remit to champion the provision of a purpose built interactive maritime heritage centre. The premises are currently a mixture of workshop and presentation space.
The Trust promotes and maintains Sunderland's maritime history through the use of an interactive visitor centre demonstrating the crafts, skills and trades associated with one of the greatest ship and boatbuilding centres of the last century.
Vessel Projects
Willdora
A Dunkirk little ship and veteran of Operation Dynamo, Willdora alone was responsible for saving the lives of over 200 soldiers. She was brought to the City by Sunderland Council in the 1970's as a maritime project for Hylton Redhouse comprehensive school.
The Trust's plan was to restore Willdora as near as is practical to her original build spec, then to maintain the vessel as an interactive floating museum, promoting the aims of Sunderland Maritime Heritage, as well as preserving a piece of the nation's history. The restoration has been a nearly ten year project, but she is now seaworthy again, and took to the waves at a Tall Ships event in Sunderland in 2018. A return visit to Dunkirk is planned, hopefully in 2025 for the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo. Upon completion of the project, the Willdora will be available to schools and educational establishments for site visits and weather and tides permitting, actual river trips on the vessel. They aim to design the deck and cabin access to allow disabled persons the opportunity to visit this piece of living history.
MV Wearmouth
Sunderland Maritime Heritage acquired MV Wearmouth in March 2023. She is the last wooden pilot boat to serve on the River Wear where she spent all her working life. For the last five years, she has been standing in a North Wales boatyard. SMH bought the vessel for a nominal fee, on the understanding that they complete its restoration. A successful crowdfunder raised nearly £8,000 to cover the costs of moving Wearmouth back to Sunderland, and she arrived home in March 2023.
Wearmouth’s full restoration is expected to take 2-3 years and cost around £30,000. She will need a new deckhouse, as the old one had to be cut down to get her under the motorway bridges. The cabin accommodation needs reinstating after the previous owner removed it, the engine needs a major service and the starter motor has to be unjammed. A complete electrical rewire is required together with a substantial upgrade to her electronic equipment to meet current regulations. Lastly the hull needs an amount of work as it was heavily jet-washed previously and needs smoothing and re-caulking before painting.
The Wearmouth restoration will be a ‘live work’ exhibit at NELSAM over the next 2 years, so do come along and see a piece of Sunderland’s river history. The work will be carried out by SMH's enthusiastic band of older volunteers whose skills include all those required to achieve the restoration. In addition, Wearmouth will provide interest and activity for their volunteers with learning difficulties, autism and dementia. They also intend to engage with the local Sea Cadets and University students to assist in the restoration, and provide them with real-life practical skills.
The intention is to refit Wearmouth to commercial standards so that they can offer boat trips on the River Wear and perhaps fishing trips out to sea, as well as longer trips away for their volunteers.
Navy Cutter
Work began on the Trust's 32 foot Royal Navy Cutter in March 2022, thanks to a grant from the Sir James Knott Trust. They plan to get her sailing back on the river, providing sail and boat handling training to their community. The plan is to make the vessel easily accessible and create a maritime story telling space mainly for school visits.
Parramatta
Paramatta is a sheltie boat, used in the Northern Islands for fishing, leisure and island transport, which the owner wanted repaired and re-conditioned. This was carried out by SMH volunteers, and Paramatta was used in the Tall Ships 2018 event as a base for the tightrope walker who performed in the big ‘Waterfall of Fire’ display at the end of the event. She shares her name with the largest wooden-built ship built in Sunderland, which was launched by James Laing at Deptford on May 29, 1866. Sadly, the owner has now died, but the family are in the process of passing ownership over to Sunderland Maritime Heritage, who are aiming to get her back in the water and in use again soon.
Services
Boat Repairs - small wooden boats are often repaired and restored at Sunderland Maritime Heritage. Parts can be made such as handrails, self-steering air vanes and cabin doors, or windows.
Bespoke Joinery - bespoke items can be made to your specifications, or they can help in the design. The Trust's team of volunteers include several qualified craftsmen with decades of experience, including working with hardwoods such as mahogany and oak, and as boat builders they are experienced in certain techniques such as steam bending of timbers. They have been given the opportunity to work on some fascinating and unusual projects for clients such as Durham Heritage Coastal Path and The Canny Space, Holy Trinity Church.
Education - their workshop and boatyard makes a great educational location for school visits. They can arrange various interactive activities which can be designed to meet specific areas of the syllabus. They can provide work experience placements to college students in their large fully equipped workshop.
Find out more:
www.sunderlandmaritimeheritage.org.uk
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