Secret, Little Known and Hidden Places in Sunderland

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gluepot said:
Isn't this something to do with the pillbox (which was quite large) I mentioned earlier which was there but was removed in the 60s??
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It’s possible. I know there is a radio station just off the A19/ Hartlepool turn off which was back filled with concrete when it was abandoned. It’s possible this one was made safe and nature has reclaimed.
 
tunstallhill said:
sharp becoming one of the top 20 attractions on the south side during this lockdown. its a proper beach, for the purists. no ice cream vans, no fish n chips, no toilets, no public transport, just miles and miles of luscious, uninterrupted golden sands
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That is certainly one way to describe it!
 
gluepot said:
There used to be a couple of pillboxes on Whitburn beach. When I was an innocent young kid, I used to play soldiers in them unaware that filthy dossers and doggers must have been up to all sorts in them the previous night. Think they were demolished and removed late 60s.
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They would be the ones that were atop the old concrete sewer pipe under Whitburn cliffs near Latimers Garage (as was) then?
 
There's this website, but more stuff around Newcastle on it than Sunderland.

Home – Subterranea Britannica

Subterranea Britannica is a society devoted to the study and investigation of man-made (including Nuclear Bunkers) and man-used underground places.
www.subbrit.org.uk
 
gluepot said:
If we're talking Whitburn, Souter Lighthouse is interesting to visit and not that well-known. The fella on the other thread asking about foghorn parps and peeps could get everything explained by the guide.

Another place I used to live near, St Andrews Church in Roker, is apparently a place of importance for William Morris devotees. I never knew that until I got talking once to ...... a William Morris devotee.


Back to Whitburn, arent the rocks off the beach-front / coast internationally famous/significant?
(as in geologically)
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Not forgetting the cannonball rocks off Roker
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Iv just started going for walks along the back of Souter having never been until a couple of weeks ago. An amazing little place.
 
Charmless Man said:
Given I used to go there all the time I never thought of it as hidden, but I guess it is.
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Unless you’re from SR3,-Sr2 not many will know. Tried to find it a few weeks back and couldn’t remember. It’s all wire-fenced off now with no trespassing signs up. Also no reference to it being called Hangman’s Lane, but I’m sure there used to be a sign post at the junction with Silksworth Lane.
 
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Kevj said:
There are old wagon way tunnels near Victoria Viaduct which were built to transport coke from Lambton Coke works to staithes in the Wear. This was necessary because the land owners around Penshaw tried to charge them tax to go over land, so they went under. The entrances are still visible from the path between Cox Green and Fatfield.

There is also a bunker in Doxford Park. The door is visible but locked and I’ve not seen any photos from inside.

There was a crypt found under an old building in Villiers Street as they were demolishing it. The demo had to be placed on hold until the exhumed the bodies and catalogued them.

There was allegedly a WW2 bunker somewhere along the coastline near Little Italy or further up near where the Bay hotel was. I think that’s more likely to be an urban myth and any visible concrete sub structure is likely to be drainage related.
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No myth. This is it, I believe it was a gun emplacement. Certainly a military installation. Gun emplacement?
 
gluepot said:
There used to be a couple of pillboxes on Whitburn beach. When I was an innocent young kid, I used to play soldiers in them unaware that filthy dossers and doggers must have been up to all sorts in them the previous night. Think they were demolished and removed late 60s.
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Iirc they used to be on Whitburn cliffs in the 80s, but I think they eventually succumbed to erosion of the cliff and fell onto the beach (or were possibly removed before that happened).
 
Scimmy said:
They would be the ones that were atop the old concrete sewer pipe under Whitburn cliffs near Latimers Garage (as was) then?
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Yes exactly there. On the beach.. not on the cliffs as mentioned above in post no. 54

PS Regarding that little pillbox opposite the Jolly, the number of times I've been in there and driven past it, never noticed it... amazing what the eye can miss!!
Friends of mine back in the 70s/80s were always fascinated by the "waitress service" in the Jolly snug , where you rang a bell and the little lady came out to serve you.:D

Then there was the little lift attendant at Marsden Grotto, another unforgettable (slightly weird) character.
 
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gluepot said:
Yes exactly there. On the beach.. not on the cliffs as mentioned above in post no. 54

PS Regarding that little pillbox opposite the Jolly, the number of times I've been in there and driven past it, never noticed it... amazing what the eye can miss!!
Friends of mine back in the 70s/80s were always fascinated by the "waitress service" in the Jolly snug , where you rang a bell and the little lady came out to serve you.:D
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That little lady was called Jenny, a lovely old bird. She must have been in excess of 75 and weighed about 7 stones when she was forcibly retired by a new landlord, at which time she could still carry a tray with eight pints on. She died shortly after being finished, as she had lost interest in life, apparently.
Kevj said:
No, this is a fully hurried underground installation.
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Oh! I never heard of that.
 
Kevj said:
No, this is a fully hurried underground installation.
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That map is interesting, never knew about that bunker. On the map you can also see the geologically interesting areas such as cannonball rocks, and the start of the whitburn rocks which go out for several hundred metres, but can only be seen at very low tides
 
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