Shipyard Heritage Museum

26/08/2026

These voices are our history – and we need your help to preserve them. 🩵

At our event, we shared recordings of Ronnie & Jessie Mogie and Alan Smith talking about their memories of our shipyards.

Ronnie has sadly since passed away, making recordings like these even more precious. His voice, his stories and his memories have been captured for future generations – but there are thousands more stories across our communities that could disappear if we don’t record them now.

And we simply cannot do this alone.

We’re asking families across the Tyne, Wear and Tees to help us build this living archive.

🎥 Record your parents, grandparents, friends and former shipyard workers. Sit them down with your phone and ask them about their memories – the yards they worked in, the ships they built, the people they knew and what life was like.

Then share those recordings with us on www.shipyardheritagemuseum.org.uk

Preserving our shipbuilding heritage has to be a community effort. Together, we can capture these voices while we still can and make sure their stories are never forgotten.

A huge thank you to North East Museums and Terry Ford, who provided these recordings from 2022 for us to share at our event. ⚓️

25/08/2026

📰 WE’RE IN THE GAZETTE!

Following the incredible turnout at our first community event, the Shields Gazette has shared the story of our plans to create a permanent home for the north east’s shipbuilding heritage.

Seeing hundreds of people come together to hear the vision, share memories and show their support made one thing very clear - our shipyard story still matters enormously to our community.

What started as an idea is becoming a real community movement. 🩵

A huge thank you to everyone who came along, everyone who has supported us so far, and the Shields Gazette for continuing to help us tell this story.

Read the article in the comments 👇🏼

24/08/2026

🥾 THE JARROW CRUSADE

The story of our shipyards is inseparable from the story of the communities that grew around them - and one of the most important chapters in our local history is the Jarrow Crusade of 1936.

That’s why we’re delighted to support Liam’s ‘Jarra March 2026’, who this October will be retracing the route of the original marchers, walking from London back home to Jarrow.

📅 5th–31st October 2026
🥾 Following the route taken by the original Jarrow Crusaders
📍 London → Jarrow

Many of the families whose lives were shaped by shipbuilding also lived through the devastating unemployment and hardship that followed the closure of Palmers Shipyard - the backdrop to the Crusade and the decision of 200 local men to march to London.

It is exactly why preserving our heritage matters. These aren’t separate stories. The ships, the yards, the workers, their families and the communities they built are all part of the same history.

We’ll be supporting the Jarra March by sharing their journey, route and updates in the run-up to October.

Please give a follow on Instagram and get behind him ❤️

Our history belongs to all of us - and it deserves to be remembered.

23/08/2026

Please share the love and support, for the wonderful Dhammakaya community who kindly opened up their doors of St Andrews Church for our first community event.

We are so sorry to hear of this experience

An update and heartfelt thank you to the Hebburn community

I originally intended to post this update directly in the 'HEBBURN, South Tyneside' group, where so many of you shared such overwhelming kindness and concern. However, as the group is temporarily paused for 5 days, I am sharing this message here on our centre’s page instead so my gratitude reaches you all.

Following my initial post regarding the incident at Hebburn Riverside Park, I thought the matter would quietly pass. Instead, I have been deeply touched by the outpouring of support, warm messages, and today, a beautiful arrangement of flowers delivered to our centre by a kind resident on behalf of the Hebburn community.

I am writing this to express my sincere gratitude to everyone and to share a brief update:

Our Community: I have lived in Hebburn for over six and a half years; I know firsthand how kind, welcoming, and peaceful this town is. This single incident does not change how much I value and appreciate living here.

Reflections on the Incident: As a Buddhist monk, I contemplate life through understanding, patience, and the principle of cause and effect (Kamma). I hold no anger, resentment, or bitterness towards the young lads. While their actions crossed a line, panic and poor judgement often lead young people to react recklessly.

Police & Safety: Northumbria Police have logged the report on their records to assist with future patrols, though there was no direct CCTV coverage at that specific spot.

Health Update: I am doing very well. Aside from minor soreness inside my lip, there are no lasting injuries; it has not disrupted my daily routines, and it is now almost completely healed.

My only hope is that these young lads take a moment to reflect on the kind of community they wish to grow up in. The way we treat others inevitably shapes the environment our own loved ones and families live in.

Thank you all once again for your immense kindness, care, and solidarity.

With kind wishes and gratitude,

Monk Kom
(Karucha Sripramote)
Dhammakaya Meditation Centre

22/08/2026

DID YOU SEE OUR MINI MUSEUM? 👀

For those who couldn’t make it yesterday, or didn’t get a chance to see everything on display, here are some photos of just a few of the incredible pieces of North East shipbuilding history brought along.

We had:

⚓ Original oil paintings by Peter Mayne
📖 Andrew Leslie’s original family Bible and his will from the 1880s – kindly loaned by Andy Leslie
📚 Two Hebburn shipyard apprentice committee books dating back to 1912 – kindly loaned by Jarrow and Hebburn History Society
✏️ An Elswick Shipyard drawings book, donated by Maggie Brown
…and so much more!

Seeing these pieces together gave us a little glimpse of what it could be like to have our shipbuilding heritage brought together and on display for people to enjoy.

Do you have something connected to our shipyards?

Please keep it safe! We don’t yet have a permanent space to store or display these fantastic items, so we’re not able to accept everything at this stage. However, we would love to hear about what you have and potentially display pieces on loan at future events.

Photos, documents, tools, drawings, models, books, personal items – big or small, we’d love to know what’s still out there.

Our shipbuilding history is still sitting in homes across the North East. Let’s make sure it isn’t lost.

22/08/2026

21/08/2026

We’ve had a few messages about QR codes. There’s a few so we’ve listed the links below for you 👇🏼

Website - https://www.shipyardheritagemuseum.org.uk/

Petition - https://www.change.org/Shipyardmuseum

Children’s Books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0H3V6RQBB?binding=paperback&qid=1786623106&sr=8-1&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tpbk

21/08/2026

WOW. We are absolutely blown away! 🩵⚓️

We knew there was support for the Shipyard Heritage Museum - but we genuinely did not expect this.

More than 150 people packed into St Andrew’s today for our first community event. We filled the seats, people stood around the room and still more kept arriving.

To see so many former shipyard workers, families and members of our community come together in one room was incredible.

The turnout was actually far bigger than we had planned for, and we want to apologise to those towards the back who struggled to hear parts of the event. We’ve heard you and we’ll make sure this is addressed for the future.

And there is already one message coming through loud and clear:

“When’s the next one?”

There was so much demand today for us to hold a second community event that we’re now looking at doing exactly that.

Thank you to every single person who walked through those doors. Today wasn’t just an event. It was a demonstration of just how much our shipbuilding heritage still means to this community.

Over 150 people showed up. And this is only the beginning. 😍🚢🩵✨🎉

21/08/2026

We’re all set up and ready to welcome you! ⚓️

The Shipyard Heritage Museum Community Event starts today at 4pm at St Andrew’s Church, Hebburn. You can find the venue at the top of Leslie’s bank (Ellison Street)

The displays are ready, the stories are waiting to be shared, and we’re looking forward to bringing our shipyard community together under one roof.

📍 St Andrew’s Church, Ellison Street, Hebburn
⏰ 4pm–5:30pm
🎟️ Free entry

See you at 4pm! ⚓️

20/08/2026

🇮🇹 We’ve reached Italy!

Our North East shipbuilding story has reached an audience of millions in Italy!

We’re incredibly proud to see the Shipyard Heritage Museum featured by la Repubblica - one of Italy’s biggest national newspapers, with its digital platforms reaching more than 27 million people a month.

The feature explores the extraordinary shipbuilding heritage of North East England, taking readers through the history of the Tyne, Wear and Tees and the people and communities behind our world-famous yards.

Even more excitingly, photographs and history of the stories of Swan Hunter, Hawthorn Leslie, Palmer’s, Readhead’s and our wider shipyard communities to an international audience. 🌍⚓️

Our shipbuilding heritage is internationally significant - and this is another fantastic opportunity to make sure the people who built that legacy are remembered around the world.

And the timing couldn’t be better, as our community comes together tomorrow in Hebburn to help shape what comes next.

🇬🇧⚓️🇮🇹 From the banks of the Tyne, Wear and Tees to millions of readers across Italy.

Read the La Repubblica feature below in the comments 👇🏼