A huge thank-you to everyone who has supported our Merchant Navy exhibition over the past two years.
It has now been taken down to make way for a new exhibition about 800 years of North Shields, opening on 22 July.
Centre director Guy Moody said: “This was a tremendous exhibition attracting great interest from local people and those living further afield. Many visitors had a connection with the Merchant Navy and often, while visiting, were keen to share their own memories of the service or information about their family links to it. More than 200 left lovely comments in our visitors’ book.
“We are grateful to all who visited the exhibition and to the kindness of those who shared precious memorabilia and personal stories for inclusion. We are also indebted to the volunteers who carried out research or helped with the curation of the exhibition.”
‘Merchant Navy – Tyneside Stories’ focused on the service during the 20th and 21st centuries including local shipping companies and repair yards, the world wars, the support and training offered to visiting seafarers of all nations, a boarding school for children who had lost a parent in the service and the Merchant Navy of today and the future.
There were many stories from local people about their own experiences and those of family members.
Comments in the visitors’ book referred to the quality of the exhibition materials, the depth and breadth of the information shared and included words such as fascinating, excellent, informative, educational, brilliant, fantastic, fabulous and awesome. One comment just before the exhibition closed said: “I haven’t seen a better exhibition than this…..Visiting the Old Low Light has been an education and a joy.”