Our River Stories: Wendy Lowdon
“Our River Stories: I lived in North Shields on the banks of the Tyne until I was 4 years old. I can remember playing in the park which overlooked the river! The photo above shows my Dad and Mam (Joan, in the white dress) in 1960 on the North/South Shields ferry crossing the Tyne for a day trip out. The ferry also carried cars at that time!”
“My Dad worked at Swan Hunters Shipbuilders in the 60s and 70s as a plater. Then later building oil rigs for Charlotte Leslie in Wallsend and South Shields on a floating rig called the Amerada Hess. The first photo shows an oil rig module and the second a heli pad and flare boom placed on a barge bound for the North Sea”.
“When I was 8 we went to see the launch of the Northumbria, a 250,000 tonne tanker which my Dad had worked on for a year. We got the passes to be there from my Dad’s brother who worked in the electrical drawing office. It was a real treat to be out of school and to see Princess Anne who launched the ship!
Me and my husband Graeme have lived in Corbridge for almost 30 years, just 2 minutes walk from the Tyne. I can often be seen walking along there with earphones in learning my choir music!”
