Well-built brick air raid shelter with concrete vaulted roof, now covered with felt. 2.15m wide x 2.67m long. 1.60m high. On concrete base. Door in east gable end 0.62m wide and 1.40m high. Blocked window-sized opening in west gable end. No air vents. Blast wall 1.65m high and 1.90m long in front of the door (0.75m gap between shelter and wall). Demolished March 2010 to make way for a domestic extension.

In February 2010 a member of the public found a tiny (two inches long) pipeclay figurine in the silt at the edge of the Beamish/Urpeth Burn at Ousbrough. Geoff Egan, Portable Antiquities Adviser on medieval and later finds (based at Museum of London) confirmed that such figurines were toys or dolls and were made from the 15th to the early 20th centuries. This particular example is possibly 18th century but more likely to be 19th century in date. It is not very attractive as a plaything. These toys are not well understood and are rare outside London.

A series of timber uprights are visible on the northern bank of the River Derwent at Blackhall Mill at low tide. Two lines of posts run parallel with the riverbank for a considerable distance and converge to a point at one end. They presumably were part of a loading platform, quay or staith for the mill (HER 3405) or the steel works (HER 1017).

A British merchant ship of 1143 tons. Torpedoed on 1st May 1917, one and 3/4 miles east of the north pier. N55 01 20 W001 21 00. Steel, 1,143-ton, 71.93m long, 9.73m beam, 4.49m draught, British steamship registered in London. She was owned at the time of loss by The Gas Light & Coke Co. and built as the Rookwood in1896 by J. Bulmer & Co. Ltd at Sunderland. Her single steel propeller was powered by a three-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engine using two boilers and her machinery was built by J. Dickinson & Sons Ltd at Sunderland. She had one deck, four watertight bulkheads and a superstructure consisting of a 5.5m quarter-deck, 22.6m bridge-deck and a 7.9m forecastle.
On the morning of 1st May 1917, the Firelight had just left the river Tyne and was on passage to London with a cargo of coal, when she was torpedoed and sunk by the submerged German submarine UC29. The track of the torpedo was seen by the crew just prior to it striking amidships on her port side at 08:25. However even before her crew, who immediately abandoned ship in their own boats, had left the vessel, the sea was washing over the upper deck. The U-boat’s periscope was seen for a short-time after the ship went down and the survivors were later picked up by the steamship Collingwood and landed at North Shields.

The wreck, believed to be that of the Firelight, lies orientated in a north-east to south-west direction on a seabed of dirty sand, stone and colliery waste in a general depth of 36m. She is sitting upright, fairly intact and standing up to 9m high, but with quite a bit of damage to the bow section at the south-western end. The highest part is said to be the stern to midships section where a number of portholes are visible, all of which is covered in soft corals.
Sections of the bridge structure, although partially collapsed, are reported to be still in reasonable condition. It is not known if her bell and equipment have been recovered. The NMR has another entry for the Firelight under South Tyneside 908653, NZ 46 NW 3) 5.25km ENE of Tynemouth South Pier.

Grid reference conversion made 04.03.2011 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as N 55 01 13 W 01 19 09

A pilot cutter of 200 tons, which was mined on 31st December 1916 off the Tyne. 19 crewmen were killed. Steel, 200-ton, 33.52m long, 6.73m beam, 3.22m draught, steam pilot cutter, rigged with sails. She was owned by Tyne Pilotage Commissioners and built by J.P.Rennoldson & Sons at South Shields in 1907. Her single bronze screw propeller was powered by a three-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engine using one boiler.
On 31 December 1916, the Protector was lying off the Tyne entrance awaiting pilotage duties when she was seen to suddenly blow up and sink. It was believed that the vessel had detonated a German mine, just laid early that same morning. The explosion lifted the vessel clean out of the water and she sank almost immediately, taking Captain J.K. Parker and eighteen other people down with her.

The wreck is orientated in a more or less south-south-east to north-north-west direction, on a seabed of dark, dirty sand and stone in a general depth of 21m. She has totally collapsed down onto the seabed in a small 1m pile of twisted steel plates, frames and broken machinery, with the remains of her engine in the midst of it all, which is typical of a small wreck of this period. There are a few copper pipes, brass valves and flanges to be seen, but it is not known whether the vessels bridge equipment is still in-situ. The wreck covers and area of around 35-40m long and 3m wide.
The NMR has two entries recorded for this ship one under North Tyneside (1002338 NZ 36 NE 899) and one under South Tyneside (908751 NZ 46 NW 8).
Built: 1907
Builder: JP Rennoldson & Sons
Engine: Screw driven, 3 cylinder triple expansion engine
Engine HP: 50
Boilers: 1
Owner: Tyne Pilotage Commissioners
Master: JK Parker
Crew: 19
Crew Lost: 19

A steamship of 3565 tons and 340 feet long. Carrying a cargo of grain. She hit a mine on 22nd March 1917 at N55 00 57 W001 22 38. In 1970 the wreck was sold to T. Johnson & Co for salvage. Now worked by members of Delta Diving. Steel, 3,565-ton, 103.65m long, 15.29m beam, 6.85m draught British steamship. Registered in London and owned at the time of loss by the London-American Maritime Trading Company, she was built at the Sheila in 1903 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd at Sunderland. Her single steel propeller was powered by a three-cylinder, triple-expansion engine, employing three boilers.
At 05:45 on 22 March 1917, the Rio Colorado had just made the perilous voyage across the Atlantic from Montevideo to Newcastle upon Tyne, under the command of Captain A.G. Cromach when she detonated a mine laid by the German submarine UC50. She had been approaching the examination vessel just off the mouth of the Tyne with her valuable, much needed cargo of wheat, when she struck the mine amidships, blasting a massive hole in the side of her hull. Sea conditions were extremely rough and she foundered in just forty minutes.

The wreck of the Rio Colorado lies orientated in a general depth of 15m and an east to west direction on a seabed of dirty hard sand and stone about a mile east of the Tyne north pier lighthouse. Because of her proximity to the shipping channel, the wreck was dispersed with explosives soon after she sank. Although she is totally collapsed and well flattened, the debris is spread over a wide area, covering 105m x 50m of seabed. Lots of twisted steel plates, ribs, pipes and framework are jumbled together, surrounding her three upright boilers and the battered remains of the steam engine.
Built: 1903
Builder: W. Doxford and Sons Ltd.
Where Built: Sunderland
HP: 300
Boilers: 3
Owner: London American Maritime Trading Co.
Master: A G Cromach
Crew: 28
Crew Lost: 10
Passengers: 1

Sank after a collision with M.V. Komtor on 13th January 1975. Sank at N55 00 48 W 001 23 29. Wooden, small British motor fishing vessel. She is said to have had a bronze propeller powered by a diesel engine. On 13 January 1973 (NMR also records the date as 13.01.75), she was in ballast on a fishing trip when she foundered and was lost, just a few hundred metres east-south-east on the Tyne entrance, following a collision with the West German motor vessel Komtur. Crew saved. Where, when built and by whom are not known.
LBD: 45 x 10ft
Tonnage is not known.
Propulsion: Single shaft, screw-driven diesel engine by Gardner and Sons Limited, Manchester.
Owner: I. Lee, North Shields

The wreck is very small and the wooden structure is now breaking up because of winter storms in recent years. She stands around 3m high on a hard, sandy seabed with her hull sides and bridge section collapsed.

She is recorded as lying in 15m of water (Spokes).

A Dutch motor vessel of 175 tons. Mined on 31st August 1940 at N55 00 745 W001 23 496. Her cargo was ammunition and copper pipe. Wooden, 175-ton; 32.3m long, 5.71m beam and 2.51m draught. The Marne was a Dutch Motor Vessel, registered in Rotterdam. She was built by J. Koster at Groningen in 1926 and owned at the time of loss by WH Muller & Sons Ltd NV. Her single propeller was powered by an auxiliary oil/diesel engine and she had one deck, one bulkhead, a cruiser stern and an aft superstructure, consisting of a 7.1m quarter-deck.
On 31 August 1940 this small coaster was on a voyage from the Tyne to the Tees with a cargo of bagged grain (some reports suggest she was carrying ammunition and copper pipes) when she detonated a German-laid mine and foundered just off the Tyne South pier lighthouse at South Shields.

The wreck lies one a seabed of dirty sand and stone in a general depth of 14-15m, (Spokes database records a depth of 16m) about 300m or so out from the Tyne south pier lighthouse. It is not far from the Tyne shipping lane. It is a small wreck which is totally collapsed and well broken up.

Grid reference conversion made 08.12.2010 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as N 55 00 44 W 01 23 28

An armed trawler of 276 tons. Sank on 22nd November 1940 at N55 00 34 W001 22 54 (Collings). The Ethel Taylor was a steel, 276 ton British steam fishing trawler, 38.22m long, 7.11m beam, and 3.86m draught. She was built as the James Hunniford at Middlesborough by Smith’s Docks Co. Ltd in 1917 for Clifton Steam Trawlers Ltd and registered in Fleetwood as trawler FD363. Her single propeller was powered by a three-cylinder, triple expansion steam engine. She had one deck, three watertight bulkheads and a superstructure consisting of a 21.9m quarter-deck and a 6.4m forecastle. The vessel was armed with one, large, deck-mounted gun that fired 5.44kg (12lb) shells.
On 15 March 1936 the Ethel Taylor was fishing off the west coast of Scotland when she was in collision with the 331-ton, Fleetwood registered steam, steel fishing trawler Winooka belonging to Boston Deep Sea Fishing Co. Ltd at Fleetwood, resulting in the sinking of the Winooka.
From 1940 the Ethel Taylor was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to an armed patrol vessel. On 22 November 1940 she foundered and was lost after detonating a German-laid mine off the mouth of the Tyne.

The wreck of the Ethel Taylor lies orientated in a west-north-west to east-south-east direction on a dirty, hard seabed of sand and stone in a general depth of 18.8m. She is upright and quite intact, standing some 3.5m high. The wreck is very impressive and has produced excellent underwater photographs.

Ian Spokes database has the wreck as lying at a depth of 13m and the size as 38.22 x 7.11 x 3.86m.

Grid reference conversion made 06.12.2010 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as
N 55 00 35 W 01 22 59

A harbour defence vessel which sank on 2nd May 1941 after a collision. N55 00 32 W001 26 38 (Collings).
Steel, 52 ton (two entries for this ship on Spokes database, one states weight as 48T) also recorded British steam yacht, approx 24m long, hired by the Admiralty as a harbour defence patrol craft. Built in 1936, her single propeller (possibly bronze) was powered by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine which used one boiler. On 2 May 1941 the Nyula foundered and was lost off the mouth of the River Tyne, following a collision with another, unnamed, vessel.

Not a lot is known about this wreck-site, except that the remains are reported to be broken up somewhat and not surprisingly she is fairly difficult to locate. Her small boiler and engine block are still there, along with a few copper pipes surrounded by a mound of steel plates, framework a small winch and lots of debris.

The Spokes database gives the wreck a depth of 18m although another source used to compile the information suggests the wreck lies 2 miles east of South Shields pier in 26m of water.
The NMR has 2 entries for the wreck (NZ 46 NW 7 and NE 46 NE 109).