On Monday, 21st September the members of South Shields Local History Group are pleased to welcome Adam Bell, Assistant Keeper of Social History at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery. The origins of the Museum in Ocean Road stretch back to 1876, when a Museum Room was opened in the town’s Free Public Library. Natural history specimens and antiquities dominated the early displays, with exhibits including fossilised ferns, Cyprian vases, the skull of a Bengal Tiger, a pair of Laplandic reindeer boots and even a chicken with two heads, four wings and four feet.
For almost 140 years the museum has continued to add to its collections, with a particular emphasis today on illustrating the unique stories of the people of South Tyneside and their place in history - locally, nationally and internationally.

Join Adam for a richly illustrated talk surveying some of the museum’s most treasured items, many of which are set to feature in a new permanent gallery in the museum, due to open in October this year.