South Shield Museum And Art Gallery

If the weather is not too bright and you fancy a bit of this or that, South Shields Museum and Art Gallery has a bit of everything, and it is free. (Donations are welcomed).

This building dates to 1860 for the South Shields Literary, Mechanical and Scientific Institution. The Library opened in 1873, which was the town's first. The Museum opened in 1876.

The exterior of the building is impressive and reveals its original character. Outside it is guarded by 'The Golden Lion' which belonged to a hotel of the same name and was originally painted red - Ha! Only joking, originally painted gold, it was moved here after the hotel was demolished in 1973.

The first exhibit is Rory the Lion (see what they did there?). They seem popular in the north, as there's another at Sunderland Museum and Winter Garden. He has a couple of female companions. If any item piques your interest, the guide brochures in the rooms are there to satisfy your curiosity.

The stairwell is certainly a showstopper with marvellous stained glass windows.

I was not expecting to see exhibits of live insects and reptiles. One snake looked like it could be a model but the other snake proved it was real and the beetles were beetling about.

This Gibbet was the original one that William Jobling was hung from at Jarrow Slake in 1832. The display has plenty of gory information.

You cannot miss a ten-foot-high replica of Marsden Rock, complete with sea birds. It may even tempt you to go and visit.

There is a wonderful painting of said rocks by George Blackie Sticks 1898. It also gives you an idea of the size.

The Whitburn Cist

What is a cist, you may ask? We are referring to archaeology, not William Jobling's personal problems. It is a small coffin, built of stone. This one dates back 2,100 to 1,500 BC and was uncovered in 1929. The sex is unknown as there are not enough bones, and age is a bit vague; between 18 to 45 years old. Some limpets could be their diet or fishing bait, and of course, no prehistoric man is complete without their flints.

Upstairs is an art gallery, and it still maintains the former glory of the building

A current exhibition is the works of George Horton (1859 to 1950), and was a local self-taught artist who seemed to add a bit of jollity into his work.

The fist photo here features gulls in each painting. The cat captions in the second photo read:

"Sunny Day Cat" and "Rainy Day Cat".

The museum was a pleasant surprise as it is on a commercial street and shopping is just not my bag!