THE VIEW FROM A SUNDERLAND CAR PARK

[00:00:04]Hello everyone. I'm just on my lunch break.

[00:00:07]I've spent some four hours at the Gill Cemetery, which is Well, it's going to be the new park. Should be opening fairly shortly.

[00:00:16]They seem to be working quite uh a lot at the moment tidying up and everything that but if you just see that there's the new eye infirmary.

[00:00:27]And there is the new park.

[00:00:31]As some of you will probably know by now, it used to be a cemetery back in uh late uh George when Queen Victoria no, she I think she came in 1837. So it was a Victorian cemetery.

[00:00:44]But next to it is the Faringdon Road car park. So I've already been at the top two floors.

[00:00:53]Nobody on.

[00:00:56]Should go down another floor. So that's 11 and 10 and nine there's nobody on.

[00:01:05]I think it's a stunning car park.

[00:01:09]And down at number eight and uh there's nobody on. If you have got an interest in this forgotten Sunderland Cemetery, I've set up a Facebook group called Friends of the Gill Cemetery.

[00:01:25]So that's where the cemetery was under this park.

[00:01:28]Thousands of people are buried there.

[00:01:31]But also if you want more information, just search on YouTube Gill Cemetery. I think we've got about 10 videos over the last 18 months.

[00:01:38]Down there.

[00:01:40]So we're down to number seven.

[00:01:53]One car.

[00:01:55]So just to show you where we are on this side.

[00:01:58]This is Farringdon Row. This used to be a power station down here.

[00:02:02]It got demolished in the '70s or the '80s.

[00:02:06]And through here, I'm going to show you this building site is going to It's a good view of Galley's Gill.

[00:02:15]So that's going to be flats and houses.

[00:02:17]Great view of Keel Crossing.

[00:02:20]And if you look through here in the distance is Stadium of Light.

[00:02:25]You might be able to see that brand new retro sign on there.

[00:02:30]Keel Crossing over there.

[00:02:32]And then just down there is Galley's Gill.

[00:02:35]That's where I visited on that video, the most dangerous Sunderland walk or a lost Sunderland wilderness.

[00:02:47]There's one car there down on the floor six.

[00:02:52]Might get a better view of the park from down here actually cuz we're a bit closer.

[00:02:55]It's two.

[00:02:59]You know what this reminds me of?

[00:03:01]Get Carter.

[00:03:07]Oh, this is better view.

[00:03:11]Now we have it.

[00:03:13]So you've got the Eye Infirmary over there.

[00:03:17]Sorry for the noise. This building site next to us is quite a main road right in the center of the city of Sunderland.

[00:03:23]So the old site of Vaux over there.

[00:03:32]And over in the distance next to that big building where you view house, you can just see the tower of the Sunderland Minster. So that was the church which serviced this particular old cemetery.

[00:03:47]The churchyard was getting full, so they decided to to take this land. The church owned it.

[00:03:52]It was the rector's guild.

[00:03:53]And uh it was the Duke of Wellington's brother who just gave it the land as a graveyard. He couldn't really much do with it cuz it is it was a ravine.

[00:04:05]But there was a cemetery chapel built a few years after the cemetery opened so you could have services in there. So uh there's a few more cars down here.

[00:04:14]I'll see if I can get a better view of the of the park from down here.

[00:04:24]Haven't been able to do that many videos this last week cuz the weather's been absolutely crap.

[00:04:29]It's either windy or raining.

[00:04:40]But uh that's a better view of it.

[00:04:48]So you can see the iron firm is quite impressive.

[00:04:52]All change in Sunderland city center.

[00:04:56]Haven't brought me windshield wipers or me or me tripod. I'm just literally on me lunch break. Came to take some photos of the Gill Cemetery to post in that Facebook group.

[00:05:07]Hopefully one day there is a plaque here.

[00:05:09]So the more people get made aware of this.

[00:05:12]Please join the group if you want to.

[00:05:15]See, there's a pond in here. So there you know I did that video I think it was on Was it Sunday?

[00:05:22]In search of the Barnes Burn.

[00:05:24]It actually flowed flowed right through the middle of this particular cemetery.

[00:05:31]Judging by it, there doesn't look much left to do.

[00:05:34]It seems to be just like cosmetic things. They're just actually putting some tar in the entrance.

[00:05:41]And uh I think they cut some grass and it looks a bit bare around that pond there.

[00:05:48]Somebody mentioned uh the on on my Facebook post whether this was to be filled from the Hendon Burn. I think the sorry, the Hendon Burn the Barnes Burn I think is much lower than this and these look like the problem like these ponds are just literally from rain water rather than anything flowing in them. If you look there that one's starting to dry up a little bit over there.

[00:06:10]So where will I go?

[00:06:12]Might as well take advantage of some good views up here.

[00:06:25]Might call this video a view from a Sunderland car park.

[00:06:33]It was nice and sunny before. Clouds come up again. That's going to be for the next couple of weeks I think.

[00:06:39]Just to show you where we are.

[00:06:43]There is a historic pub.

[00:06:46]The museum vaults over there. 30 odd years living in Sunderland I've never been inside it once.

[00:06:53]But over here that old building next to the red one that is the Ship Isis. It's got the 1885 sign on it. That's not the original Ship Isis. The original was knocked down that was rebuilt and that was one of the last public houses in Sunderland to have inquests because back in those days inquests were generally held in public houses because often they had space to lay the table lay the body on a table so the jury could witness examine it.

[00:07:27]And because this was close to the mortuary because that cemetery chapel ended up being a mortuary chapel. So literally if those bodies found in the river Wear they would be taken there so or pub's quite handy for that.

[00:07:45]And there we go.

[00:07:47]I'll leave you with the last one view of the new park, so going back to work now. So, thank you very much for watching. If you have watched it, please give it a like and click on the subscribe.

[00:07:58]And hopefully you see you next time.

[00:08:00]Take care everyone. Bye.