EPW020533 ENGLAND (1928). Hendon and Hudson Docks and the harbour entrance, Sunderland, 1928

The Hudson and Hendon Docks were created on the south side of the Wear Estuary in the 1850s for the large-scale export of coal from the local collieries. The Seaham & Sunderland Railway was opened in 1854 and it thrived on coal shipments, like most of the railways built in the mid-19th century in North East England.



Shipbuilding and coal exports formed the basis of Sunderland's prosperity from the 1850s, as the town grew to 146,000 in 1901 (close to 185,000 at the time this picture was taken), and some of the compact street patterns of terraced housing are still intact.



Since the 1980s, Sunderland has been a city (1992) in transition: a marina, service industries and new university buildings are replacing the old shipyards, coal docks and staithes. The Stadium of Light, home of Sunderland AFC, occupies the site of the former Wearmouth Colliery.