Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens

May 2019

I visited Sunderland on a warm day in May, I studied at Sunderland University it was nice to go back and visit a museum I had regularly visited as a student. Walking around Mowbray Park prior to visiting the museum as its located just outside the museum. There are several memorials in the park which I wished to look at. A particular memorial commemorates a Victorian disaster in which 183 children were trampled to death. I find it very moving and how a small mistake can cost lives.

I walked in the light reception area and through a little shop. The Leonardo da Vinci national exhibition was on and I was excited to see it, however, I was ready for something to eat so I headed straight for the café. The museum is a real community hub having a library and a child friendly garden space.

Holmeside Cafe

I entered the café it was a little confusing, I am not a big fan of bench seating However, I found a little spot with a view over the winter gardens. Ordering from the counter a nice glass of wine and a posh cheese on toast. The cheese on toast was very nice and its a lovely little place for a snack. It was lovely to look out over the gardens while drinking a nice glass of red wine.

I walked upstairs to the Da Vinci temporary gallery. I walked into a gallery space using Da Vinci as its theme the portraits of older people was really interesting. The gallery has a excellent collection of fine art it was excellent. Sunderland Museum has an excellent Lowry collection well worth a visit on their own.

A Life in Drawing Leonardo Da Vinci

I arrived outside the Da Vinci exhibition I watched the two interesting short informative films then went inside. The images were amazing I spent a long time gazing as these wonderful sketches. It was great how the museum used it s collection of drawings and sketches as a comparison and to show interesting working focusing on a local subject. The portrait of a lady, a costume of a prisoner were highlights for me. However, the standout drawing for me was a drawing Leonardo did later in life called A deluge a image of a storm highlighting his feelings at the time, I seamed to see faces screaming in the storm drawn image. Maybe I just stared at it for too long, but that image stayed with me. I was a really special experience.

Life in Sunderland

The museum provides an insightful exhibition into 20th century life in Sunderland some of the videos went on too long but they were very interesting I spent far longer than I intended here. The ship building gallery provides the visitor to Sunderland with a great understanding of life in Sunderland in the past. Ship building was very important source of work in Sunderland and the museum gives this history appropriate recognition.

Sunderland

The ground floor has a range of fascinating galleries exploring the areas links to mining a very moving exhibition space. It highlighted the work and home life of mining communities and the injury and illness that miners suffered from. It was still sad how the industry ended and how it impacted the local community. The other gallery explores the areas history with a large pottery gallery. A very interesting archaeological gallery tracing the Roman and early Christian history of the area.

The museum has strong links to its local community exploring key industries that were based in Sunderland the heavy industry of the pits and the miners and the shipyards through the glass and pottery. It is well worth a visit a great asset for the city of Sunderland.