Tell us about your family and memories that connect you to the North East shipyards. Your story will help us keep this history alive for future generations.

The history of the shipyards on the River Tyne, Wear and Tees is not just the story of ships and companies - it is the story of people, families and communities. For generations, people from Jarrow, Hebburn, Wallsend, Walker, Newcastle and across the North East worked in the yards as platers, welders, riveters, engineers, draughtsmen, apprentices and labourers. Almost every family in the area has some connection to the shipyards.

We are collecting stories, memories, photographs and family histories connected to the shipyards so that these stories can be preserved and shared as part of the Shipyard Heritage Museum project. These stories are just as important as the ships themselves, because they tell the real story of what life was like in the yards and in the communities that grew around them.

If you or someone in your family worked in the shipyards, we would love you to share your story. It could be a memory, a family story, photographs, apprenticeship experiences, launch days, what the yards were like to work in, or how the yards shaped your family and community.

Over time, these stories will help build a community archive and will shape the future Shipyard Heritage Museum so that it reflects the real people and communities behind the shipbuilding industry on the Tyne.

Every story matters, and every story helps push this forward.