Sunderland

The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light has the... fifth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland A.F.C. matches. The name Stadium of Light is a tribute to the traditional mining industry which brought prosperity to the town; a Geordie lamp monument stands at the entrance, more commonly known as a Davy lamp. As well as hosting Sunderland games, the stadium has hosted two matches for the England national football team, as well as one England under-20 football team match. With an original capacity of 42,000, it was expanded in 2002 to seat 49,000, and its simple design is expected to allow for redevelopments up to an eventual capacity of 66,000. The attendance record at the Stadium of Light is 48,353 set on 13 April 2002, when Sunderland played Liverpool with the visitors running out 1-0 winners. Along with hosting football matches, the stadium has played host to performers such as Oasis, Take That and Pink. The ground also holds conference and banqueting suites, the Black Cats Bar, and a club shop selling Sunderland merchandise.
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Roker Park is a recreation park in the Roker area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. The land on which the park stands was donated by Sir... Hedworth Williamson, 8th Baronet and the Church Commissioners, and opened on 23 June 1880. The park is roughly an upside down reversed 'L' shape. It is bounded by Park Parade to the south, Roker Park Terrace to the east, Roker Park Road to the west and Side Cliff Road to the north. The northern part of the park is the widest and fronts onto Roker beach via a ravine, which passes under a wooden footbridge. In the centre of the park is a large freeform boating lake which is used for remote-controlled model boating. In the north-west corner of the park is a model narrow gauge railtrack which was built in the 1970s. There are two bowling greens as well as tennis and multi-purpose sports courts. The park's bandstand is octagonal, cast-iron with a wood base and a metal-covered roof. The memorial drinking fountain in the park commemorates Sir Hedworth's gift of land for Roker Park.
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Mowbray Park is a municipal park in the centre of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, located a few hundred yards from the busy throughfares of... Holmeside and Fawcett Street and bordered by Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens to the north, Burdon Road to the west, Toward Road to the east and Park Road to the south. The park was voted best in Britain in 2008. Mowbray Park is one of the oldest municipal parks in North East England. The roots of Mowbray Park date back to the 1830s, when a health inspector recommended building a leafy area in the town after Sunderland recorded the first cholera epidemic in 1831. A grant of £750 was provided by the Government to buy a £2,000 plot of land from the Mowbray family for a new park. Work on Mowbray Park – then known as The People's Park – began in the mid-1850s, incorporating a former limestone quarry set within what was known as Building Hill. It appears that spoil heaps were shaped and mounded to create distinctive paths amongst steep sided hummocks. The effect was to afford the Victorian user plenty of opportunity to perambulate within a relatively small green area.
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James Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke... Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in Born and Bred, Jack Halford in New Tricks and the title character of Grandpa in the children's BBC programme Grandpa in My Pocket. Bolam was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England, UK. His father, Robert Alfred Bolam, was from Northumberland and his mother, Marion Alice Durey, from County Durham. After attending Bede Grammar School, Sunderland, Bolam attended Bemrose School in Derby. He was formally trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and first appeared on screens in the early 1960s, initially in popular TV shows such as Z-Cars and the gritty northern films A Kind of Loving and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. He appeared along with John Thaw in the 1967 Granada TV serial, Inheritance. The Likely Lads made Bolam a star during its 1964 to 1966 run.
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William Russell is an English actor, mainly known for his television work. He was born in Sunderland, County Durham. His big break was the title... role in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot on ITV in 1956, which for sale to the American NBC network became the first UK television series to be shot in colour. In 1963 he was awarded a role in Doctor Who as one of the Doctor's companions, science teacher Ian Chesterton, appearing in most episodes of the first two seasons of the programme. Russell was one of the four original cast members of Doctor Who, starring opposite William Hartnell as the Doctor, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman and later Maureen O'Brien as Vicki. His first involvement in the series took the form of the untransmitted pilot episode, which was eventually reshot and broadcast as "An Unearthly Child". He eventually departed, alongside Hill, in the penultimate story of the second season, The Chase. Russell has continued his association with Doctor Who, having lent his voice as a narrator to several of the audio book releases of the lost 1960s episodes.
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David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics.... He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart". Stewart was born in Sunderland, England. In 1971, whilst still in his teens, Dave Stewart secured a record deal as part of folk-rock band Longdancer, but they did not achieve commercial success. Stewart then spent several years living in squats in London. In late 1976, he was introduced to Annie Lennox by a mutual friend. Soon, Stewart and Lennox became lovers. By 1977, the pair had teamed up with Sunderland musician Peet Coombes, releasing a single on Logo Records as The Catch. The band then developed into The Tourists who enjoyed modest success, including a hit in 1979 with a cover of the Dusty Springfield hit "I Only Want to Be with You". The Tourists ended in 1980, though the pair continued to work together. They formed a new musical project named Eurythmics, and went on to be one of the most successful pop-rock duos of all time.
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Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his... portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success. After years acting in over ninety Canadian and international projects he became widely known for his portrayal of the Cylon Leoben Conoy in the remade Battlestar Galactica, and following that, his role as record producer Lew Ashby in the Showtime TV series Californication. Regularly cast as a bad guy in movies and even more often in his numerous guest appearances in television series, his participation in Canadian productions gives him an opportunity to show a broader palette of his acting abilities, which have been recognized by several awards. Rennie was born to Scottish parents in Sunderland, County Durham North East England. When he was four years old, the family emigrated to Canada. Rennie was brought up in middle class Edmonton, Alberta, as the second of three boys. He graduated from Strathcona High School, where he met and befriended Bruce McCulloch from The Kids in the Hall.
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Robert George Dylan Willis MBE, born Robert George Willis and known as Bob Willis is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire,... Northern Transvaal and England. A right-handed and aggressive fast bowler with a notably long run-up, Willis spearheaded several England bowling attacks between 1971 and 1984, across 90 Test matches in which he took 325 wickets at 25.20 runs per wicket, at the time second only to Dennis Lillee. He is currently behind only Ian Botham as England's leading wicket taker. Willis took 899 first-class wickets overall, although from 1975 onwards he bowled with constant pain, having had surgery on both knees. He nevertheless continued to find success, taking a Test career best eight wickets for 43 runs in the 1981 Ashes series against Australia, one of the all-time best Test bowling performances, in the famous 1981 Ashes series against Australia. He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1978. In addition to the Test arena, Willis played 64 One Day International matches for his country, taking 80 wickets, and was a prolific List-A cricketer with 421 wickets overall at 20.18.
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George Bellamy is an English musician and former rhythm guitarist for The Tornados. He is the father of Matthew Bellamy, frontman of British rock... band, Muse. Bellamy is primarily a rock 'n' roll and country-and-western singer. In the late 1950s, he played in a band and later a duo with Alan Klein. Bellamy decided to audition for a group, formed by Joe Meek, that was advertised in the music press. It was this audition that determined that Bellamy would play rhythm guitar for the Tornados, who were firstly a session band for Meek. However, the group reached new heights with their song "Telstar," which reached number one all over the world and was the first British rock song to be a number-one single in the United States. Bellamy wrote one of The Tornados' tracks, "Ridin' the Wind," which also was a hit single in the USA. Bellamy left the Tornados in 1963 when it became necessary to cease touring because of problems with his lower spine. After medical treatment, he worked with Don Charles, who had set up his own recording company with Alan Caddy named "Sound Venture".
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