From the giant pineapples on the Durham Road to the controversial fountain that once featured on the roundabout at Seaburn, Wearside has had its fair share of intriguing gyratories.

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But it was the "double-ringer" with its proud pit lamp standing outside Sunderland's Stadium of Light that captured the attention of roundabout connoisseur Kevin Beresford.

The writer, who describes roundabouts as "oases on a sea of asphalt," has added it to a special centenary edition calendar marking 100 years of his favourite road feature.

"It's a cracking roundabout that," he told the Echo. "Who would have thought of putting a Davy safety lamp on a roundabout?

"It's quirky and it's unique. We've never seen anything like it before."

Kevin is the founder of Roundabouts of Great Britain – set up to celebrate all that is great about the nation's gyratory systems. He has even written two books on the subject.

He spotted the Stadium of Light roundabout while in the North East to study the famous Get Carter car park in Gateshead, and fell in love with its originality.

The roundabout is outside Sunderland AFC's Black Cat House, next to the stadium.

A club spokesman said:"With the Stadium of Light built on a former colliery site, the roundabout, like many aspects of the stadium, embraces the mining heritage on which our region relied for many years.

"It is the first part of the stadium that many visitors to Sunderland AFC see so it was vitally important when we built the Stadium of Light that people got a flavour of the history of both the club and the city"

Kevin, who is based in the West Midlands, scours the country looking for roundabouts.

He said: "You can find anything on roundabouts, from statues to lightshows. I even saw a giant mosquito sculpture the other day.

"In Australia the houses of parliament are on a roundabout, and in Wellington, New Zealand, there's a cricket ground on a roundabout.

"People email me from all over the world about roundabouts. It's not just a British thing, it's an international cult."
The Stadium of Light roundabout will feature on the May page of the calendar.

Others to appear include a "red-brick ringer" with a giant glass compass on Lerwick, Shetlands, and a giant cockerel sitting atop rocks outside a Morrisons store in Morecambe, Lancashire.
Despite the newly-elevated status of the Sunderland roundabout, most still find it a little odd that Wearside should be getting attention for such a functional feature.

Martyn McFadden, editor of football fanzine A Love Supreme, passes the now famous pit lamp every day on his way into the office.

"I suppose it's a good thing for our roundabout to be chosen, but it does seem a little bit odd. And if you're going to pick the best 12 in the country then why not choose the stadium?"

To buy a 2010 roundabout calendar featuring the Stadium of Light roundabout – priced £8 – or join the Roundabout Appreciation Society, visit www.roundaboutsofbritain