Wearsiders are happy to accommodate their guests and will bend over backwards for them. But in return it is respectfully asked that certain things are never said.
Official tourist information is useful. So too is the following unofficial tourist information.
5. ‘Dave Stewart? I thought he was Scottish’
Well he isn’t. That’s Annie Lennox. Dave is another thoroughbred Mackem. Right. Photo: Tim Richardson
6. ‘Witherwack has a funny name. Where does it come from?’
The question isn’t so much annoying as a waste of time. No one seems to have the slightest idea. Photo: Sunderland Echo
7. ‘You must have had the Metro for forty-odd years now’
No, only since 2002. For 22 years before that it was of zero use to Sunderland and it still doesn’t go to Washington, Houghton, Doxford Park… Photo: Sunderland Echo
8. ‘Of course, the Lambton Worm story is a complete myth’
Rubbish. Just like the tale of the Pallion Tiger, it’s based entirely on proven scientific facts. There were no cameras in the Worm's day, but this terrifyingly authentic re-enactment from 1978 is equally admissible evidence. Photo: Sunderland Echo