Summer in Sunderland: Remembering 'seaside sandwiches' and the other retro snacks Sunderland families took to the beach

We might not have had as many chances to do it this summer thanks to the rain, but you can’t beat a trip to one of Wearside’s beautiful beaches! A stroll along the shore these days is not complete without a bag of chips or an ice cream cornet (or both, if you’re feeling flush).

But we wanted to know what was in your retro picnic basket.

In scorching summers gone by, families from across Sunderland and beyond have packed a lunch and headed to the seaside with the kids. And plenty of us have fond memories of those unforgettable days. There’s something about the combination of sea air, the sound of waves breaking and your favourite snack to top it all off.

Was it a flask of tea? Or what about doorstep bread and butter to make your own chip butties? Maybe you were from a household that had to have ‘seaside sandwiches’ – egg and tomato – or did your mam and dad call it ‘mock crab’.

See if these picnic basket choices prompt some memories for you. And visit us on Facebook here to share your own.

Jill Hendry: “Egg and tomato … and always got some chips to have with them at the beach.”

Allison Freemantle: “Ham and pease pudding sandwiches.”

Maria Jefferson: “Egg and tomato ... Dad called them seaside sandwiches.”

Ian Leadbitter: “Butter bread, Mother used to buy chips and make us chip butties with the bread.”

Liz Dixon: “Egg and tomato, the original seaside sarnie!”

Lisa M Wright: “Pek sandwiches.”

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Lesley Ingram: “Egg and tomato, corned beef and onion, boiled eggs and boiled potatoes.”

Margo Lax: “Cheese sandwiches. Sausage rolls. Boiled eggs, crisps. All tasted wonderful outside on the beach.”

Heather Smith: “Boiled eggs in their shells, bottle of orange squash that we made a hole in sand to keep it cool and a flask of strong tea.”

John Wharton: “Heinz 57 sandwich spread.”

Malcolm Thorpe: “Egg and tomato sandwiches. Jam and bread. Sugar and bread. Flasks of tea.”

Bernard Joseph Gordon: “Everybody took egg and tomato, with a side helping of sand, lovely grub.”

Maxine Iley: “Hard boiled eggs, chicken, new potatoes. Tub of coleslaw ... flask of coffee. Juice.”