Sunderland's history becomes a TikTok hit thanks to heritage fan shining a light on the past

Everything from the First World War to the Queen’s coronation has been covered by a TikTok page called North East Nostalgic which is run by Sunderland-born Kathrine Taylor.

Kathrine’s quirky posts also include a clip on coal hatches, one on a U-boat which was shipwrecked off Roker Pier and one about Kathrine’s Nana Flora.

North East Nostalgic was only started in August last year but it has already racked up over 3 million views as well as nearly 90,000 likes in just under a year.

Kathrine said: “My first post was about Hylton Castle, and this was a building I had walked past all my life and it has just really grown from that first post.

"I have visited some fabulous locations and spoken to amazing people and it is so important to keep the stories alive and TikTok which is a relatively new platform is a great way to do this and reaches so many people.”

She said she spent ‘a lot of time growing up with my grandparents looking at photos and hearing their stories.”

Kathrine saw followers jump by 500 following a post about her Nana Flora’s memories of the Coronation, including praise from the voiceover from Flora who grew up in the East End of Sunderland.

Top performing posts have included a post about a First World War U-Boat which was shipwrecked at Roker Pier. It got more than 194,000 plays and nearly 10,000 likes.

Kathrine’s post about the Stadium of Light being the most haunted stadium attracted more than 200,000 plays, and the posts also includea clip on North East coal hatches which got 82,000 views.

She also gets regular requests from followers for specific content or certain locations to be covered.

North East Nostalgic has also started collaborating with other venues and key historical partners to further develop themed regional content including Lumley Castle, and bestselling author Glenda Young whose nostalgic sagas are set in Ryhope.

Glenda said: "Kathrine has a passion for local history, combined with her unique ability to connect with her followers in such an immediate way. I can not recommend her enough. ”

Phil Reilly, the Business Development Executive at Lumley Castle said: "We are spoilt for choice on so many hidden treasures around the North East that we may even pass them by every day. So, it is fantastic to watch Katherine on her wonderful TikTok travels, bringing back to life the historic gems we may have forgotten.

Kathrine added: “It is great that there is such interest in history on TikTok and I love the engagement with the audience, each post triggers a memory for so many and it is really heart-warming to read the comments.

“It is absolutely key to keep history and the stories alive for generations to come. Through utilising TikTok as a platform to showcase these snappy history facts I also really hope it will encourage a younger generation to engage with their local history more in a fun and interactive way too.”