Great characters from Sunderland's East End, including the Sunderland man who got people to hit him with a hammer

It had grime, it had poverty and it had characters by the boatload.

That's Sunderland's East End in the days when it was known as the Town End and Philip Curtis, from Sunderland Antiquarian Society, told us some of the tales.

The Town End was vastly different from the city we know today. It had a strange attraction all its own.

There was Samson Besford, the strongman in the late 1920’s and 30s who regularly demonstrated his prowess in Mowbray Park, the Garrison Field and down the East End.

Tricks with a 28lb hammer

He also used to stand in goal at one time in the Old Market – a penny a kick.

Another one of his tricks was to lie down with an anvil on his chest and get people to hit the anvil with a 28lb hammer.There was Fal-De-Ral (the boxing clown), Charlie Chuck, Johnnie Bom-Bom, Joe the Bacon Man, and Old Cutty Throat (who walked around like a tramp but apparently owned most of the street he lived in).

There were the rag and bone men including Blue Gillette or the fishwives with their baskets balanced on their heads.

Sunderland's pied piper and his tin whistles

Charlie Chuck was like the pied piper. He was a virtuoso on the tin whistle and flute and played them around the streets of the town with the children running after him.

He had tin whistles of all shapes and sizes stowed away in pockets all over the place and was undoubtedly an accomplished musician.

At one time there were so many rag and bone men in the town that you would think Sunderland was filled with nothing but old lumber.

A vast collection of Wearside history

Thanks to Philip and the Antiquarian Society which holds a vast collection of archives with Wearside links - all amassed and donated by the people of Sunderland.

The society, which was founded in 1900, has a Heritage Centre which is open in Douro Terrace on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9.30am to 12pm.

You can also visit the Antiquarian Society’s Facebook page or its website which is at http://www.sunderland-antiquarians.org

And to apply to become a member, email [email protected]