When Crowtree Leisure Centre's roof was dubbed 'the eighth wonder of the world'

The eighth wonder of the world came from Sunderland.

Well, that was the claim which was made in 1975 when a huge structure was finally unveiled to the world.

It was the roof of the Crowtree Leisure Centre and it was about to be put in place.

800 tons of rooftop splendour

The 800 ton roof covered nearly three acres and the process of hauling it into position was impressive in itself. The roof was built at ground level and was later jacked up into position.

The painstaking job took eight days. The public had not had a chance to see the structure before it was lifted as it was hidden behind hoardings.

But Coun Ralph Baxter described it at the time as the 'eighth wonder of the world’.

Free ice skating in the 1970s

The whole story of Crowtree began in 1971 when it was agreed that the project should go ahead.

By November 1977, the centre opened and it was the ice rink which was first available to the public. Free sessions were offered to the visitors for the first week.

After that, the rest of the facilities opened a week later and they were soon a hit.

Simply the best in the UK

By 1988, admission levels had reached around two million people a year and at that time, Crowtree Leisure Centre was named as the most popular in the country.

In its prime, the much-used centre was one of the busiest in Britain. It held everything from swimming lessons to ice skating, keep fit classes for all ages, to indoor football, indoor bowls and from trampolining to basketball.

It was eventually closed to the general public in October 2011.

But what are your best memories of it and which of the facilities did you use. Did you enjoy a session of ice skating or perhaps it was the pool which was your favourite part of it all.

Share your recollections of Crowtree by emailing [email protected]