The final chapter of Vaux: When thousands of pieces of the old Sunderland brewery went up for auction
This might have been one of the saddest days in Sunderland history.
It was the day when hundreds of pieces of the old Vaux Brewery went up for auction.
It all went under the hammer
It happened in September 1999 and it saw old lorries, drays and pieces of equipment all being sold to the highest bidder.
It was on July 2, 1999 that Vaux closed and the Sunderland Echo got these views of staff as they left for one last time.
Managing director Frank Nicholson made it his personal mission to thank every member of staff for all their hard work.
The signs came down
Just days after it closed, the brewery's signs came down and by September that year, the final throes of the business were marked with an auction of Vaux property.
Thousands of people flocked to the site for the auction of transport and equipment. Tell us if you were one of the people who bought a piece of Sunderland history.
Vaux had provided Sunderland with jobs for 162 years and hundreds of positions were lost when it finally closed.
Get in touch with your memories
Despite the company's brewing arm still making a sizeable £50million annual profit, financiers in the City of London had advised the firm to cease production and concentrate its efforts on its estate of pubs and hotels.
We want to hear from people who worked at the iconic brewery and we want you to share your best memories of it.
Get in touch by emailing [email protected]