Life in Sunderland in 1991, featuring Nissan, university dreams, Murton Colliery and an amazing powerlifter

Here are the news headlines from 1991.

And some of them might trigger memories for Echo readers, such as the end of the Sunderland Forge or the clamour for 1,000 jobs at Nissan.

See how many of these stories you can recall.

The last remnants of the old Sunderland Forge finally bit the dust when the site chimney was blown up.

There were no hiccups when the 112ft brick tower at Pallion crumbled in a cloud of dust.

Lauren Baldasarra, nine, watched as Ann Tipling, a partner in Instrip detonated the charges under the supervision of explosives expert John Turner which toppled the chimney exactly to plan.

Wearside's love for a mercy mission to Albania

Tons of desperately needed food left Sunderland to help starving children in Albania.

A truck carrying seven tons of food joined a convoy taking relief to abandoned children in orphanages in Europe’s poorest country.

The food was collected by Wearside schoolchildren as the result of an appeal by Sunderland-based car firm Cowies.

Hats off to brilliant Michael

Michael Hunnam returned to the World Powerlifting Championships for the first time since he was assaulted in Peru in 1987.

The Sunderland strongman was assaulted in Lima as he took part in a four-day event where he represented Great Britain.

Despite having his spine fractured in two places, he went on to compete in the contest.

He won bronze in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires.

Sunderland Royal Hospital kidney unit was 21 years old in 1991.

By then, the renal dialysis unit had clocked up more than 100 kidney transplants with a similar number of patients receiving dialysis.

1,000 jobs - 24,000 people applied for them

A staggering 24,000 people chased 1,000 vacancies at Sunderland’s Nissan car plant.

The employees were needed for the introduction of the new Micra-replacement car to be built at the plant in 1992. When the recruitment drive was over, the workforce would have risen from 3,000 to 4,000.

Murton Colliery closed in 1991 after a history which included becoming the first Durham colliery to achieve non-stop coal production. An extra night shift in the 1850s allowed round-the-clock extraction.

But a geological fault was found in one of the pit’s three remaining seams - and the pit’s life came to an end later the same year.

Hoping to become a uni

Sunderland Polytechnic, which had more than 9,000 students from 30 countries, was seeking university status.

The announcement came in a 1991 speech by polytechnic rector Dr Anne Wright to students and guests at the graduation ceremony in Sunderland’s Empire Theatre.

The move towards university status came after government changes in higher education.

Share your memories of Wearside and County Durham in the early 1990s by emailing [email protected]