A Save the National Glass Centre article written by campaigner, educator and author Anne Loadman.
Photography from the 2014 archive of Jo Howell & Maverickart
Dear Sunderland,
One year from today, they say the doors will close on the National Glass Centre. One year until we might stand beside a shuttered shell where light once poured through steel and glass, and say to a child:
“This used to be where we made beauty.”
You know this place. A place where art meets science, where play meets precision. A place where Sunderland shows the world what it can do. A skill honed over 1,350 years.
It stands in the shadow of St Peter’s, where stained glass began. Built on the site of J.L. Thompson’s shipyard, within sight of Wearmouth Colliery, the National Glass Centre honours them all.
You’ve felt the heat of the furnaces. You’ve seen sand and flame become art. You’ve felt the cold river wind sweep up the Wear, where ships once brought ballast and carried coal.
School trips, weddings, lazy afternoons with family,international exhibitions; so many memories made in glass.
You might have wondered, “How did they make that?”
You might even have made a bauble, or a tile, yourself.
In twelve months, we risk losing it all—not just the building, but the stories, the skills, the sense of pride it gives us.
Sunderland, what will we tell the children then? When they ask what happened? When they ask why we let it go? When they ask if we even tried to save it?
Because once it’s gone, it won’t be easily replaced.
Glass is fragile like that.
Culture is fragile like that.
But it can be protected—if we act now.
So today, we mark the beginning of a countdown—not to defeat, but to defiance. There is still time. Time to speak up, to celebrate, to shout louder.
Let’s not wait until it’s too late to remember what we had. Let’s fight for what we still have.
The clock is ticking.
Stand up, Sunderland. Stand up for your history, your culture, your soul.
With love,
A Mackem who refuses to say goodbye just yet.
Do you want us to publish a memory, photograph or video about the importance of the National Glass Centre?
Email us! Savethengc@gmail.com
Let’s amplify the love before we lose it!
Save the National Glass Centre 