Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives

The Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives has a number of records and archives relating to sport in the area. The collection includes a number of miscellaneous papers, photographs, and trophies. Among the highlights is an Eccles protector lamp, given as a prize by Woodhorn Colliery management for a football tournament (reference ASHMM 2005.142/7).

Unsurprisingly for the area, there is a focus on sport and mining. One item (NRO 07088/9) states how ‘Miners were well known for the wide range of their leisure pursuits. As the Newcastle Chronicle recorded in 1873: ‘The working collier delights in gardening, he is a bird fancier and dog fancier also..He can throw a quoit well and thumb it in most dexterously if required. He is the truest shot on target and the best potshare bowler in summer… In later years other pastimes such as football and cycling became popular.”