Dear members of South Shields Model Yacht Club,

My name is Alexandra Markham and I am working on a project called Played In Tyne & Wear, which is all about exploring and celebrating Tyne & Wear's proud sporting heritage.

The project has been inspired by the recently published book (also called Played in Tyne & Wear) and some of you may have met Lynn Pearson, the author of the book when she visited your club whilst doing research on model boat clubs.

The project is a partnership between Tyne & Wear Museums, English Heritage and the five Tyne & Wear local authorities, and we are staging a year long programme of free events, research projects, talks, trails and archive exhibitions to enable people to discover the area's sporting roots and share their own memories of sport past and present.

As part of the project we would love to do an event around model boating because it's such a fascinating sport and so deeply rooted in the North East.

Played in Tyne & Wear has been invited to take part in the Bridges Festival  (13th & 14th August) which is organised by NewcastleGateshead Initiative. This is going to be a large high profile event taking place on the Tyne river and both sides of the Quayside between the High Level Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.

We would love to work with the local model boating clubs from across Tyne & Wear to  put on an event for the public to find out more about the sport of model boating and its history.  We have come up with the idea of putting on a model boat & yacht regatta on the land by the side of the river, (most likely in a specially built pond or tank) and also having an exhibition of special model boats for people to have a look at. I imagine the event would comprise of a series of demonstrations and races.

The festival organisers are really keen on the idea and would like to create the atmosphere and environment of a life size regatta – they have suggested that they would be able to organise bunting, a brass band and food and drinks tents.

I know that you already organise official regattas throughout the year and wondered if this something that the club or some of your members might be interested in participating in? I’ve seen that Saltwell Park MBC are having a invitation sailing day  on the 14^th August which might mean you would only be available on the 13^th. Would it be possible to come and meet you and tell you a bit more about the idea - to see what you think and get your advice on the best way to do it? It would be wonderful to have South Shields MYC represented, particularly as it is the oldest in the country.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Yours sincerely,

Alexandra

Alexandra Markham

Played in Tyne & Wear coordinator

alexandra.markham@twmuseums.org.uk