Apprenticeships and Engineering with Common Room

In 2018, Dr Andy Clark led a pilot study investigating the apprenticeship scheme at the Sigmund Pumps factory in Gateshead during the Second World War. Andy then developed a new oral history project with the Common Room of the Great North (formerly the Newcastle Mining Institute) that looked at the past, present and future of engineering in the North East of England. Interviews with current engineers, trainers and local businesses investigated and assessed the changing nature of engineering. This added to the new oral history archive at the Common Room and contributed to a public exhibition when the building reopened in 2021. 

Last modified: Sat, 23 May 2026 16:48:51 BST