Charlie Steel — A Biography Charlie has lived almost all of his life in Monkseaton and was a pupil at Langley Avenue Primary and Junior Schools as well as Monkseaton County Secondary School, on Vernon Drive. In 1967 he entered the printing trade as a Graphic Artist and Photographer where he worked for eight years. In 1975 he decided it was time to move on, and joined Northumbria Police before retiring in 2005. Charlie's interest in local history stems from his Great Grandfather, George Steel, who was a prominent businessman in Whitley Village at the turn of the century. Steels Nurseries were situated on Whitley Road (now Park View) opposite St Paul's Church and occupied the land between what is now the Fat Ox and Ivy Court. He also owned land at West Park, Hillheads. (Much of the Steel family history is featured in a book entitled 'Whitley Bay', written by John Alexander and published by Sutton in 2000.) Charlie has written several local history articles for the ‘Northumbrian’ magazine, but has a particular fascination with the history of Monkseaton and Whitley Bay. He has a wealth of material and old photographs of the area; as a result, he decided to compile 'Monkseaton and Hillheads', which was published by Tempus in 2000. He has just completed his second book, entitled 'The Inns and Taverns of North Shields', which is an illustrated gazetteer and directory which gives a fascinating insight of all the Public Houses in the area over the past two hundred years. Charlie is now working on his third book about Monkseaton, which will be a more in-depth history, and will depict many of the old characters and people, the streets, buildings and businesses, from the past up to the present day. The book should be available in late 2008.   As the developers move in and slowly eliminate much of our history, Charlie found it important to try and preserve our past heritage and memories in the best possible way — Pictures and Photographs, which he believes should be shared with everyone. A website, which has been prepared to compliment Charlie's books as well as ongoing and future projects, may be viewed at monkseaton.info. If you have any old photographs of Monkseaton or the surrounding areas that you would like to share or see included on the website, or if you are able to provide any material or information towards his forthcoming book, please contact Charlie at charlie@monkseaton.info.