Westoe, St. George's Avenue, Planetarium

The college was formerly known as the Marine and Technical College, and was founded by Dr Thomas Winterbottom, a former surgeon-general in Sierra Leone. After spending 4 years in Africa, he returned to South Shields in 1796 to take over his father's practice. He wrote an account of his time in Africa which was published in 1803, and which contains the description of African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), for which he is known. The college is still one of the largest merchant navy training colleges in the United Kingdom, and attracts students from as far afield as India and Africa. Courses are offered across the whole spectrum of marine education including navigation, operations, mechanical and electrical engineering, communications, and catering.
The college was formerly based in Ocean Road, South Shields in a purpose-built building opened in 1869. This is now a listed public house called Kirkpatricks. There is a marine simulation centre at the main Westoe Campus and additional college sites all over South Shields such as the Marine Survival Centre on Wapping Street; the Radar Station next to Ocean Beach Pleasure Park and the St. Hilda's Centre on Coronation Street. However, due to new advances in technology, the planetarium and observatory have not been used for this purpose for more than twenty years. All of the equipment was relocated to Stockton’s Wynyard Planetarium & Observatory on Teesside. The observatory space now houses a multi-faith chaplaincy. LOCAL LIST