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A port city on the north-east coast of England, formerly famous as a shipbuilding and coal exporting centre, and now for the manufacture of motor vehicles for Nissan. The people of Sunderland are knows as Mackems. Until recently, Sunderland was the largest urban centre in the UK without a cinema. St Bede was born at Monkton near Sunderland.

A port city on the north-east coast of England, formerly famous as a shipbuilding and coal exporting centre, and now for the manufacture of motor vehicles for Nissan. The people of Sunderland are knows as Mackems. Until recently, Sunderland was the largest urban centre in the UK without a cinema. St Bede was born at Monkton near Sunderland. Lewis Carrol wrote 'Alice in Wonderland' after having a drug-induced exdperiencxe in Sunderland, a city he visited frequently because of family connections in the area. Much of the work - and of 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' - contains images and symbols from Sunderland and adjacent areas of County Durham (eg the phrase 'my beamish boy' relates to the village of Beamish in NW Durham). In recognition of this, Sunderland City Council have placed a large statue of a walrus next to the lake in the city centre Mowbray Park.