A Sunderland-based TikTok star is bringing history to life for a new audience with viral videos covering everything from a 'haunted' Greggs to forgotten castles.
Kathrine Taylor, 28, has held a keen interest in local history since she was a child growing up on Wearside and set up her popular social media account, entitled North East Nostalgic, last August.
Since then, many of her posts have captured the imaginations of TikTok users from the region and beyond with videos covering such quirks as the Edwardian-style fish and chips shop at the Beamish Museum, the curious backround to how Whitley Bay got its name and the paranormal past of a Sunderland branch of Greggs.
Read more: The amazing 100-year-old travelogue of first 'modern' woman to walk Hadrian's Wall
One can also find out about the intriguing details of the skeleton of a nine-and-a-half-foot Roman 'giant' which was found in Sunderland in the 1970s, as well as spooky sightings at the Stadium of Light - purported to be the most haunted football stadium in the world!
Such is the intrigue that has been generated that all of the above gained in excess of 300,000 views apiece with the page now boasting nearly 23,000 dedicated followers.
Kathrine spoke to ChronicleLive to explain the origins of her nostalgic account and express her delight at its burgeoning success. She said: "I've had a love of history ever since I was little.
"My grandparents were really big on family history and so I was always surrounded by old photographs and I was brought up going to Beamish and that sort of environment.
"I set up my TikTok account last August and it just went from there really. [The response] has been quite overwhelming but also I feel really proud to be bringing some of the history of the North East to the people who may live here but maybe don't know about bits of history around them and may want to know a bit more!
"My first video was on Hylton Castle, which is one of the closest historical places to me and there is a ghost story attached to that. So I did that video just quickly before I went to work and then did a voiceover and posted it straight away. I carried on filming little bits just in my spare time and it's just gone on from there."
For Katherine, a big motivation in posting her TikToks is to bring attention to the history of the region and to show the area and its past in the best possible light.
She explained: "I always hope that it will make people look up at the buildings around them and visit the places that I've posted about instead of going elsewere from the North East."
"It's really important to me to show people the past that we have had with interesting stories that bring the history of the region to life.
"I love showing anything a bit weird and things that people maybe wouldn't necessarily expect which can become a bit of a talking point such as the 'haunted' Greggs or the Hell's Angels Chapter House in Sunderland!"
"I've had people commenting- from people wanting to learn a bit more and also people who may have a bit more to say about subjects.
"A lot of my followers are older and often they have memories more than what I have experienced aged only 28- so it's nice to learn from them also."
"My audience is really lovely, it's really diverse and it's great to show the North East off. I'm really passionate about it."
Discussing some of her most popular posts to date, Katherine spoke of her pride at introducing people in the North East to interesting bits of history on their doorsteps.
Kathrine said: "The Greggs video was part of a series for October as part of a 'Spooky Sunderland and North East' series so I was looking into all different haunted places online.
"I just thought it was really interesting that a Greggs in Sunderland was haunted- I thought it would make a really interesting story!
"I also did a video about the toilets on Wearmouth Bridge. I hadn't been there myself but had saw photos online. That went crazy as well.
"I like to think every time people go to the match they peer over the bridge and have a look for themselves!"
She added that she hopes that bringing attention to historic sites in the North East may help to bring more vistors from further afield.
"I really feel proud of the area. I feel historical places have a great knock-on effect for the local economy and so anything I can do to encourage people to investigate and go to historical places is a really good thing.
"I post a lot of videos of Beamish and other places and it might just inspire younger people that think history is just for old people that it is actually for everyone and it's well worth a look."
Looking forward, Kathrine is now filming content ahead of Christmas which will be released in the coming weeks.
"I've just finished filming at Beamish actually. I've been filming some nice historical Christmas content ahead of a an idea for a series next month."
"It's definitely a growing platform- it's doing really well."
You can follow North East Nostalgic on various social networks:
- Instagram: northeastnostalgic
- TikTok: northeastnostalic
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