It was a summer which no one who lived through it will ever forget.
This retro Shields Gazette photo gallery takes you back to that long, hot period where people flocked to the coast to cool down at places including the South Foreshore.
In case you missed it;
1. When it all started
All the fun of the fair at South Shields Amusement Park in 1976, just as the weather turned warmer. Little did these people know what was to come for months ahead. | sg Photo: Shields Gazette
2. A busy day on the beach
Packed onto the South Foreshore in the 70s heatwave. | sg Photo: sg
3. Memories by the bucketload
Women fill their buckets from a public standpipe during the 1976 drought. | nw
4. Year of the ladybirds
1976 was a freak year for swarms of ladybirds. There were millions of them. | nw
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