The background of Tisa Schulenburg is a remarkable one

One woman might well rank as the most unusual visitor to the coalface of a South Tyneside mine.

The background of Tisa Schulenburg is a remarkable one and yet she loved her time with the miners of County Durham - despite being born into nobility and being the daughter of a Prussian general.

German sculptress and nun Tisa Schulenburg talks to overman Russell Atkinson before sketching miners at Westoe Colliery. | sg

placeholder image — German sculptress and nun Tisa Schulenburg talks to overman Russell Atkinson before sketching miners at Westoe Colliery. | sg

Her circle of friends is said to have included Albert Einstein and she was a student of a Berlin art academy, but she fled from Germany in the 1930s with her husband and came to England.

Countess Elisabeth "Tisa" von der Schulenburg, as she was known, settled in the County Durham area and became well known as a teacher of art and sculpture to the miners of the Durham coalfield.

A Shields Gazette photo from June 1974 shows her talking to overman Russell Atkinson before going down to sketch miners at Westoe Colliery.

Her remarkable life took another twist after the war when she returned to Germany and became a nun in 1950.

Another incredible member of her family was one of her five brothers, Count Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg, who was a prominent German resistance fighter and leading figure in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

We have plenty more reminders of South Tyneside life in 1974.

Bill McNaughton, Michael Ord and Brian Crammon at Marine Park, practising for their scientific expedition to Scotland. | sg

Bill McNaughton, Michael Ord and Brian Crammon were pictured on the lake at Marine Park, where they were practising for their scientific expedition to Scotland. Get in touch if you can tell us more about it.

Members of the Prince Youth Club who were preparing to put on a party for 40 children from homes in South Tyneside. | sg

Members of the Prince Youth Club were preparing for a party that they planned to give for 40 children from Monkton and Prudhoe homes for special needs children.

The outside of Staiano's Espresso Bar, Frederick Street, in a Shields Gazette view from 1974. Tell us if you remember paying a visit. | sg

And an espresso bar called Staiano’s in Frederick Street was also pictured by a Shields Gazette photographer.

Elsewhere more than 200 pupils at West Park School staged a strike and marched to the Shields Gazette offices to protest about the 20p daily bus fares they had to pay while relocated to the Westoe Girls' School following a fire.

And a pack of 12 "wild and savage" dogs caused chaos on Selbourne Street over a three-week period, which included a two-year-old boy being bitten on a swing.

Tell us if you remember any of these highlights of 1974. Get in touch to share your own memories by emailing [email protected]