Books by Steve Watson

Sunderland's proud history encompasses its beginnings as a major centre of religious learning in the early medieval period and its growth into a major port and shipbuilding centre on the mouth of the River Wear. Today, the city and the surrounding Wearside area is a major centre of car manufacturing and other industries in the North East. In this book author Steve Watson investigates the rich supernatural heritage of this city and the surrounding Wearside area, not only the well-known phenomena but also lesser-known hauntings from the past and present day, including ghostly happenings at the North East Land Sea and Air Museum on the site of an old airfield near Washington and mysterious sightings at the Phoenix Lodge, the oldest purpose-built Masonic lodge in the world, and many more. Paranormal Sunderland takes the reader into the world of ghosts and spirits in the city, following their footsteps into the unknown. These tales of haunted places, supernatural happenings and weird phenomena will delight the ghost hunters and intrigue everybody who knows Sunderland and Wearside.

The Character Coach's Playbook is not just a book, it is a tool! With millions of athletes playing today, it is time to coach the coaches about coaching. Very few (Little League through high school)coaches have any training in the arena of character development. Every great coach from Lombardi to Bowden and Osborne to Wooden understood the importance of personal character. Steve and Huey have produced a practical guide to assist and train coaches in this most important endeavor. The playbook sets out weekly characteristics to explain and emphasize throughout their practices so that they develop the inner being, as well as the outer being. This book is meant to be a constant reminder that most athletes will not play beyond Little League. Instead of focusing all coaching efforts on the short-lived life of playing, learn to coach for a quality of life.Every coach has a unique opportunity to influence their players. Remember coach "they will always remember coach."

Newcastle, the largest city in the North East, has a long and proud history stretching back to Roman and Saxon times. Its position defending the mouth of the River Tyne gave it an importance in the medieval border wars with Scotland and by the sixteenth century it controlled the coal trade from Tyneside to the rest of England. The city became an industrial powerhouse in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the legacy of civic buildings, industrial heritage and housing can still be seen throughout the city. Today the city is as well known as a cultural and commercial centre as an industrial city, and its distinctive past and present-day identity is a vital part of the city's heritage. Newcastle is steeped in the supernatural and paranormal and many places both grand and everyday have rich and complex stories to tell. In this book author Steve Watson investigates the rich supernatural heritage of this city at places such as the castle keep, the site of infamous local gaols, and the nearby Black Gate, which has seen hundreds of years of the bloody history of Newcastle; the Literary and Philosophical Society, said to be home to sixteen ghosts ranging from a Witchfinder General to a little girl; the Tyneside Theatre and Opera House where a stagehand and a performer died tragically; the City Hall; and many more. Paranormal Newcastle takes the reader into the world of ghosts and spirits in the city. These tales of haunted places, supernatural happenings and weird phenomena will delight the ghost hunters and fascinate and intrigue everybody who knows Newcastle.

The 'visual' has long played a crucial and formative role in structuring the experiences, associations, expectations and understandings of heritage. This edited collection explores the production, use and consumption of visual imagery as an integral part of heritage within its broader social and political context.