I lived in number 20 on Black Road in the 1950s. This was on the same side as The Clock Hotel. Our flat was the second block immediately after the miners cottages. Nothing special about that except the allotment backing onto our garden was owned by Sunderland centre half Fred Hall. I remember he was a very quiet man and his hobby was keeping homing pigeons. He came from wherever he lived on a bike. I think this was at a time when Sunderland was known as the Bank of England club (not sure about that). The open land behind the allotments was known as The Quarry. It was well known for a group of gamblers to gather and play pitch and toss behind the Clock Hotel after dole day. Some of the local youngsters were paid a small sum to be "look outs".
In the back garden of one of the flats in the second group of similar homes further along Black Road, there was a covered mineshaft - a least that is what we believed it to be.. This was a circular brick construction a few feet high and about 15 to 20 feet in diameter.