This iconic figure has been transformed by North Tyneside's 'little digiladies'

The Wooden Dolly in Northumberland Square has been brought in to this century by local schoolgirls, within the North Shields Heritology Project.
Pupils photograph The Wooden DollyPupils photograph The Wooden Dolly
Pupils photograph The Wooden Dolly

Twenty girls from five North Tyneside Primary Schools, dubbed ‘the Little DigiLadies’, photographed the Dolly statue from all angles.

Heritologist volunteer Katy Hackers then used cutting edge software to ‘knit’ the photographs together to create a 3D image of the Dolly – a process called photogrammetry.

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The girls were given a presentation about the Wooden Dolly, and its creator Robert “Mouseman” Thompson, in St Columbas Church in Northumberland Square.

Digiladies get to work in PROTO labDigiladies get to work in PROTO lab
Digiladies get to work in PROTO lab

The Mouseman nickname was from his trademark image of a mouse carved into his work, that is evident on The Dolly itself.

Prior to this, the Heritologists took the DigiLadies to the Tech Lab PROTO in Gateshead.

Rob Currie and Penny Day, STEM Ambassadors for Digital Catapult hosted the event, and the girls received an inspiring talk on careers in the digital sector from Justine Colla, marketing manager at AtomHawk Design, who are based at PROTO.

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The girls later became the first to receive “Honorary Heritologist” Certificates.

The North Shields Heritology Project aims to bring the area’s heritage to life using technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Immersive Sound.

If you have any old stories or memories of life in North Shields and The Fish Quay, contact The Heritologists at [email protected].