Page 132 - Demo

132 Moti RajIndian restaurants and takeaways are now a common sight across Britain, but in the early 1970s you would have been hard pushed to get a %u2018cerry%u2019 in Sunderland. But the arrival of Syed Jamal Meah and Muhamed Matin Meah to Wearside led to the setting up in 1974 of what must be Sunderland%u2019s longest-serving restaurant.One of the first places to sell Indian food in Sunderland (the Melting Pot and Delhi Durber on Hylton Road were two others, the Moti Raj set up on Church Lane next to the Minster and has been serving customers there ever since. It is especially popular with theatre goers and matchdays.Syed Jamal Meah arrived in Sunderland from Kidderminster in the West Midlands (just him?). As well as running the restaurant, he became a big figure in Sunderland%u2019s growing Bangladeshi community. He helped set up the city%u2019s first mosque on Chester Road, the Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre in Tatham Street.The Moti Raj%u2019s location on church lane is one of Sunderland%u2019s oldest streets. Or more accurately, Bishopwearmouth%u2019s oldest street. Sunderland was actually the name given to the fishing village closer to the mouth of the river on the south side, with the area around the minster being the separate settlement of Bishopwearmouth (the village on the north side of the river was Monkwearmouth). As Sunderland grew as a result of the Industrial Revolution to take in the other settlements, so did the name. Over the centuries the commercial heart of Sunderland has shifted up high street, especially after the opening of the first Wearmouth Bridge in 1796 encouraged the flow of people and trade through Fawcett Street. The result is the irony that much of what is now Sunderland city centre (the town) isn%u2019t actually Sunderland! Perhaps it%u2019s for the best though - Bishopwearmouth Association Football Club hasn%u2019t quite got the same ring to it%u2026Left: Church Lane in 1941. Credit: Sunderland Antiquarian Society