Tuesday, 14 April 2009

1230 The Liquidator and Northern River South Shields Riverside

In fact after feeling that I was falling behind my original schedule for the week, the situation progressed rapidly. Last night I made a mess of printing the photos for Wearmouth and then decided that the writing needed some changes and then noticed a minor spelling error on the previous writing of the wartime for the history sequence. Having sorted this out and completed the writings for Sunday and to-days postings, I completed a run of 11 level 2 games against the computer in two session and closed the programme and promised myself to resist any inclination to reopen before tomorrow, however good I feel about myself and feeling of alertness. This I managed to do and this morning I completed games 11-20, forgetting that the target was 21 and this has now been accomplished.

My main occupation overnight was review existing information and undertake further research for Rivera the South Shields riverside section. This was a frustrating as I could not find two pieces of information, he number of merchant seamen from the town killed during World War Two together with the percentage of these who were Muslims. The other was the number of vehicles which used to be transported across the Tyne by the ferries compared with those now using the road Tunnel, given that preliminary work for the second Tunnel has commenced. Deciding on the photographs was enjoyable and the selection governed the structure of the writing which spilled on to four pages which affected the subsequent layout. I will do those on rocks and inlets next.

I have also attended to some of the in tray remembering to cancel the Ancestry UK Family History account noting that it could not have been automatically renewed because the number on my credit card had changed when reissued. I hope to go back to Ancestry sometime in the future although this may not be until the 2010 and ten census is made available. The UK subscription is excellent value because in addition to having all the published census information and a wide range of other databases the whole of the National index of registered births marriages and deaths is available, all on searchable databases.

The change is credit numbers also affected the ability to log on which needed a phone call and a special e mail. I then ordered some vouchers for free cinema tickets divided between Cineworld, the majority and a couple for Vue which is the chain at Croydon High Street. This reminds to check if there has been any progress in a south London Cineworld which I could visit by taking a train or the Tube train, There is one at Wandsworth where the current schedule includes four Bollywood films although the rest of the schedule is the same as that at West India Quay in London Docklands which I continue to visit having used on my trips to London for a number of years and then stopped when I upgraded the monthly pass to cover the West End. The extra expenditure of £36 was more than offset by seeing two major international films on each visit and in fact the savings largely paid for the rest of subscription so that I was significant in profit compared to the cost of buy individual tickets. The position changed when I loved my mother north and I found that to spent the subscription gong to see films which were more entertainment than art or otherwise challenging. With the returning to live theatre and concerts there was less inclination to go to the cinema unless I was confident about the quality of the film, especially as the internet mail DVD subscription was proving such good value, enabling to see the work individuals directors such as Ingmar Bergman and Almodovar.

There was time to keep one eye on The Liquidator, a silly spy romp of a film with Rod Taylor with a host of good actors such as Trevor Howard, Wilfred Howard White, Eric Sykes John Le Mesurier. David Tomlinson and Derek Nimmo. This light heartedness was what I needed to prepare for yet another political bombshell, before settling down to be impressed with the first of a short series of programmes about the Queen at Work, which included her most recent state visit to the United States, where they appreciate leaders and ceremonial more than the average Britisher who has come to be adversely affected by the portrayal of the Royal family in the media as dysfunctional. Apart from the Queen who was outstanding throughout and Prince Philip, the Royal reporter of the Sun did his position no harm. Then there was the question of free speech and the Oxford Union, and the imprisonment of a British Teacher in Aden for allowing her children to call a toy Mohamed, all subjects I will talk more about tomorrow, or begin later this evening when other things have been attended although there is St Pancras part 5 and the latest Spooks and perhaps the film Forty Shades of Blue

South Shields Riverside
Although there has been a port on the river Tyne for 2000 years it was not until 1850 that Newcastle's monopoly was shared with Gateshead. Tynemouth, South Shields and the Admiralty. The main use of the Port during the industrial revolution was coal with 23 millions tons transported when production of the Northumbria and Durham mines was at their peak and the joke about taking coals to Newcastle has been turned around with coal being imported..
My focus for 2007 has been on the mouth of the river where I live at South Shields, although a visit was made by ferry to the other side to listen to jazz on a Sunday afternoon, and where by coincidence the stage was set to one side of the Rock of Gibraltar, a few metres away from the ruins of Tynemouth Priory and Castle, and which is the first photograph taken from an open part of North Bents Park on the Lawe Top, and can also be seen in the third photo at the Eastern end of the Hill, featuring the Beacon erected as a navigation aid in 1832.

One of the first tasks of the Port of Tyne Commissioners was to commence the creation of the two long masonry piers which enabled shipping to avoid the notorious Black Middens Rocks and Herd Sand. The second photo on this page shows the South Shields Pier and every year there is a run between this pier and that at Sunderland, arranged by the Sunderland and the South Shields Running clubs, a distance of about seven and a half miles. The fourth photo on the page shows the new mouth of the river hotel overlooked by a long block of flats on the opposite bank. The length of the piers at South Shields and Tynemouth, together with storm damage, meant that it was fifty years before the piers were completed.

The second set of photographs includes the new Ferry Landing at South Shields, with one of the three ferries also shown on this page and in addition to the all year crossings, the ferries are also used for Summer trip 1s to Newcastle and for private functions. Before the opening of the first Tyne Tunnel, the ferries were the main way to cross the river by car without having to travel the dozen miles to Gateshead There are known to have been crossings from the fourteenth century and in Victorian times paddle steamers made twenty one stops between Newcastle and South Shields. In 2001 there was a proposal to create a new river bus service with seventeen landing stages but it can be assumed that lack of public support led the idea to being dropped. Preliminary work on a second Tyne Tunnel has commenced. There is also a cycle and pedestrian tunnel crossing at Jarrow.

This set of photographs shows the important sea rescue and safety training station, and the Marine Training courses at South Tyneside College are moving from their present location to become part of the imaginative and comprehensive development of major stretches of the South Tyneside river bank, from South Shields, Jarrow and Hebburn to Gateshead.

It was not until 1859 that docks were created in South Shields and these stretched along the whole of the river in three areas. Below the Lawe Top where fuel storage tanks dominated the skyline there is now a little village of terraced housing and flats and just before the ferry landing there is a second new development around former docks which includes a set of beautiful model sailing ships built from steel, and other public artworks have been placed on little piers and boardwalks. Opposite the ferry landing stage on a post war building at one end of Market Square a mural fills the entire wall space.

The land from the roadway to the ferry landing stage and along Harton Low Staiths to the former Customs House has been cleared and this provides spectacular views across and up the river, so much so that during lunch times local workers and families sit on the grassy banks and picnic while river watching or waiting for the next ferry. The transfer of a major supermarket within the town to a nearby site together with proposals for other cultural developments should further improve the use of this space.

It was not until 1828 that the Tyne Commission Quay was built on the opposite bank of the river and Bergen and Olsen Lines commenced passenger trips to Scandinavia. DFDS Seaways now operate a daily passenger, vehicle and goods service, from the impressive new terminal which includes automated baggage handling, six check in desks and covered walkways. 2000 passengers are catered for in a turn around service with over three quarters of a million passengers a year. The daily services are presently to Amsterdam and two or three times a weeks there are services to Bergen, Stevanger and Huaghesend, according to weather. The highlight of 2007 was the arrival of Queen Elizabeth 2 to the new Quay, and a second visit is planned on her farewell tour before becoming a Hotel in Dubai.

In some respects the heyday of the Rivermouth as a port was after the Great War. In 1936, at Jarrow, a shipping staith for timber was created and the timber yards remain a prominent and thriving enterprises to this day. In the 1950's the decision was taken to concentrate shipping to the river mouth and away from Newcastle, and Gateshead and where in the latter part of the century the Quayside has developed into an area for culture, recreation, residential accommodation and the new Law Courts and legal services, and more recently for the new Gateshead College.

In 1953 an iron ore import handling terminal was created at South Shields, and even as late as 1985 the Queen mother opened a new Coal Terminal. Both have vanished along with the railway network to and from the pits. The adaptation to changing economic circumstances has continued with the Port of Tyne and Middlesbrough mow used for the transport of completed cars from the Nissan plant at Washington, Sunderland. The photograph of the Heogh Autoliner shows the size of vessels which still use this part of the Tyne river. Other photographs show a drilling rig being repaired at the McNulty yard at Tyne Dock.

The social life of the port used be located at Milldam with the former Customs House now an important cultural centre providing a 440 seat multi media use theatre with the most comfortable seating ever encountered. There is a separate 145 seat cinema studio, three art Gallery areas, and in the adjacent building, in the process of being physically linked. there is a rehearsal/dance studio/meeting area with a lighting rig and wall to wall mirrors, and a separate new community use area. There is a large restaurant and bar, the Green room, which can also provide entertainments.

Approaching Mill Dam from the town centre one crosses onto an amusing area of public artwork consisting of bar/nightclub stands on a site where once a lively night club existed before such facilities were centralized in another part of the town. On the road to the Customs House there are three public houses which now offer TV sports and live music to attract customers. Other buildings including a church have been turned into private flats and dwellings, although the Mission to Seamen also retains a facility.

A reminder of the extent to which this was a seafaring town is the statue unveiled by Lady Mountbatten in 1990 adjacent to the Customs House. The number of merchant men who lost their lives was considerable, including many from North Africa as seamen and their families from the Yemen, Aden, and Somalia, as well as African, India and Asia made their home in the town in early part of the twentieth century and just before the outbreak of World War II there were 2000 of them living and working from South Shields. The strength of the Muslim Community has been such that in the same week that Her Majesty, the Queen, celebrated her 25th anniversary to the throne, Mohamed Ali, the World Heavyweight Champion Boxer participated in marriage at the Mosque, attracting vast crowds and was guest of honour at a lunch at the Town Hall which I attended and witnessed the impact of his charisma on the ladies of all ages present.

The rear Customs House car park is the best place to view the line of white silhouette artworks with a marine theme which have been attached to a wall out of reach of the graffiti artists

In between Mill Dam and Middle Dock and between Middle Dock and Tyne Dock (the modern Port of Tyne docks and Port Authority) the local authority has published a comprehensive strategy and plan for the development of these riverside districts with housing of various kinds, commercial enterprises, and recreational and cultural facilities which will complement those in and around the Ocean Road area. There has been a series of public consultations and presentations. The transformation is underway with the announcement of a new call centre providing 1000 badly needed new jobs.

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