Erasing Ironopolis – A Sad Day

Large drinks all round for Mayor Ben Houchen and his ‘independent’ Teesworks Heritage Committee.

Committee Members

Co-Chair – Kate Willard OBE Chair of the Board of Directors Teesside International Airport Ltd and also its holding company Goosepool

Co-Chair – Jacob Young MP. Director Teesworks – South Tees Development Corporation

Member – John Baker. Former Member of South Tees Development Corporation, Director South Tees Site Company

Member – Dr. Tosh Warwick. Heritage Consultant

Member – Laura Case, Head of Culture & Tourism. Representing Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council

Image via Change.org

Flotsam

In 1859 a great storm, which became known as the Royal Charter Storm, caused between fifty and sixty vessels to be wrecked within sight of the Tees Bay and Hartlepool. This tragic event was the catalyst for the construction of the South Gare. Work began in 1863 and was completed in 1888

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Horizons by Pat Walls

Warrenby Dunes

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Wandering The Gare

The future does not yet exist, the past has ceased to exist

Arnold Toynbee

Blast

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Ozymandias. P. B. Shelley.

Irrelevant

The tragedy of this has little to do with new technology as such, or so-called post-industrialism. It stems, it bleeds, not from the fact that science has discovered electronics, but from the fact that everything which constituted the loves of those living here is now being treated as irrelevant.

John Berger. Understanding a Photograph. Penguin Classics 2013.

Warrenby

Wandering Warrenby Marshes with Graham Vasey.

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Warrenby

Formerly in Kirkleatham, this is a collection of cottages attached to the ironworks. Now entirely obliterated is the medieval chapel of St. Sepulchre, and a burial ground. Gone too is the large 18th century grain warehouse. Over fisherman’s crossing is a road leading to Tod Point or South Gare, at the mouth of the Tees commenced in 1861

Cleveland An A-Z Guide by Alec Wright. Dalesman Books 1972

British Steel – South Teesside 1974

Mark Lawton very kindly sent me a scan of a book that he’d recently found. It’s a lovely snapshot from 1974 of the South Teesside Works when it employed 16,000 people.

You can download the whole book using the link at the bottom of the page

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BSC South Teesside 1974Download

Adventurous Play: Experiencing the post industrial landscape of Redcar Blast Furnace

Royal Institute of British Architects Presidents Medals 2016

Part 2 Project 2016
Hollie Welch
Northumbria University | UK

Unlike many industrial relics, the Redcar Blast Furnace has a positive association with the local population, and stands as a monument to industrial Teesside which should not be lost following closure and decommissioning.

By repurposing the site through the provision of a climbing hub and offshore survival training facility, the Blast Furnace presents exciting opportunities to develop the offshore industry sector emerging in the area and to celebrate local heritage.

Hollie Welch

Link http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Entry-41641#

Wandering Kirkleatham

The storms have blown through, apart from a large Barn Owl patrolling the field margins, the industrial estate is deserted

Kirkleatham 16 C 2

Westlidum – lid(e), Weslide, Westlidum, Westude 1068 DB

Livum 1221 Guis

Lisum 1268 Ebor

Kyrkelidun 1181 P  Kirkledom 1491 Sanct

The Place-Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire by A.H. Smith 1928