South Gare
If you drive through the East Cleveland town of Redcar and continued through an area called Warrenby and on past the collection of small business premises, car garages, recycling and waste centres that are staggered either side of Tod Point road there lies a small roundabout.
If you don’t know the area and reach this roundabout then you have two options. Either assume the road ends there and you’ve gone the wrong way before heading back or the alternative and far more interesting choice, is to follow the small road that leads off to the right.
If you decided to take this road then you would quickly cross an old railway line that unless you watched your speed you would fairly rattle your suspension.
But once you cross over it…
You cross a line into a place that is surreal, dramatic and conflicted giving the visitor a view of heavy industry, natural beauty, cutting edge technological advances, history and heritage and traditional ways of life that are now either hanging by a thread or thriving against all the odds.
You will find wide open spaces that through the bleakness of a grey and windy day provide an exhilaration and freedom like you get when standing on the top of a high mountain with the wind lashing your face and yet at the same time there is an equally crushing sense of claustrophobia as the dark walls of industry close in around you.
The area is draped with a sense of history. A sense of time stopped and yet rapidly changing. Clashing together like a wave smashing against a sea wall.
The area you’re now in is called South Gare.
A man-made area of reclaimed land and breakwater on the southern side of the mouth of the River Tees. Constructed from January 1861 to 1884, using 5 million tonnes of solid blast furnace slag and 18,000 tons of cement that were cast and moved into position along the banks of the River Tees. No mean feat. These were then back filled using around 70,000 tons of material dredged from the river bed.
Coming in at a cost of £219,393 the Gare officially opened on October 25, 1888, and offered a safe harbour in stormy weather to ships sailing off the coast and allowed for the dredging of the River Tees entrance.
During the construction of South Gare a rail line was also built from the Warrenby iron works to help carry the men and materials. When construction was complete the rail line was used, wind permitting, with a sail ‘bogey’ to help move visitors, servicemen, lifeboatmen and lighthouse crew members out to the lighthouse and gun installations close to the end of South Gare that guarded and protected against a multitude of possible offenders either through the actions of man or nature.
As you drive along the tight road littered with pot holes that are more akin to the craters left after an artillery barrage you pass by the remains of what was once a monolith of fire and steel and iron that once represented the industrial heritage of Teesside and which was visible all across the region.
On Wednesday 23 November 2022, the blast furnace at Redcar was brought down in a controlled explosion. Redcar's former steelworks has dominated the Teesside skyline and South Gare for four decades.
Finished in 1979, the blast furnace stood 365ft tall and was ranked the second largest of its kind in Europe. The site was mothballed in 2010 before being restarted in an attempt by SSI Industries to breath life into the region when it took over ownership from Tata Steel in 2012, but it entered liquidation and fell silent three years later with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs thus signifying the end of steel production on Teesside. The demolition of the site is part of ongoing regeneration plans on the Teesworks site.
Beyond the former steelworks the road bends right and runs through the high banked sand dunes draped with Marram grasses that dance and sway in tune with the breeze.
If you look through the dune slacks (or dips) and if it’s low tide you might then catch a glimpse of the wreckage of an old ship. Held in the unrelenting grip of Bran sands as it slowly rots away with the ebb and flow of each new tide. The name of this vessel and the story of how it came to be held here is lost to history.
The observant among you will also see what is left of the military defences. Bunkers, pill-boxes, look-out posts, former gun emplacements. All that remains of the strategic defences the area had there during World War Two. Most are now overgrown, bricked up or have toppled due to erosion as nature wins the war.
Further along you pass Paddy’s Hole. A small harbour in the lagoon on the Teesmouth side of South Gare constructed from the same slag that was used in the larger construction of the Gare. It is named Paddy’s Hole after the many Irishmen who helped build the South Gare. It forms a safe harbour for the small fishing boats to tie up. The amount of boats that actually put out to sea now is reducing with depressing regularity as the fishing industry wanes.
Although some hardy souls do still do manage to make the lonely trip through the sea fret and cold early mornings and make their way out of the mouth of the River and into the grey north sea although more to check their lobster and crab pots rather than to fish. Quotas, low fish prices, the general effects of overfishing and increasing seal populations have all reduced the worth and a decent living that could have been made with 20ft of net has now gone and you now need 40ft or 60ft to catch the same. But then the prices have dropped. It’s a vicious cycle. The seals don’t seem to mind.
Many of the fishermen who owned and operated these boats are part of the South Gare Fisherman’s Association and along with their rod wielding brethren who fish from the end of the breakwater they own some of the ‘Green Huts’ tucked discreetly into the dunes.
Those huts with the smell of coke and wood burning stoves drifting on the morning breeze out of the stovepipe’s are constructed from wood gathered together over the years.
Some are built from reclaimed wood left after homes were demolished in the Southbank area of Middlesbrough a number of years ago. Each of them maintaining the rule of using green paint to help them blend into the landscape and yet they are as different and individual on the inside as their respective owners.
Each owner supposedly conforming to the old rules of no women being allowed on the site after 8pm in the evening. Despite the severity of wind, rain or storms that might sweep across this area over the years the huts remain standing. They might take a beating every once in a while but they remain. As do their owners. Holding on.
Looking beyond the huts and a kilometre and a half out to sea you will see the wind farm. The jewel in the EDF energy crown along the northeast coast. Twenty-seven modern sentinels to environmental technology standing tall at 126 metres and when all are fully turning produce enough low carbon electricity to supply the annual needs of approximately 40,000 homes, or the equivalent of most of the households in Redcar and Cleveland. It will they say, offset the annual release of approximately 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Like two gangs in a street fight nature faces off in a constant battle against the industrial. Facing each other across the breakwater.
Both fighting for control of the environment.
Perched at the north end of the breakwater is the Lighthouse. Built in 1884 and currently owned by PD Ports the light stands 43 feet high on blocks of concrete each weighing between 40 and up to 300 tons. Using a paraffin wick lamp initially until around 1955 when it was replaced with a mains powered 500 Watt tungsten filament incandescent light bulb with a back-up generator just in case.
Flashing every 12 seconds when in use it can be visible out to 17 nautical miles (20 miles) giving warning to those making their ways along the coastline or to those heading into Teesport like the frequent container ships turning and meeting up with the pilots whose headquarters are based on the breakwater. Those pilots who regardless of conditions clamber aboard unfamiliar ships before guiding them safely through the meandering Tees until they are safely moored at their respective docks ready to load or discharge their cargo.
South Gare. A once secret place unless you knew about it now draws day trippers on weekends and bank holidays. Keen to escape the ever increasing crowds in Redcar, Saltburn and neighbouring seaside towns. Virtually all year round there will be an eclectic mix of camper vans parked along the road to the lighthouse. Drawn to the solitude and van life. When conditions allow surfers who know gather to ride one of the best right-handers in the country. Another secret spot lost due to the increasing popularity of the place. Kite surfers skim across the water in the river mouth when the winds blow hard.
Container ships glide silently through the water as they head out into the North Sea. Carrying everything from potash to metals, steel, agricultural and forest products and Liquefied Petroleum Gas. A way out to the Tyne, Dogger, Fisher, Forties and German bight fishing areas and the gateway to Holland, Denmark and Norway. With its sand-dunes and grasses in the foreground and its varied wildlife. It’s foxes and deer that can occasionally be seen making their way cautiously through the scrubland. With the sea birds that are native to these shores or the more exotic varieties that stop over when the winds blow them off course. With the on-going battle between the industrial and the natural and with its visible and invisible history it truly becomes a melting pot for the imagination.
But you never know what might happen. Despite looking the same it is constantly changing.
Rumours now among the fishermen at the Gare talk of South Tees Development Corporation plans to try and develop the area and the worries are that significant changes may affect the area through that development so watch this space as this area might begin to turn in another direction soon.
Read MoreIf you don’t know the area and reach this roundabout then you have two options. Either assume the road ends there and you’ve gone the wrong way before heading back or the alternative and far more interesting choice, is to follow the small road that leads off to the right.
If you decided to take this road then you would quickly cross an old railway line that unless you watched your speed you would fairly rattle your suspension.
But once you cross over it…
You cross a line into a place that is surreal, dramatic and conflicted giving the visitor a view of heavy industry, natural beauty, cutting edge technological advances, history and heritage and traditional ways of life that are now either hanging by a thread or thriving against all the odds.
You will find wide open spaces that through the bleakness of a grey and windy day provide an exhilaration and freedom like you get when standing on the top of a high mountain with the wind lashing your face and yet at the same time there is an equally crushing sense of claustrophobia as the dark walls of industry close in around you.
The area is draped with a sense of history. A sense of time stopped and yet rapidly changing. Clashing together like a wave smashing against a sea wall.
The area you’re now in is called South Gare.
A man-made area of reclaimed land and breakwater on the southern side of the mouth of the River Tees. Constructed from January 1861 to 1884, using 5 million tonnes of solid blast furnace slag and 18,000 tons of cement that were cast and moved into position along the banks of the River Tees. No mean feat. These were then back filled using around 70,000 tons of material dredged from the river bed.
Coming in at a cost of £219,393 the Gare officially opened on October 25, 1888, and offered a safe harbour in stormy weather to ships sailing off the coast and allowed for the dredging of the River Tees entrance.
During the construction of South Gare a rail line was also built from the Warrenby iron works to help carry the men and materials. When construction was complete the rail line was used, wind permitting, with a sail ‘bogey’ to help move visitors, servicemen, lifeboatmen and lighthouse crew members out to the lighthouse and gun installations close to the end of South Gare that guarded and protected against a multitude of possible offenders either through the actions of man or nature.
As you drive along the tight road littered with pot holes that are more akin to the craters left after an artillery barrage you pass by the remains of what was once a monolith of fire and steel and iron that once represented the industrial heritage of Teesside and which was visible all across the region.
On Wednesday 23 November 2022, the blast furnace at Redcar was brought down in a controlled explosion. Redcar's former steelworks has dominated the Teesside skyline and South Gare for four decades.
Finished in 1979, the blast furnace stood 365ft tall and was ranked the second largest of its kind in Europe. The site was mothballed in 2010 before being restarted in an attempt by SSI Industries to breath life into the region when it took over ownership from Tata Steel in 2012, but it entered liquidation and fell silent three years later with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs thus signifying the end of steel production on Teesside. The demolition of the site is part of ongoing regeneration plans on the Teesworks site.
Beyond the former steelworks the road bends right and runs through the high banked sand dunes draped with Marram grasses that dance and sway in tune with the breeze.
If you look through the dune slacks (or dips) and if it’s low tide you might then catch a glimpse of the wreckage of an old ship. Held in the unrelenting grip of Bran sands as it slowly rots away with the ebb and flow of each new tide. The name of this vessel and the story of how it came to be held here is lost to history.
The observant among you will also see what is left of the military defences. Bunkers, pill-boxes, look-out posts, former gun emplacements. All that remains of the strategic defences the area had there during World War Two. Most are now overgrown, bricked up or have toppled due to erosion as nature wins the war.
Further along you pass Paddy’s Hole. A small harbour in the lagoon on the Teesmouth side of South Gare constructed from the same slag that was used in the larger construction of the Gare. It is named Paddy’s Hole after the many Irishmen who helped build the South Gare. It forms a safe harbour for the small fishing boats to tie up. The amount of boats that actually put out to sea now is reducing with depressing regularity as the fishing industry wanes.
Although some hardy souls do still do manage to make the lonely trip through the sea fret and cold early mornings and make their way out of the mouth of the River and into the grey north sea although more to check their lobster and crab pots rather than to fish. Quotas, low fish prices, the general effects of overfishing and increasing seal populations have all reduced the worth and a decent living that could have been made with 20ft of net has now gone and you now need 40ft or 60ft to catch the same. But then the prices have dropped. It’s a vicious cycle. The seals don’t seem to mind.
Many of the fishermen who owned and operated these boats are part of the South Gare Fisherman’s Association and along with their rod wielding brethren who fish from the end of the breakwater they own some of the ‘Green Huts’ tucked discreetly into the dunes.
Those huts with the smell of coke and wood burning stoves drifting on the morning breeze out of the stovepipe’s are constructed from wood gathered together over the years.
Some are built from reclaimed wood left after homes were demolished in the Southbank area of Middlesbrough a number of years ago. Each of them maintaining the rule of using green paint to help them blend into the landscape and yet they are as different and individual on the inside as their respective owners.
Each owner supposedly conforming to the old rules of no women being allowed on the site after 8pm in the evening. Despite the severity of wind, rain or storms that might sweep across this area over the years the huts remain standing. They might take a beating every once in a while but they remain. As do their owners. Holding on.
Looking beyond the huts and a kilometre and a half out to sea you will see the wind farm. The jewel in the EDF energy crown along the northeast coast. Twenty-seven modern sentinels to environmental technology standing tall at 126 metres and when all are fully turning produce enough low carbon electricity to supply the annual needs of approximately 40,000 homes, or the equivalent of most of the households in Redcar and Cleveland. It will they say, offset the annual release of approximately 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Like two gangs in a street fight nature faces off in a constant battle against the industrial. Facing each other across the breakwater.
Both fighting for control of the environment.
Perched at the north end of the breakwater is the Lighthouse. Built in 1884 and currently owned by PD Ports the light stands 43 feet high on blocks of concrete each weighing between 40 and up to 300 tons. Using a paraffin wick lamp initially until around 1955 when it was replaced with a mains powered 500 Watt tungsten filament incandescent light bulb with a back-up generator just in case.
Flashing every 12 seconds when in use it can be visible out to 17 nautical miles (20 miles) giving warning to those making their ways along the coastline or to those heading into Teesport like the frequent container ships turning and meeting up with the pilots whose headquarters are based on the breakwater. Those pilots who regardless of conditions clamber aboard unfamiliar ships before guiding them safely through the meandering Tees until they are safely moored at their respective docks ready to load or discharge their cargo.
South Gare. A once secret place unless you knew about it now draws day trippers on weekends and bank holidays. Keen to escape the ever increasing crowds in Redcar, Saltburn and neighbouring seaside towns. Virtually all year round there will be an eclectic mix of camper vans parked along the road to the lighthouse. Drawn to the solitude and van life. When conditions allow surfers who know gather to ride one of the best right-handers in the country. Another secret spot lost due to the increasing popularity of the place. Kite surfers skim across the water in the river mouth when the winds blow hard.
Container ships glide silently through the water as they head out into the North Sea. Carrying everything from potash to metals, steel, agricultural and forest products and Liquefied Petroleum Gas. A way out to the Tyne, Dogger, Fisher, Forties and German bight fishing areas and the gateway to Holland, Denmark and Norway. With its sand-dunes and grasses in the foreground and its varied wildlife. It’s foxes and deer that can occasionally be seen making their way cautiously through the scrubland. With the sea birds that are native to these shores or the more exotic varieties that stop over when the winds blow them off course. With the on-going battle between the industrial and the natural and with its visible and invisible history it truly becomes a melting pot for the imagination.
But you never know what might happen. Despite looking the same it is constantly changing.
Rumours now among the fishermen at the Gare talk of South Tees Development Corporation plans to try and develop the area and the worries are that significant changes may affect the area through that development so watch this space as this area might begin to turn in another direction soon.
