1405 South Shields to Newcastle by river boat

Once upon a time people would travel from Newcastle to London by passenger boat as a more effective method of travel than coach and horse, or walking, and one upon a time coal was taken from the Tyne all over the world. Yesterday a polish ship or may be it was Russian, was unloading coal at the Port of Tyne which has now moved down river and located at South Shields for freight and at North Shields for Passengers. No ships are built but at South Shields and Hebburn there was repair work continuing on a drilling platform and a few ships, one an ice breaker, There was one freighter on the North bank of the Tyne at Wallsend, so named because it marked the effective end of the Wall and the there are still ship building cranes as well modern industrial plants and processes along both banks of the river all the way into Newcastle and Gateshead.

Some three decades ago when I first took a boat from South Shields Ferry landing up river, it was a very different experience. True there was ship building taking place on both sides of the river but no one was fishing because of the pollution, and everywhere there was sign of decay and abandoned workplaces and no where was there cared for land, new homes to admire the view, or to attract visitors from afar. I have been looking forward to making the trip again for more than decade, although I was in no rush because I wanted to see change. I had tried last year but all the places were taken so this year I kept in touch with the Nexus site on the internet and booked online a ticket on the first outing of the year and hoped for good weather.

The ticket said that one could board from half an hour before the sailing time of 1pm so I decided on an early sandwich lunch with a banana and was ready to leave midday thinking I would start or join the queue after a brisk mile walk to the ferry landing. Such was my enthusiasm for the trip that I forgone going to see the Masters Football talking place at the Newcastle Metro Arena, or watching England play New Zealand before a packed house at Chester Le Street. England was put into bat first and after an excellent start given by Bell, Petersen had come in and looked as if he was going to score a ton which later I learnt he did, and which would have left the great crowd feeling they had had their money's worth in what was otherwise a one sided game, as had been the 20 20 match I had watched on TV on a recent evening. Many missed the first part of his knock because of horrendous traffic jam and parking problems which left the ground looking only three quarters full at the start and with cameras showing the long queues lines at the gates waiting to have their bags searched to ensure that alcohol was not being taken into the ground. England were having such a good start that for a moment I regretted that I had to leave when I did for the river trip.

There was sunshine between lots of grey cloud, but none looking like rain, so far. It had rained briefly, heavy drops but not fierce rain as I made my way to watch Riot at the Custom's House the previous afternoon. Then it had been warm but today there was a chill edge to wind although it was still pleasant in the full sun, There was no cause to rush and get into a sweat so I took my time arriving just after 12.15 to find no queues but several passengers already on board with several other small groups making there from the Custom's House car parks or down the walk onto the fixed pontoon on which the all weather waiting area has been built. There are berths for three ferries. One at each side and one at the front which is used for the short journey across the Tyne to North Tyneside Our vessel was at the side facing the Custom's House and up river although from the shape it was unclear which was the front and which was the back of the ship, although I hoped I got the back so that I could view the Shields, Jarrow, Hebburn bank as we made our way up river. I was too late for the ideal seats at the side where you could sit at the railings but still found a place under the all weather awning which had been raised along with a few flags. However such was the cool breeze that one party at the end of the row by the railings decided to go for seats against the hull while others from choice had chosen the lower boarding deck close to the refreshment tables where later I was able to buy a large mug of coffee and a chocolate biscuit for the excellent value of 70p. There were Stottie sandwiches and a variety of cakes as well as constants large pots of tea as well as beer and soft drinks.

I settled down in my spot and made notes in preparation for the trip, scoffing some chocolate covered raisins while also watching late arrivals some who appeared unconcerned as the departure time arrived. Then I remembered from the previous occasion, from all those years ago, that the off time was flexible to ensure that no one was left behind including those who had taken the ferry from North Tyneside. Then we were off, going out first to the end of the river to just before reaching the two piers providing great views of the Lawe Top and the Bay of South Shields as well as Tynemouth and the North Tyneside Fish Docks and restaurant area.

There was a fierce sharp wind and choppy sea and as we had motored stern first so those of us at the back had got the full blast which sent several scurrying down below or to the front. As we set on the full thirteen mile course to Newcastle, the Newcastle to River mouth boat passed us so it was possible to take picture of a craft similar to our own.
Between the Custom's House and the Port of Tyne Authority buildings and the port docks I was interested to see that the land has now almost been cleared ready for a planned development of mixing housing, offices and recreation facilities, although I may not live to see completion which could take five to ten years, depending upon the economic climate and political vision. Attention was the directed to the North Tyneside bank where a Thompson Cruise ship was tied up next to a North Sea Ferry. Both large vessels but not as large as the freighter which was passing us mid river on its way Poland, Russia, Japan or China, These are not guessed destinations because at work on a Sunday scrap metal was being loaded onto a huge ship while coal from Poland was being unloaded from another and beyond these vessels there were acres of completed Nissan cars from the Sunderland Factory on the former Jarrow slake, a area of marshland when I first arrived, waiting to be shipped from its own dockside to Japan, Europe, the USA and South America. After the Port of Tyne there is the entrance to the river Don at Jarrow and the few minutes trip to St Paul's of Jarrow where the Monks would commence the sea trip to the early part of their monastery at St Peter's Wearmouth Sunderland. Here there is the Shell oil terminal now on strike and a Chemical works whose pong has dominated the town centre from time to time since it was built. You can also see the building from where escalators take you down under the Tyne along the pedestrian tunnel now used only by cyclists although once tens of thousands of men would cross over to their work in the ship yards and pits on both banks of the river, You can also see the large funnels releasing toxic car fumes at both ends of the road tunnel where work has also commenced on the second tunnel, such is the congestion on weekdays and summer weekends.

Just outside of Jarrow Town centre and before reaching Hebburn on the south bank there is the purpose built headquarters of the river police and helicopter landing. I nearly forgot to mention the river pilot tug station. Although the river is wide and deep enough to take the largest of ocean travelling vessels this was not always so and at South Shields there used to be a bar which enabled a foot crossing at certain times and which meant that pre Victorian sailing craft could sometime be held up for weeks in port or waiting to enter port at Newcastle until the water level was high enough. Clearly this was not acceptable once the industrial revolution was underway so the entrance was dredged but this did not affect the infamous rocks close by which has caused the untimely end of hundreds of vessels and which still make the need for pilot boats with the latest technology.

Then we reached the second remaining area of river based activity on both sides. At Hebburn there is ship repair with three customer vessels at the dockside, one an ice breaking ship. The ship building cranes are still there at Wallsend. The official end of the Wall and where ash South Shields there was a larger and more important Fort than that at Newcastle. At Wallsend then is now a modern observation tower which I imagine is similar to the one which had been suggested for Arbela at South Shields but where for the moment those of small minds, no vision and little concern for the welfare of future generations have held sway. Hebburn was once only an industrial working class town where the Catholic club was the posh club and Unionist Club the smaller one, and where it was unknown for a non Catholics to be elected to the town council. Now the extraordinary tall spire of the Catholic Church still dominates the skyline but there are expensive posh houses at the waterside and non Labour Councillors have been elected to the borough council.

Perhaps the best symbol of the civic leaders recognising the opportunity provided by the river is the creation of the Hebburn Marina and the exceptionally attractive riverside park which rises high above creating a country feel space. There are several such spaces between here and Newcastle, as well as Marina's on both sides of the river. Approaching Newcastle on the north bank there is the first of the residential developments along the River Tyne created in the early 1990's and where nearby is the entrance to a tributary from Jesmond and its Dene and an area of cultural development making use of former industrial use buildings.

However the greatest transformation has taken place on the South Bank at Gateshead. Here first next to a small Marina and the oddly named Elephant Hotel there is a large development of contemporary flats being build with river views and then the embankment from the Gateshead Stadium is also being enhanced to create riverside parkland from the former slag heaps and industrial wasteland. There are continuing industrial sites along the river with a derelict area at Felling between Hebburn and Gateshead, but at Wallsend there is a company providing a major transport fleet and another providing tone of the biggest cabling services in the world. There is a major International Paints factory at Gateshead and Spillers has a large and major Mill on the north Bank.

However it is as one approaches journey's end that the extent of transformation becomes apparent. First at Gateshead one can see the £60 million Gateshead College development, then the high rise apartments, the conversation of the former Baltic Flour Mill into the Contemporary Arts centre and then the International Sage Concerts Halls. The transformation is continuing. One the Newcastle Bank there is the recently opened high rise City Lofts projects, the new Law Courts, Hotel developments and Legal Offices as well as the development of the Victorian Buildings into one of the great night life areas in the world. The one aspect which is different from elsewhere is that this is a city which has life throughout the day and night and as with other areas of the river the intention is to create new communities who live and work without reliance on the car.

Then unexpectedly we had the treat of the day as we stopped mid river just before the brilliantly designed Millennium pedestrian and cycle bridge and waited for it to be cleared and then opened to let us briefly pass under continued to the second of the seven bridges across the Tyne which is a feature of Newcastle and Gateshead especially because of their close proximity. Here below the Tyne Bridge, the Sage and the Quayside the ferry did what I can only describe as a twirl and is whirled around and around for several minutes enabling everyone to photo everything before charging back home and allowing the bridge to be closed again.

I know from personal experience, from what I have read and seen on the telly at the cinema that there are grander and many more spectacular places around our planet, some natural and some human kind created, but I know of nowhere else where against odds and the hardships of two world wars, and the financial devastation of the 1920's and the endings of major industrial and manufacturing in the North East on any scale sufficient to support its population, there has been such a determined revival and to recreate communities where people want to live, work and have fun, and have a welcome smile for any stranger. Oh I nearly forgot to mention that the Port of Tyne was recently voted by its users as the best Port in the world because of its efficiency and the welcome of the people. The trips continue fortnightly until September 21st. The cost to adults was £11, concession £8 a family ticket including three children £36. Accompanying the trip is an ad hoc commentary by local men John Grundy or Jonny Johnson. John Grundy's style was perfect, chatty, spontaneous and as thrilled as the rest of us by what was happening along this great river.

1284 Ferry Across the River and Resistence

Glorious, glorious, glorious day. I say it three times to mark the three days of continuous sunshine there has been from shortly after day break until late afternoon when dusk set. My original intention was to include another walk of an hour or more as part of a day of the final stages of coming up to date with the 100.75 project, and completing the current work in relation to my mother before commencing my main writing project for 2008. I did not get off to a good start because as I was about to create artman development cards, having recently completed 2000 development sets, a millennium stone, or two to be more precise, and stopped symbolically at 2008 I realised that the card numbering did not make sense because the numbers were in the 4700's and it should have been self evident that 2000 times 24 is 48000. Now I need to check back to find out for how long the error has been made. I usually check card numbering every few sets with a computer calculator but hopefully was just carried away with completing 2000 sets that it is just a small mistake in terms of numbering work to be revised. Usually having discovered something like this I continue until the matter is rectified, however I had already decided to go out make the most of what was said to be the last of these days of joyous beingness, with tomorrow cloud and lower temperatures beginning for the rest of the week. Moreover I had decide to make the trip considered yesterday, as I stood at the end of the pier at South Shields and saw what looked like a pocket Cathedral building and which for the Tyneside map looked to be located more at Cullercoats than Tynemouth. Before reporting on this most satisfactory experience which involved some five miles of walking, the Metro and a bus, in addition to ferry rides across the Tyne to North Tyneside and back, returning home at 4pm, I must begin with what could have been a great humiliation and disaster.

The cost of the ferry ride is 50p for those entitled to free bus travel and who have then paid the annual sum of £12 for free travel on the Metro system, after 9.30 am weekends. The adult fare is £2 return or £1.10 for a single journey. Around 1.15 in North Tyneside shopping centre I passed the second gentleman's hair dressers in quick succession and thought why not, not realising that the sign on the door said closed, which was confirmed as I entered. There was yet another barber's but this was full so I decided on a cup of tea and perhaps a cake in the shopping centre. There was a modest queue and the assistant apologised for a short delay while she cleared used crockery. It was at this point that I discovered that I only had about £1.50 in coin and no banknotes. My thought at the time is that for the second time in living memory I had given about £50 of notes a good wash and dry, with the garment on the list for ironing later in the day. I could afford a cup of tea and the return Ferry fare but nothing else until I found a bank. The medium size tea was served in a giant mug so I wonder was you get for the large size. I continued to explore this part of the shopping centre and turned a corner to find two banks, with my own around the corner on the outside, I was therefore cash solvent. What would have happened if I had the hair cut and then discovered I did not have the cash funds to pay for it!

It was before 11 am when I set off having prepared two rolls and placed a portion of defrosted prawns in a carton after drying them with paper towels. The internally hard green bananas had yellowed so I took one although later it proved as inedible as the others. I also made another mistake in choosing the route to the ferry, adding a couple of hundred yards. The most direct route is down the hill to the roadway outside Asda, then across to below the Metro station, through high street to Market Square, across Market Square and then across the road to the entrance to the Ferry Landing on a pontoon in the river. The advantage of this route today is that with the absence of foliage that it was possible to look down as well as across the river and to where the ferry was just setting off from the North Tyneside landing. Usually this time of the year there is just one ferry operating a half hour service but today there were two, unloading passengers as I reached the landing on my side of the river. I stopped to take some photos of the artwork silver sailing ships in one of the former docks now surrounded by yuppie dwellings. There was a wave effect which I have not seen before and which was not created by wind as there was none. The sign said 1 mile to the Arbeia fort although I would have said the distance was less until giving some thought.

I enjoyed the brief crossing of the river, noticing that the three section building adjacent to the former docks development appears to be more than a new block of residential units. Must investigate further. From the ferry I decided to go towards the Fish Quay where the former Newcastle fishing fleet was moved, but where the number of vessel has significantly reduced. The fish Quay is long with an inner dock and on the other side of the road there are now several large fish restaurants, two Italian and one Inn with another across the way. There are also several fresh fish and sea food outlets and a small commercial centre with at least two fish production units. Staff from one of these appeared to be eating fish and chips outside a pub which is similar to taking coals to Newcastle, which is of course what also happens to day. What surprised me was that as soon as lunchtime arrived the restaurants were packed. I do not know if this is a daily occurrence or because of the unseasonal weather.

Yesterday I recounted how a passer by had commented that it was a great day to be alive so day when I was greeted by a man as he also looked back up above the quay to the various developments taking place, I made the same comment to him, and he responded, I was just thinking that myself. Beyond the fish quay there is a promenade around a sandy bay which provide yet another perspective to the mouth of the river, Someone had set up a camera on a tripod. One of the difficulties of taking pictures today was the penetrating brightness of the sun making the constant changing of directions and angles, or just missing out on a picture because I knew the result would be unsatisfactory because of my failure to master the digital technology.

From the bench were I sat for my lunch it looked possible to walk the continuation of the promenade under the elongated building which has become flats, perhaps they always were, and which dominates, in an unattractive way, the skyline at this point, along to the Collinwood monument, the castle and ruined priory and then the north pier. It was a long way, a mile and half to two miles I speculated, but not a distance which could not be tackled.

Although there are ongoing industrial and commercial enterprises along this part of the Tyneside river bank as there are further inland at Shields, with many derelict, the sites are being cleared and warehousing converted into attractive residential lofts, or new properties created on the cleared space and hillside viewpoints.

My mind however was on other things and a trip to Cullercoats and the church I had viewed from the end of the pier at South Shield the previous morning. Although I had not breakfast I eat the prawns with one roll. The banana was too hard still. I resisted the temptation offered by the ice cream seller and went in search of the next public art work. I had viewed the first listed on the North Tyneside published art walk, one of nine included in a booklet. A full size, painted wooden dolly in oak wood, by Martyn and Jane Grubb. This replaced the figurehead from a collier brig in 1781 and stands by an inn. The second work was closer than I had appreciated, outside another public house called the Dolphin, This work is the Dolphin Mooring post made of timber, brick and metal with a bird drying its wings at the top. The structure is based on the many Staiths that used to exist in the Tyne, remnants of which now only remain. I had also seen part of Naters Bank seascape, a mixture of stone, concrete ceramics, a collective effort led by Maggie Howarth. On my way back I decided to take the stairway to look down on the Wooden Dolly set against the Prince of Wales Inn, and then decided to use the steps, some 100, which led to a small to a small square next to the Maritime building from which there is a spectacular view back across the full width of the Tyne,

Another man was looking at the same view and he commented that he had never seen the perspective before having also used the ferry to come and purchase fresh fish from the Quay for the family tea. Fish is not cheap these days even if it is good for you. Live everyone encountered he too wished to share in the joy of this great burst of late spring in winter time.

I decided not to look for the statue of Stan Laurel by Robert Olley 1992 outside the residence where he lived from 1897 to 1991 between the ages of seven and eleven years. I now have a photograph of the Admiral Lord Collingwood, Nelson's second in Command at Trafalgar on its plinth eternally watchful over the mouth of the Tyne, shot from a distance with the inbuilt telescopic lens. I had also seen close hand the listed Queen Victoria statue when on my visit to Tynemouth for the mouth of the Tyne Festival last summer. On this part of my venture I noted three others, including group of two with cameras, who appeared to be following the same trail.

I considered a cup of tea as I made my way into the town centre from its eastern end in search of the Metro station, tempted to a cup of tea, although all the establishments passed were full of lunchtime custom eating meals, I was feeling a little tired as I had been on my feet for over an hour and half with a brief sit on the ferry and then some fifteen to twenty minutes on the bench. It was then the near humiliations of having the haircut without being able to make payment occurred and over my cup of tea I remembered the film about a boxer, titled Someone up there Likes me and on this day someone was. The chosen tea shop was part of a covered walkway of shops and stores.

The first part is a bakers and sandwich provider with cakes, some with icing, some with cream, very enticing There is also an eat in sales counter offering, soup, breakfast filled rolls and toast with a small row of tables the length of the shop and a double row at the far end. There is one of this chain of shops in Wallington where I would go for a breakfast roll, midmorning coffee with toast and read the supplied newspapers and there were similar in South Shields, two in close proximity which I have used from time to time in early morning shopping, perhaps when going for the free Metro weekday paper supplied at the metro and bus station. There were three tables vacant and two individuals in the queue. I went in search of bank note as I knew I had less than two pounds in coin from paying for the ferry crossing. I could find no notes, not a problem with sufficient for the tea and there was bound to be a bank or two nearby. However what would have been the situation had the barber's not been in the process of closing and I had the hair cut then found I did not have the immediate means to pay for the service?

The barber I have used three or four times over the past year, had a similar experience last autumn, however the individual who said they were off to the cash dispenser never returned. What if news of this event has crossed the Tyne, what then? Only within the past week or so the regional news programme had featured a man from North Tyneside who had gone to his local B and Q store to try and replace a sink plug, taking the old one with him which he had returned to his pocket under the eye of a security guard who assumed he was stealing, apprehended him, and he was taken to the police station in handcuffs where he was able to demonstrate that the plug was his own and in fact was not stocked at the store. The most recent reference was to the decision of the store to send flowers and a £100 purchase voucher, not an unreasonable gesture, but the man, a couple of years older than me was so incensed that he had instructed lawyers to seek a more appropriate level of compensation. Earlier over lunch and again over my mug of tea I read and re read the front page story on the free Metro daily, IPLODS being the headline, about a commuter who had been arrested by an armed team, had his DNA and fingerprints taken before being released when it was realised that the gun a passer by had reported seeing him bring out and point was no more than his black MP3 player while waiting for the bus. However one wonders what he did to arouse such suspicion and provoke a call to the police?

Only over the past couple of days did I hear a radio discussion about the need of the general public to assist the police more in anti crime measures rather than attempting to intervene directly. This followed the sentencing of youths who murdered a householder for complaining that they were damaging cars. However despite mistakes, and even with the Oval police shooting to death, the most notorious incident, our situation is a long way from that of the Australian film the previous night called Resistance, the second of recent months about a state of emergency being called in that country. In this instance it features a rural outback location where groups of itinerant workers move to areas recruiting season workers on an regular annual basis. This group of ladies are notorious for hard drinking and man chasing as well as for hard work, with one returning for the first time in a year to visit her aboriginal mother and sister who were encamped nearby to the a fuel, rest and restaurant station near to the job supplier, who this year required less than a third of the usual number because of a work programme using men from a nearby prison establishment. He makes a false promise to go back to the original contract after 24 hours when he has been warned a state of emergency has been declared.

For some reason which is not properly explained in the film, this is the very spot where the government decides to set up a road block checkpoint with the latest surveillance techniques, and in addition to the use of the army and local police, brings in some ruthless, trigger happy bullies who would have done well in Nazi Germany or under Stalin. The film is about a series of unwarranted outrages in which people are brutally killed or assaulted and the situation is covered up, until the locals learn to fight back with the assistance of a member of the army. While the behaviour of most of the participants in the film is significantly over the top there was a horrible ring of truth about how people can behave when given power, especially with the abolition of the normal protections and restraints of the rule of law and citizen rights. It is to the credit of the British that there was such panic on mainland UK with the Irish troubles but I suspect it will take only a handful of new terrorist outrages to swing substantial public support behind states of emergency as the national mood swings to the right. The showing of the film coincided with the apology of the new Australian Prime Minister to the aboriginal people for the action during the last century when children were removed from their parents and made to live indoors and be educated according to the white man's ways. This is a welcome first step to the making of appropriate reparation.

The finding of a bank nearby and the Metro Station together with the continuing sunshine put these thoughts to one side as I made the short trip from North Tyneside to Tynemouth and Cullercoats. Although the covering and metal work of the old railway platforms before the present Metro platforms and main station building at Tynemouth have become dilapidated and an eye sore, the rest of station will be worth a closer examination on another occasion.

Cullercoats is only a recent community between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, as there was nothing but a few agricultural dwellings until coal was discovered and mined briefly for a couple of generations in the 18h century. Then the community turned to the sea and at the commencement of the twentieth century there would have been hundreds of small craft in the bay below the cliff. However since world war 2 and the creation of a European Fishing policy to protect dwindling stocks for future generations, the number of commercial fishermen and vessels has rapidly reduced. Nor is Cullercoats ideally placed to be other than a day trip seaside resort although there are good sands below the cliff from the southern end of the community to the Tynemouth promontory.

It is also at the Southern end that the mini Cathedral of St George stands, built only from the 1880's when the sixth Duke of Northumberland built the church as a monument to his father, named George, the fifth Duke. I have used the word spectacular much in recent days and this building full justifies its use once more. Last year I visited the early Christian Churches at Wearmouth and Jarrow, built by a former Northumbrian nobleman converted and influenced by the buildings and presentation of devotion by his visit to Rome. St George's surpasses them internally and externally and I can recollect only a handful of instances where I have been affected by the building before, Iona, Scotland, Mont St Michael, Cornwall, at Bezier in South France and a few others. It was a wondrous experience. Glorious, glorious, glorious and Gloria.