Between the Market and the River

After the charismatic buildings of the Mill Dam we amble towards the area between the River and the Market Square and a particularly uninspiring part of the town. Although this area is now part of a prime redevelopment plan with the whole waterfront undergoing a major regeneration over the next few years, the first of the new buildings in this ares just leaves me cold. The BT building is to me neither in keeping with the area's past or particularly complimentary to what I would hope the future would be.

In contrast on the opposite side of the road on the side of a 1960s building Wouldhave House, forming part of the Market Square is a mural depicting the a lifeboat. The lifeboat is synonomous withe the town, William Wouldhave the inventor of the self righting lifeboat being from South Shields and of course the lifeboat being the symbol of the town before South Shields became subsumed into South Tyneside. This local landmark although pilloried by the locals when it was first painted in 1981 by David Wilkinson and repainted in 2000 by street sign writer Gavin Buckinham is now a well-loved landmark due to be lost mid 2013 when the building it is on is pulled down as part of the redevelopment.

It is said that when it was repainted to recapture the original faces which had faded the artist used Alan Shearer as the inspiration for the figure on the far left of the boat.

Walking North along Ferry Street I remember this area of the town feeling particularly dark and univiting when I was a child. Now at least it is open and the new apartment block if not particularly pretty doesn't jar the senses too much.

Between the apartment block and Wouldhave house is a strange green arch which I think is meant to lead invitingly from the Ferry landing to the Market Place. I'm afraid I really can't comment except to hope that this too is due to be redeveloped. 

To the North of the apartment block and we get a glimpse of the back of the Western side of the Market place, all soon to be demolished.

Across the road toward the river is the Alum Ale House, the only public house now surviving in this area of the riverside and the oldest licenced premises in South Shields with some parts of it dating back to the 17th Century. The Alum Ale House stands on what was once Alum Ham, a public landing place where fare paying passengers would pay the scullermen to row them across the Tyne. 

 Today there is no need to be rowed across the Tyne with a public passenger Ferry running regularly from South Shields to North Shields. There have been numerous ferries over the years. I can remember the Freda Cunningham and I'm told by my parents that a car ferry used to run before the advent of the Tyne Tunnel. Today there are two ferries in operation, The Pride of the Tyne (1993) and the Spirit of the Tyne (2007) capable of carrying 303 and 200 passengers respectively. Both twin diesel vessels, the design of the Pride of the Tyne was based on the Shieldsman ferry, whilst the Spirit of the Tyne was based on the Gosport ferry running between Portsmouth and Gosport.

The Ferry Landing at South Shields was built in 1999 to replace the century old ferry landing that was previously used. The new landing has 3 berths and an indoor waiting area.

Looking down stream from the ferry landing we have the new development at Broad Chare. These multi-coloured houses are built on the site of the old Tyne Dock Engineering, or TDE as it was known. The development incorporates the old docks one of which is full of water and still sends shivers down my spine when I see its murky green expanse.

So we end this part of the walk which will change dramatically over the next few years.

Customs House and Mill Dam

We start our pictorial ramble in the Mill Dam Conservation Area, which takes its name from a 13th Century mill owned by the Prior and Convent of Durham which once stood here.

Right on the river front is the Customs House. A Grade II listed building which is now a thriving theatre and cinema, the Customs House was first established in 1848 or 1864, resulting in a boom of trade to the town.

Next to the Customs House was the River Police and Sanitory Authority Building, which also housed the morgue. Now converted to apartments many residents probably have no idea of the past use of the building

Dividing the two is Dalton's Lane, running up between the two buildings.

At the back of the River Police building and now joined to the Customs House extension by a glass walkway is Dalton's Lane Workshops. The only remaining example of artisan workshops left in the area.

This is the back view of the River Police building. Bodies pulled from the Tyne would be taken into the Morgue via this back door.

This group of building form part of the Mill Dam conservation area with the old shops now converted into modern apartments bounded on one side by...

Unity Hall...

and on the other by the Mission to Seaman building.

Next to the old, historic buidlings of Customs House and other Mill Dam buildings we have the first of many new buildings in the shape of the BT building providing a backdrop to the last remnants of the former Swinburne Glassworks, the chimney with its date stone proclaiming 1865.

 It was only natural that many public houses would spring up next to the busy port and the road down to the Mill Dam still hosts some of these old establishments; the Steamboat having the most interesting exterior with its carved faces and is a Grade 2 listed building.

Each of the buildings has it's own distinct design, obviously built at different times. The narrow building to the right of the Waterfront pub was once a post-office but now forms part of the Steamboat.

This last building on this side of the Mill Dam is the last of our public houses, the Riverside. 

At the top of the Mill Dam a mural was painted in the 1970s depicting the many facets of Tyne Dock through the ages.

 

On the opposite side of the road to the public houses is a long, high, red-brick wall encompassing the now bricked up openings of Staithes House originally built to provide facilities for Harton Low Staithes' engine drivers and coal handlers.