South Gare

South Gare is an area of reclaimed land and breakwater on the southern side of the mouth of the River Tees in Redcar and Cleveland, England. It is accessed by taking the South Gare Road (private road) from Fisherman's Crossing at the western end of Tod Point Road in Warrenby.

South Gare

South Gare breakwater
South Gare
Location within North Yorkshire
Population0 
OS grid referenceNZ551274
• London220 mi (350 km) SSE
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townRedcar
Postcode districtTS10
Dialling code01642
PoliceCleveland
FireCleveland
AmbulanceNorth East

Before the building of South Gare, permanent dry land stopped at Tod Point, at the western end of Warrenby and there was only Coatham Sands and the mudflats of Bran Sands. The creation of South Gare extends this by a further 2.5 miles (4.0 km).[1][2]

The building of South Gare offers a safe harbour in stormy weather to ships off the coast and allowed for the dredging of the River Tees entrance.[3] South Gare itself was a settlement but the houses there were demolished many years ago.

History

Construction

Building the 22 miles (35 km) of slag training walls in the Tees was started in 1859.[4] Blocks of solid blast furnace slag were cast and moved into position along the banks of the River Tees, then back filled using 70,000 tons of material dredged from river bed.[4] This canalised the river allowing it to keep itself clean by the action of flow and tides.

The Gare was constructed from January 1861 to 1884[4][5][6] using 5 million tonnes of blast furnace slag and 18,000 tons of cement[2][7] at a total cost of £219,393.[4][8] The slag was supplied free from Tees-side blast furnaces by ironmasters who paid for its removal.[4] The north end of the breakwater carrying the lighthouse uses blocks of concrete weighing from 40 up to 300 tons in weight.[8]

Work was planned and supervised by John Fowler, engineer to the Tees Commissioners.[8] With construction complete, the breakwater was formally opened by the Right Hon W.H. Smith, First Lord of the Treasury on 25 October 1888.[8]

Railway

To construct South Gare a rail line was built from the Warrenby iron works to carry men and materials. When construction was complete the rail line was used, wind permitting, with a sail bogey to move visitors, servicemen, lifeboatmen and lighthouse crew out to the lighthouse and gun installations close to the end of South Gare.[9] The rail line still exists in places and is easiest to see near the remains of the coastal battery.

Defences

The original South Gare battery was built from 1890 to 1892 and fitted with a two gun battery.[10] New guns were fitted to the battery in 1907 but removed in 1920, and in 1938 the battery was reconstructed and fitted with two larger guns.[10] The anti-aircraft batteries, and mortar emplacements have been partially demolished.[11] There are a number of defensive concrete pill boxes still scattered around the area in the dunes and on the beach.[12]

What is now the South Gare Marine Club is the site of a maintenance base for electrically-fired submarine mines defending the mouth of the River Tees.[13]

Lifeboat station
Main article: Teesmouth Lifeboat Station

There has been a lifeboat at Teesmouth since 1829[14] when the RNLI was founded. The present Teesmouth Lifeboat Station was founded in 1911 and in 1914 a boathouse and slipway was built to launch the lifeboat.[14] The lifeboat station has had a Tyne class lifeboat since 1986 and in 2003 new lifeboat crew facilities were built however the lifeboat station was closed a few years later with coverage being supplied by Hartlepool lifeboat.[14]

South Gare Lighthouse
South Gare lighthouse
Main article: South Gare Lighthouse

The South Gare Lighthouse was built in 1884 at the end of South Gare breakwater[5] and is owned and operated by PD Ports.[15]

Coastguard Station

A coastguard station is located south of South Gare Lighthouse. To the immediate south of the coastguard station is a short steel frame tower. This tower houses a radar antennae, an automatic fog detector and a vertical set of four sectored red and white leading lights for navigation purposes. There is second fog detector system mounted on the Fairway Buoy in Tees Bay outside the river entrance.[16]

River entrance
LPG Tanker leaving Teesmouth

The River Tees entrance created between South Gare, and the North Gare to the west is 2,400 feet (732 m) wide.[8] The water depth at the mouth of the Tees at low tide has altered over the years. In 1863 it was 3 ft 6 inches but today stands at 50 feet (15 m).[2] Two suction dredgers and occasionally a grab dredger are used to keep the shipping channel clear.[2]

Tees pilots
The pilot's pier in Teesmouth

Since 1988 Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority's pilot services for Hartlepool, Teesport and the River Tees have been based at the pilot station at South Gare.[17]

Harbours
Paddy's Hole

Paddy's Hole is a small harbour constructed from slag in the lagoon on the Teesmouth side of South Gare. It is named Paddy's Hole because of the many Irishmen who helped build the South Gare.[18]

There are also two smaller harbours south of Paddy's Hole named Guy's Hole and Powder Hole (or Sand Hole). Between Guy's Hole and Powder Hole is the remains of the Powder Jetty (or Powder Wharf) dating from the First World War or earlier.[19]

Sands
Remains of a wooden ship embedded in Bran Sands
Teesside Derelict Steelworks and Wooden Wreck

South Gare & Coatham Sands is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The dunes on the eastern flank are protected by three slag banks close to the breakwater, known as the German Charlies that are partly exposed at low tide.[20] The name German Charlies was applied after a First World War incident involving a German ship that ran aground on them.[21] There is a gas pipeline through the SSSI sand dunes.[22]

On the inner side of the breakwater is Bran Sands known for its bird life and the wooden wreck of a ship in the sands. A number of underwater wrecks lie off South Gare.[23]

Wildlife

The land is made from thousands of tons of basic slag from blast furnaces. The high limestone content of the slag produces a base rich soil that is attractive to lime loving plants. The area consists of tidal mudflats, scrub, grassland, sand dunes, rocks and freshwater and saltwater pools, and attracts a very wide range of birds.[24] Seals can also be spotted.

Industry
Fishermen's huts and part of SSI Steel Plant

Built on the reclaimed land of Bran Sands is the ore terminal, sinter plant, coke plant, and blast furnace of SSI's Teesside Steelworks. The plant was mothballed in 2010, reopening in April 2012, only to be mothballed again on 28 September 2015, and finally closed on 12 October 2015. Next to that is Bran Sands Water Treatment Works.[25]

Activities
Fishing at the tip of South Gare breakwater

As well as those out for a stroll other activities indulged in include sea fishing from small boats and angling from the concrete breakwater, photography of wildlife and shipping etc., also birdwatching,[26] sailing, kite surfing, windsurfing, jet-skiing, diving and motorcycling.[27]

Proposed developments

Near the end of the breakwater, in the fenced compound, there is a tall steel framed mast, housing air speed measurement devices. These devices gather data on wind speeds at various heights for a planned offshore wind farm proposed by Northern Offshore Wind Limited.[28] The mast is 164 feet (50 m) tall and 15.3 feet (4.7 m) wide at the base. Plans for the offshore wind farm include thirty 200 feet (61 m) windmills over 1 mile (1.6 km) offshore. AMEC Wind has plans to site 19 wind turbines inside Corus steelworks generating 47.5 MW of electricity.[28]

A giant sculpture of the Right Hand of Friendship was proposed for Redcar and Cleveland, at South Gare, as one of series of artworks called Tees Valley Giants.[29] In 2012, however, this series of artworks was discontinued.[30]

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References
  1. Simpson, David (2008). "Middlesbrough and surrounds". England's North East. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  2. Barlow, Rob (30 October 2008). "Take a look around South Gare". BBC Tees. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  3. "South Gare Lighthouse". British Listed Buildings. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  4. "Teesmouth Field Centre". Archived from the original on 22 June 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  5. "South Gare Lighthouse Hydrogen Fuel Cell Beams Brightly". New England Lighthouse Treasures. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  6. "North East England: Leading the way in developing a Low Carbon Economy" (PDF). energynortheast.net. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  7. "Dave Barlow's Natural History of Teesside". Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  8. Hinson, Colin (1 September 2008). "Kirkleatham Parish information from Bulmers' 1890". Genuki. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  9. Munro, Mike. "Sails on Rails". Copsewood.Org. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  10. Moore, David. "South Gare Battery" (PDF). victorianforts.co.uk: 2. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  11. "Wartime Relics". Hidden Teesside. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  12. Crown, Steve. "Paddy's Hole, South Gare Location Guide". ePHOTOzine. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2009.; Cartmel, Hilary (19 January 2007). "Hidden Teesside". Hidden Teesside. Archived from the original on 11 December 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  13. https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/ehsscarborough_eh_2007/milfacil.cfm?CFID=317c56ca-6424-4667-9ebf-efaef40aa337&CFTOKEN=0
  14. "Teesmouth Lifeboat Supporters Association". teesmouthlifeboat.org.uk. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  15. Barlow, Dave. "End of the South Gare". Dave Barlow's Natural History site. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  16. "Automatic Fog Detection" (PDF). pelangi.co.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  17. "Hartlepool pilots". Portcities Hartlepool. Archived from the original on 11 May 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  18. "Welcome to Redcar.org". Redcar.org. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  19. "Powder Hole, Powder Wharf, South Gare". Hidden Teesside. 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  20. "South Gare and Coatham Sands" (PDF). English Nature. 19 October 1988. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  21. "A Cleveland Naturalists' Field Club Bulletin – The Cleveland Coast Flora and History" (PDF). 1994. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  22. Houlton, Sarah (March 2003). "At one with nature". Royal Society for Chemistry. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  23. "Wrecks at South Gare". Dive Norway. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  24. "Places to see birds". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 2009. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  25. "Waste Water Management" (PDF). Tees Valley Regeneration. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2011.
  26. "Birdwatching at South Gare". NTLWorld. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2009.; Barlow, Dave. "Birdwatching at South Gare". Dave Barlow's Natural History of Teesside. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  27. "The Best Windsurfing Locations" (PDF). RYA North East. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  28. Robson, Dave (19 March 2002). "A wind farm mast-er plan". Gazette Live. Teesside: Evening Gazette. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  29. McKenzie, Sandy (19 August 2008). "'Big hand' bid points to proud river links". Gazette Live. Evening Gazette. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  30. "Teesside art 'giants' plan axed". BBC News. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
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