South Gare
Encyclopedia
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
. 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
.
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. 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. South Gare itself was a settlement but the houses there were demolished many years ago.
The Gare was constructed from January 1861 to 1884 using 5 million tonnes of blast furnace slag and 18,000 tons of cement at a total cost of £219,393. The slag was supplied free from Tees-side blast furnaces by ironmaster
s who paid for its removal. The north end of the breakwater carrying the lighthouse uses blocks of concrete weighing from 40 up to 300 tons in weight.
Work was planned and supervised by John Fowler, engineer to the Tees Commissioners. With construction complete, the breakwater was formally opened by the Right Hon W.H. Smith, First Lord of the Treasury on 25 October 1888.
to move visitors, servicemen, lifeboatmen and lighthouse crew out to the lighthouse and gun installations close to the end of South Gare. The rail line still exists in places and is easiest to see near the remains of the coastal battery.
. The anti-aircraft batteries, and mortar emplacements have been partially demolished but some of the structures still remain. There are a number of defensive concrete pill boxes still scattered around the area in the dunes and on the beach.
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.
and Hartlepool
built in 1829. The lighthouse is a listed building and still operates using the original lenses. Today it is managed by the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority, part of PD Ports.
The lighthouse is 43 ft high with a stone base and cylindrical cast iron tower painted white. The light is a 45 W high intensity LED
and can be seen for a range of 50 km, 25 miles, or 22 nautical miles. Set 53 ft above mean high water the light operates automatically exhibiting sectored red and white with a 1.5 s flash every 12 seconds The light is powered by a Schlunk 100 W water cooled hydrogen fuel cell
an arrangement that is more reliable than the mains electricity supply along the exposed breakwater which is liable to interruption by storms.
, Teesport
and the river Tees have been based at the Pilot Station at South Gare.
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 which are partly exposed at low tide. The name German Charlies was applied after a First World War incident in which a German ship ran aground on them. There is a gas pipeline through the SSSI sand dunes.
On the inner side of the breakwater is Bran Sands known for its birdlife and the wooden wreck of a ship in the sands.
. The plant was mothballed in 2010. Next to that is Bran Sands Water Treatment Works.
Wind has plans to site 19 huge wind turbines inside Corus steelworks generating 47.5 MW of electricity. A giant sculpture of the Right Hand of Friendship has been proposed for Redcar and Cleveland
at South Gare as one of the Tees Valley Giants
.
Redcar and Cleveland
The borough of Redcar & Cleveland is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England consisting of Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Guisborough, and small towns such as Brotton, Eston, Skelton and Loftus. It had a resident population of 139,132 in 2001, and is part of the Tees...
. 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
Warrenby
Warrenby is a place in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.Situated on the edge of Coatham Marsh, Warrenby was originally called Warrenstown when it was founded in 1873 to provide housing for workers at the nearby ironworks of Downey & Co and...
.
Before the building of South Gare, permanent dry land stopped at Tod Point, at the western end of Warrenby
Warrenby
Warrenby is a place in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.Situated on the edge of Coatham Marsh, Warrenby was originally called Warrenstown when it was founded in 1873 to provide housing for workers at the nearby ironworks of Downey & Co and...
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. 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. South Gare itself was a settlement but the houses there were demolished many years ago.
Construction
Building the 22 miles of slag training walls in the Tees was started in 1859. 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. 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 using 5 million tonnes of blast furnace slag and 18,000 tons of cement at a total cost of £219,393. The slag was supplied free from Tees-side blast furnaces by ironmaster
Ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....
s who paid for its removal. The north end of the breakwater carrying the lighthouse uses blocks of concrete weighing from 40 up to 300 tons in weight.
Work was planned and supervised by John Fowler, engineer to the Tees Commissioners. With construction complete, the breakwater was formally opened by the Right Hon W.H. Smith, First Lord of the Treasury on 25 October 1888.
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 bogeySail bogey
A sail bogey or sail trolley is a wind-driven vehicle that runs along railway tracks.The Spurn railway, built along Spurn Head on the Yorkshire coast of England was built in the First World War and ran until the early 1950s and included sail bogies as part of its rolling stock.In the early days of...
to move visitors, servicemen, lifeboatmen and lighthouse crew out to the lighthouse and gun installations close to the end of South Gare. The rail line still exists in places and is easiest to see near the remains of the coastal battery.
Defences
South Gare battery was built in 1891 as part of the Palmerston defence programmePalmerston Forts
The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures, around the coast of Britain.The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, following concerns about the strength of the French Navy, and...
. The anti-aircraft batteries, and mortar emplacements have been partially demolished but some of the structures still remain. There are a number of defensive concrete pill boxes still scattered around the area in the dunes and on the beach.
Lifeboat station
There has been a lifeboat at Teesmouth since 1829 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. The lifeboat station has had a Tyne class lifeboatTyne class lifeboat
Tyne class lifeboats were designed to serve the shores of the UK and Ireland as a part of the RNLI fleet. They are named after the River Tyne in north-east England....
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
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
lifeboat.
Lighthouse
The lighthouse was built in 1884 and when built would have made obsolete the pair of leading lighthouses in Seaton CarewSeaton Carew
Seaton Carew is a small seaside resort within the Borough of Hartlepool, in North East England with a population of 6,018 . It is situated on the North Sea coast between the town of Hartlepool and the mouth of the River Tees...
and Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
built in 1829. The lighthouse is a listed building and still operates using the original lenses. Today it is managed by the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority, part of PD Ports.
The lighthouse is 43 ft high with a stone base and cylindrical cast iron tower painted white. The light is a 45 W high intensity LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
and can be seen for a range of 50 km, 25 miles, or 22 nautical miles. Set 53 ft above mean high water the light operates automatically exhibiting sectored red and white with a 1.5 s flash every 12 seconds The light is powered by a Schlunk 100 W water cooled hydrogen fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
an arrangement that is more reliable than the mains electricity supply along the exposed breakwater which is liable to interruption by storms.
Coastguard Station
To the south of the lighthouse is the coastguard station. 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.River entrance
The river Tees entrance created between South Gare, and the North Gare to the west is 2400 feet (732 m) wide. 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). Two suction dredgers and occasionally a grab dredger are used to keep the shipping channel clear.Tees pilots
Since 1988 Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority's pilot services for HartlepoolHartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
, Teesport
Teesport
Teesport is a large sea port located in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire in north east England...
and the river Tees have been based at the Pilot Station at South Gare.
Harbours
Paddy's Hole is a small harbour in the lagoon on the Teesmouth side of South Gare constructed from slag. It is named Paddy's Hole because of the many Irishmen who helped build the South Gare. 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 World War I or earlier.Sands
South Gare & Coatham SandsSouth Gare & Coatham Sands SSSI
South Gare & Coatham Sands SSSI is a 381.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cleveland, England notified in 1971.-Source:* -External links:* *...
is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
. The dunes on the eastern flank are protected by three slag banks close to the breakwater, known as the German Charlies which are partly exposed at low tide. The name German Charlies was applied after a First World War incident in which a German ship ran aground on them. There is a gas pipeline through the SSSI sand dunes.
On the inner side of the breakwater is Bran Sands known for its birdlife and the wooden wreck of a ship in the sands.
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. Seals can also be spotted.Industry
Built on the reclaimed land of Bran Sands is the ore terminal, sinter plant, coke plant, and blast furnace of SSI's Teesside SteelworksTeesside Steelworks
Teesside Steelworks is a large steelworks located on the south Tees, Teesside, England. It stretches from Redcar, where the largest blast furnace in Europe is located, to east Middlesbrough area....
. The plant was mothballed in 2010. Next to that is Bran Sands Water Treatment Works.
Activities
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, sailing, kite surfing, windsurfing, jet-skiing and diving.Proposed developments
Near the end of the breakwater in the fenced compound there is a tall steel frame mast housing air speed measurement devices gathering data on wind speeds at various heights for a planned offshore windfarm proposed by Northern Offshore Wind Limited. The mast is 50 m tall and 4.7 m wide at the base. Plans for the offshore windfarm include thirty 200 ft windmills over 1.5 km offshore. AMECAMEC
AMEC plc is a global consultancy, engineering and project management company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is focused on the oil and gas, minerals and metals, renewable energy, environment and infrastructure sectors and has offices in 40 countries worldwide...
Wind has plans to site 19 huge wind turbines inside Corus steelworks generating 47.5 MW of electricity. A giant sculpture of the Right Hand of Friendship has been proposed for Redcar and Cleveland
Redcar and Cleveland
The borough of Redcar & Cleveland is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England consisting of Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Guisborough, and small towns such as Brotton, Eston, Skelton and Loftus. It had a resident population of 139,132 in 2001, and is part of the Tees...
at South Gare as one of the Tees Valley Giants
Tees Valley Giants
The Tees Valley Giants will be a £15 million series of five art installations by sculptor Anish Kapoor and structural designer Cecil Balmond. The artwork is set to be created in the towns of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton on Tees in the Tees Valley...
.
External links
- Further reading: Communigate
- Photographs: Fred Brunskill's South Gare photos, Flickr, North York Moors Cam, Redcar & Cleveland Leisure, Northscape, Doc Brown
- Maps: Streetmap, Wikimapia
- Tides at the River Tees entrance: BBC, Easytide and at Redcar & Cleveland Leisure website.