Summer Walk, North Shields/South Shields - Thursday 8th August 2019.
After thirteen years of Summer Walks my quest to find new places of interest to enjoy our photography is becoming
more difficult, so I decided to try something slightly different with a walk that included a return ferry trip across the
River Tyne. This also meant a change from our regular Tuesday evening to a Thursday evening to fit the later ferry
timetable. So on Thursday 8th August members met on the Fish quay at North Shields and had a short stroll west
to the ferry landing to catch the 7.30pm sailing. In the warm evening light, conditions were good as we boarded the
"Spirit of the Tyne" vessel and captured views of the area from a different perspective before docking at South Shields.
On arrival we walked east along the waterfront promenade to the Captains Wharf, a housing development built on
the former dockland area. Here two huge drydocks from the Brigham and Cowan shipyard have been retained and
the wooden jetties, the "Spirit of South Shields" statue and "Fleet", seven brightly polished steel ship sculptures by
artist Irene Brown, all maintain the nautical theme and made good subjects for our photography.
Leaving the riverside we wandered into the market place, passing an eclectic mix of architecture, from the quirky
glass BT building to the new cultural hub that is the National Centre for the Written Word. The central building in
this area is the grade 1 listed Old Town Hall that was built in 1768. Consisting of two storeys of dressed stone, the
lower section has three arches on the east, west, and south sides and was left open to provide shelter and to house
a small market, whilst the first floor was a manorial court and office. Moving on we briefly viewed St Hilda's Church
and the war memorial in the church grounds.
Another sculpture called "Nightclub Shadow and Memories" caught the eye as we walked from Station Road to its
junction with Commercial Road where a 120 ft long mural depicts historical events of South Shields. Painted onto
the retaining wall of an old railway embankment it includes images of the coal staithes, a fishing coble, a lifeboat,
heavy industry and shipbuilding, fishermen & fishwives and the Shields Ferry, and is worth exploring in detail.
The last part of our route took us into the Mill Dam area of the town, past colourful pubs and restaurants and down
to the Customs House. Now an arts venue, theatre and cinema it was formerly a Customs Post built around 1860 for
commercial shipping when the river tyne was a thriving centre of trade and activity. Now back on the riverside we
paused to photograph the monument that shows a sailor clutching a ships wheel on deck in a choppy seas. This is
a fitting memorial to the many merchant seaman who sailed from the port and lost their lives in World War II.
This also seemed seemed to be an appropriate place to finish our circular walk and as the evening light faded we
boarded our ferry and sailed back to North Shields. Thank you to all members who attended for making it a very
enjoyable evening.
Davy Bolam.
more difficult, so I decided to try something slightly different with a walk that included a return ferry trip across the
River Tyne. This also meant a change from our regular Tuesday evening to a Thursday evening to fit the later ferry
timetable. So on Thursday 8th August members met on the Fish quay at North Shields and had a short stroll west
to the ferry landing to catch the 7.30pm sailing. In the warm evening light, conditions were good as we boarded the
"Spirit of the Tyne" vessel and captured views of the area from a different perspective before docking at South Shields.
On arrival we walked east along the waterfront promenade to the Captains Wharf, a housing development built on
the former dockland area. Here two huge drydocks from the Brigham and Cowan shipyard have been retained and
the wooden jetties, the "Spirit of South Shields" statue and "Fleet", seven brightly polished steel ship sculptures by
artist Irene Brown, all maintain the nautical theme and made good subjects for our photography.
Leaving the riverside we wandered into the market place, passing an eclectic mix of architecture, from the quirky
glass BT building to the new cultural hub that is the National Centre for the Written Word. The central building in
this area is the grade 1 listed Old Town Hall that was built in 1768. Consisting of two storeys of dressed stone, the
lower section has three arches on the east, west, and south sides and was left open to provide shelter and to house
a small market, whilst the first floor was a manorial court and office. Moving on we briefly viewed St Hilda's Church
and the war memorial in the church grounds.
Another sculpture called "Nightclub Shadow and Memories" caught the eye as we walked from Station Road to its
junction with Commercial Road where a 120 ft long mural depicts historical events of South Shields. Painted onto
the retaining wall of an old railway embankment it includes images of the coal staithes, a fishing coble, a lifeboat,
heavy industry and shipbuilding, fishermen & fishwives and the Shields Ferry, and is worth exploring in detail.
The last part of our route took us into the Mill Dam area of the town, past colourful pubs and restaurants and down
to the Customs House. Now an arts venue, theatre and cinema it was formerly a Customs Post built around 1860 for
commercial shipping when the river tyne was a thriving centre of trade and activity. Now back on the riverside we
paused to photograph the monument that shows a sailor clutching a ships wheel on deck in a choppy seas. This is
a fitting memorial to the many merchant seaman who sailed from the port and lost their lives in World War II.
This also seemed seemed to be an appropriate place to finish our circular walk and as the evening light faded we
boarded our ferry and sailed back to North Shields. Thank you to all members who attended for making it a very
enjoyable evening.
Davy Bolam.