This sculpture by Brian Russell stands outside Natures World, it’s dated April 2006.
The Tenacity of Nature, Brian Russell
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Monthly Archives: November 2012
Marsh Street / Forty Foot / Fox Heads Bridge, Middlesbrough
The exact name of this bridge seems to be a little vague, modern OS maps call it ‘Marsh Street Bridge’ although i’ve also heard others call it ‘Forty Foot Bridge’ or ‘Fox Heads Bridge’
The housing to the south of the bridge was known as ‘Fox Heads’ or ‘Foxheads’ as it was built for the workers of the Newport Rolling Mills operated by Messrs Fox, Head and Company.
The bridge is shown as existing on the 1894 town plan although the housing in the immediate area is still incomplete.
The plan shows that there was actually a sizable ramp which ran from Frederick Street parallel to Marsh Street so another bridge actually crossed the end of Newport Street before crossing the railway. These two pages of memories by a resident say that the last 25 yards of Marsh St was used by the firm PA Mudd for storage, which would tie in with this series of arches that can still be seem today.
The north end of the bridge was actually a junction, with a right turn putting you onto Forty Foot Road and towards the Newport Rolling Mills, the retaining wall of this junction is still visible.
A left turn was a smaller road which on the 1894 map leads into the Newport Iron Works. A contact at Network Rail informs me they have the structure listed as ‘Marsh Street; and the current metal deck dates from 1912.
Sharp-eyed reader Sean has also spotted that the childhood memories on the Communigate website also mention a “Stinky Pole” which could well be a stench pipe that’s possibly still there next to the bridge.
Danby House & Blacksmiths, Acklam Road, Middlesbrough
Danby House was the home to the blacksmith, the last blacksmith was Mr Sparks in the 1930s. The small adjacent building was the blacksmiths forge and appears much older.
The outbuildings dated 1878 were cow byres, stables and a cart shed.
Skinningrove Flood Mosaic
This impressive mosaic tells the story of the year 2000 floods in Skinningrove
As with the Merman it was created by Whitecliffe Primary School children and Glynis Johnson
The first flood was in July 2000
The second flood was in November 2000
Another Redcar Ghostsign, Rear of West Dyke Road
If you spin around while looking at the sign I posted about yesterday, you will in fact notice another sign on the wall visible from trains travelling in the other direction.
This one appears to the relate to a Dispensing Chemist, I would guess it may be Davies ?
Redcar Ghostsigns, Rear of West Dyke Road
The position of this old advertisement is initially confusing as it’s down a back alley and not easily visible from the road.
It makes much more sense if you think of it as being visible from the railway rather than from the road or footpath.
The first letters appear to be CLA on a red band, sadly I cannot figure out what it’s an advert for.