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South Gare is entirely man made, it was constructed between 1866 – 1888, its 2.5 miles long and contains an estimated 5 million tons of slag from the local blast furnaces, which shows the vast size of the industry in that period.
This particular area contains some intact balls that havent been attacked by the sea or covered by sand and vegetation.
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This cast iron sign must be exceptionally durable, its in a very exposed place but still seems to have much of its original paint despite the fact the Dorman Long became part of British Steel in 1967.
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The two mounds carried 4.7″ Hotchkiss QF guns during WW1.
The mound closest to the river was re-used during WW2 when it held a BL 6″ Mk7.
An extensive battery covered the whole site, with much underground, but very little remains visible on the surface now.
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These plinths would each hold a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun, there are a total of four at the location 14ft apart.
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The second mount for a 29mm Spigot Mortar that I located today.
I had previously misidentified something on the other side of the road as this several years ago.
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Some people say this is a First World War jetty, it may well have been reused / rebuilt then but the 1894 OS maps already shows a tramway running from the powder wharf in the direction of the gare, joining up with the tramway on which sail bogies were also known to run. This would tie in nicely with 1880′s submarine mine loading complex on the gare which presumably needed a supply of explosives.
The small inlet immediately to the south east is known as Powder Hole.
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The 265m long French aircraft carrier Clemenceau arrived on the Tees on Sunday 8th Feburary 2009, drawing a very large crowd at South Gare.
It was towed from Brest by the tug Anglian Earl which moved it into position to be dismantled by Able UK on the North bank if the Tees.
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I’ve not yet found any record of the ships name, or date it was wrecked.
The remains of the ship can be seen depending on the tides and sand levels.
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Railway sleepers can be seen at a few points on the approach to South Gare, although they become much clearer after the gates next to the Coastal Battery, where the cars are not allowed.
Several pictures of the Sail Bogies in use can be found here
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Very prominent gun emplacement on the approach to the light house at South Gare, it would have housed a 6″ gun during WW2
The gun here was never fired in anger.
