Tees Towing Company as featured in the Tees Conservancy Commissioners Handbook. One of many operators along the Tees, the tugs in service provided much needed assistance for large vessels coming into ports. When tides or winds were not on side the steam tugs would give the extra power to keep the ships moving. 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
The Tees Conservancy Commissioners came into being on 30th June 1852 for the conservation, regulation and improvement of the river. Their first task was the straighten it and remove shoals securing deeper water at Middlesbrough and Stockton.
Can anyone tell me about The Tees Conservancy Commission, i.e. when it was formed, why, and what did it do? I remember their launch used to pass Head Wrightson”s at Thornaby at approx 10 a.m. I think it turned round at Victoria bridge and then went back down rver. What were they looking for/at, and why, please?
This looks like an advert from the early 1960″s version of the Tees Conservancy Commissioners River Tees Handbook which I assembled for printing as a compositor at Jordison & Co. Ltd. I also had an interest in the Ben Lines vessels at the time as a friend sailed with them on the regular Tees to Japan voyage. On my daily crossings from Port Clarence to Middlesbrough on the Transporter I would be watching the berths when ever he was due back.