I used to live at Smith’s Woodyard in the 70s on Bridge Road, two doors down from the Teessider, opposite the old S&D ticket office. My mam and dad used to go to the Teessider often, right next to the old dole centre. The back of the woodyard went right down to the river tees, and occasionally, when there was a particularly high tide, the river would flood the yard nearly up to the remaining tracks from the S&D railway, which ran across Bridge Road from the railyards, in front of Smiths wood yard and towards the mill and other old buildings running along the Tees. Along the riverbank, old timbers from the days when ships used to dock were still there in the 70s. Hopefully someone remembers Smith’s Woodyard? It was a big yard. We used to live at the back of the offices, and would often play in the wood yard itself, with our back door opening out on the yard with a large steel container of wood preservative about 10 feet from the back door. We often used to play in the green liquid as kids…No wonder we’re short.
In a previous posting I asked about the round chimney which showed amongst the buildings to the right of the picture. I have compared other pictures (t5234, s1010, and t4182) of the Victoria Bridge and the chimney and it looks as though it is in the compound of the Mill, probably the boiler house.
Grandad”s first boat “Gladiola” (the larger of the two white hulled boats) at her moorings. He sold her on and converted a larger ship”s lifeboat into a cabin cruiser that he named “Dandylion” – misspelled on purpose. We used to position her to Whitby and Scarborough in the summer and the three generations would take turns in staying aboard for our two-week summer holidays. I seem to remember the Cleveland Flour Mills being damaged by fire in the late fifties.
The tall square looking building is the Flour Mill and to the extreme right is the Bridge Hotel. The chimney in the middle is further into the background. The Bridge Hotel was in the Thornaby Licencing area and closed at 10pm. The clientelle then went over the Bridge to the Stockton side to finish the night off because they closed at 10.30pm. The Bridge was a Beverleys House.
It could be the brewery but wasnt there also a flour-mill?? There was a brewery further along, I believe, where the Y junction near Mandale bottom was.
Could this be the Old Castle Brewery Building which was on Bridge Road (evidently, I can”t remember it) The shape of the chimney and roof look about the same to me but I”m probably wrong and will soon be put right by those with a longer memory than me I hope. Just thought it might be a bit of a help.
What a wonderful photograph this is. Such wonderful reflections in the water. I thought that I had some idea of this area but I can”t fathom out what the big chimney is in the skyline which is amongst the buildings on the right. Can anyone identify it?
A view of Victoria Bridge spanning the River Tees.
Picture Stockton Archive 
I used to live at Smith’s Woodyard in the 70s on Bridge Road, two doors down from the Teessider, opposite the old S&D ticket office. My mam and dad used to go to the Teessider often, right next to the old dole centre. The back of the woodyard went right down to the river tees, and occasionally, when there was a particularly high tide, the river would flood the yard nearly up to the remaining tracks from the S&D railway, which ran across Bridge Road from the railyards, in front of Smiths wood yard and towards the mill and other old buildings running along the Tees. Along the riverbank, old timbers from the days when ships used to dock were still there in the 70s. Hopefully someone remembers Smith’s Woodyard? It was a big yard. We used to live at the back of the offices, and would often play in the wood yard itself, with our back door opening out on the yard with a large steel container of wood preservative about 10 feet from the back door. We often used to play in the green liquid as kids…No wonder we’re short.
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In a previous posting I asked about the round chimney which showed amongst the buildings to the right of the picture. I have compared other pictures (t5234, s1010, and t4182) of the Victoria Bridge and the chimney and it looks as though it is in the compound of the Mill, probably the boiler house.
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Grandad”s first boat “Gladiola” (the larger of the two white hulled boats) at her moorings. He sold her on and converted a larger ship”s lifeboat into a cabin cruiser that he named “Dandylion” – misspelled on purpose. We used to position her to Whitby and Scarborough in the summer and the three generations would take turns in staying aboard for our two-week summer holidays. I seem to remember the Cleveland Flour Mills being damaged by fire in the late fifties.
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The large building is the Clevo Flour mill, demolished with explosives around 1970, on the second attempt.
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The tall square looking building is the Flour Mill and to the extreme right is the Bridge Hotel. The chimney in the middle is further into the background. The Bridge Hotel was in the Thornaby Licencing area and closed at 10pm. The clientelle then went over the Bridge to the Stockton side to finish the night off because they closed at 10.30pm. The Bridge was a Beverleys House.
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It could be the brewery but wasnt there also a flour-mill?? There was a brewery further along, I believe, where the Y junction near Mandale bottom was.
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Could this be the Old Castle Brewery Building which was on Bridge Road (evidently, I can”t remember it) The shape of the chimney and roof look about the same to me but I”m probably wrong and will soon be put right by those with a longer memory than me I hope. Just thought it might be a bit of a help.
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What a wonderful photograph this is. Such wonderful reflections in the water. I thought that I had some idea of this area but I can”t fathom out what the big chimney is in the skyline which is amongst the buildings on the right. Can anyone identify it?
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