This is a view along the River Tees looking south towards the Victoria Bridge in 1974. Courtesy of Brian Kemp. 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
This is a view along the River Tees looking south towards the Victoria Bridge in 1974. Courtesy of Brian Kemp.
Can anyone tell me what the pub was called where the Mecca bingo is before that it was Netto.
The Teessider ?
https://picturestocktonarchive.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/the-teessider-c1984/
Yep, it was The Teessider
This looks like it was taken at the end of Finkle Street. From 1964 to 1972 I used to attend Holy Trinity Junior school in Yarm Lane, exactly where the roundabout is at the end of Prince Regent Street. Next to the school was the Maison, now a snooker hall. Every friday we would walk past the Maison, past Stockton Castle where the Swallow is now, down the bank to the riverside and walk along the river towards the Diana Bridge, which of course wasn`t there at that time, walking between crane rails, to go to the old Stockton Baths in Bath Lane. There were rats and mice but not a sign of a health and safety man. Happy days. 13/03/2012 20:47:55
Frank Bowron: Do you recall in the 1954 period a chemical spill killed thousands of fish in the Tees. I was playing near the Bowesfield Lane Boathouse Club end and the river bank contained numerous fish passing by ‘belly up’. Some where still alive so we caught the largest of them and fool me ‘took them home for my mother to cook’. We didn’t tell her that they might have been poisoned or perhaps we didn’t know the seriousness of it. Anyway she cooked the 6 or so I had, taking a bite out-of-one you could smell and taste the chemicals in them so had to spit them out. When catching them we had got covered in good old Tees Mud, and it stunk heavily of chemicals. The smell reminded me of the smell from ‘SWEET HILLS’, the ICI works near the A19 which borders the road to the Transporter Bridge past Port Clarence. MURDER BY SHOOTING ON THE TEES BANK NEAR FOGGINS ALLOTMENTS, THORNABY. Does anyone recall this sad 1950s event, four youth broke into the TA Barracks, they stole a rifle and ammo and went shooting birds alongside the River Tees. To their everlasting regret they shot dead a boy of about 8 or 9, called Robert [Bob] who was a pupil at the National school? All four got committed to prison until Her Majestys Pleasure Was Known, which in those days was a life sentence. Three of the boys were really nice lads, the shooter was a real troublesome kid. What a pity for them they ever got mixed up with him. 28/09/2011 11:25:46
Directly over the river and to the left of this photo was a long line of ‘tank-traps’ erected during WW2 to prevent German tanks or armaments getting ashore. These ‘traps’ comprised of lines of square concrete bollards about 4 foot square and 4 ft high lining the river bank in long rows. As a child we used to climb on top of one, then jump from one-to-the-other. About 400 yards away from these tank traps was THE TORCH built adjoining the Darlington to Middlesbrough railway line. It was a huge concrete building which looked like a ‘concrete torch’ which stood 60′ high. As a boy I used to climb inside it looking for street pigeons nesting there. There were dozens but as we climbed in it they flew out so we never ever caught one. The ‘Torch’ was situated on the Cork Insulation land along with numerous 1920s steelworks buildings left from the ‘Clarence Hatry’ United Steel works financial crash. Hatry was given 14 years in prison for issuing forged securities to raise funds. This crash triggered the Great Depression of 1929-1932, so through Hatry, Stockton-on-Tees played an historical role in the Depression which swept the UK and USA causing massive unemployment. 27/09/2011 03:22:13
Aye, the salmon might have been getting up there, but if it weren’t for the pollution you’d never have fished it out with a forked stick, Derek. I remember looking down at the water from Newport Bridge around 1958 and where Billingham Beck flowed out into the river, the water was turqoise, green, orange and yellow. Lord only knows what was in it, but I reckon a salmon would probably have dissolved in there!
Just on the other side of the river on the Head Wrightson side with a forked stick I pulled a 27″ salmon out of the river. The Salmon was in good condition and me and a young apprentice got our photos in the Evening Gazette, think it would have been Febuary 25 1975. This was long before the river was cleaned up so it goes to show salmon were still getting up river even when it was polluted.
As a youngster during the war friends and I would spend many hours all around this part of the Tees. There was much activity going on. Coming down Finkle Street to the Quay side watching ships Loading and also seeing them go up to the flour mill some to turn, and return to stockton Quay. Others Moored at the mill. Also watching out for the trains which ran along the Quay side. Across the river Head Wrightsons, there was a number of slipways with many landing craft being built, and we watched many being launched most stright down into the river but one slip was built side-on that launched that way it was my favouite. A ferry boat crossed near there for the yard workers. We would walk on passing an engineering works, on under Victoria Bridge to Pickersgill boat yard , where lots of ships life boats were built. There were always lots in the river, some were towed away, others pulled out loaded on wagons. This River Tees of ours was so busy, such an exciting place, for 12 year olds.
Looks like half tide in the picture.
I remember going down Silver Street and seeing the rats at low water hanging round the drains looking for food.
The Tees Barrage has stopped the tide these days. It would be interesting to know how the river would have performed now that we have got rid of industries and pollution.