We believe this new road construction leads towards the Portrack area, with the South Durham Iron and Steel Company or Stockton Malleable Works on the right. Are the row of houses on the left Hill Street East? c1934
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
The building top right could be the back of the electrical shop with the building top center the old power house or garage area.
Talking the Malleable here.
Looking at the 1899 Godfrey Map of N. Stockton the angle the new road was coming in suggests that the houses on the left are Hill Street East. At the very end is a single building which would be the Royal, whilst the row of “houses”, probably offices, on the right are across Dugdale Street and are inside the Malleable.
At the point from where this picture was taken would be where the railway bridge which crossed Church Road. My Uncles factory was on the right on the top of the bank. Fred Kidd and Son Engineers and Brass Founders. This was their new factory which had its own foundry and manager. It had seperate engineering workshops with Charlie Lampton as Forman Manager. Kidd’s sprang from Rogers Engineering, which went out of business in about 1926. Fred Kidd was Rogers machine shop.Forman, and started his own business in Rogers old buildings in West Row or Regent Street and built up the business with the help of his son Tom. With the advent of the second world war the factory ran 24 hour shift system producing armaments. Women were trained and replaced the men who were called up for military service, Many were lathe operators and did skilled work for the war effort.
After the war they started to produce Aluminium goods such as pots, pans,,minceing machines and pan scrubs, all of these items lasted for years and some are still being used today. With the advent of electric cooking, aluminium pans with a flat bottom became the best type of pan to use for heat transfer. Many new inventions came from this firm, the first automatic cow drinking bowls with a valve to conrol the flow of water. A new spring loaded conveyer belt system called “Flexiroll” which adjusted to the weight of the load and also did not require any oiling of the rollers which were made of fireproof plastic so important in coal mines of those days. Teeside produced many inventionsI we even produced our own petrol called Regent made at ICI Billingham. Why can’t.we do this today and not be held to ransom for fuel. The factory still stands on the site and was used by Pickersgills. About four years ago I had a pleasent reunion with with men that served their time at Kidd’s in 1944 and we revisited the factory for old times sake and still found articals and tools from Kidd’s days.
I was born in The Royal and left when I was about 3 so my memory is non-existent, but I think the separate building right at the end of the terrace may be the pub…
Yes Derek, You are correct, it looks like the pub I remember in the 60s. In fact the terrace I meant was the one on the right side of the photo without any chimneys
Yes the row of houses is Hill Street East in Portrack. I think that the constructions on the right hand side of the road did not belong to the Malleable, but the chimneys in the far distance do. The workers still have a major job in building the walkways.
The terrace in view looks like it could be the Malleable main office block in Dugdale Street, if so I can’t make out The Royal public house.