6 thoughts on “Coking Plant, Thornaby”

  1. Thank you Frank. I have just checked on the web and a short book on the company has been published by Alan Betteney of the Cleveland Industrial Archeological Society. It can be bought from Stockton Library.

    I thought that there would be a blast furnace near the slag heaps since blast furnace slag is white, because it does not contain much iron, either in the combined state or free metal

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    • Thank you Fred, I did not know anything was on the web so did a check, what a shock pictures history in fact the full story plus some very interesting old pictures of Thornaby. One lives and one learns although sometimes a point in the right direction is needed.

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  2. Fred, I believe to be part of Whitwells Iron Works one of the first in that area and decomissiond in the 1930’s.
    My Dad took me down to see the last Chimney blown down, he had been taking rubble for the old works for the bases of Kendrew’s Housing estate just off Norton Green so knew it was going to happen.
    There was a bang the chimney wavered, Dad grabbed me and ran back thinking it was going the wrong way then it went as planned something a lad of eight does not forget. Most of the bricks from that are under Cottersloe Road and as I passed in the train often wondered why they never finished knocking it all down.

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  3. Were these associated with the railway or did it come from a time when there may have been some kind of smelting furnaces along the south bank of the Tees? There were very large slag tips about half way along the river between Thornaby and Newport, which points to this this of operation.

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    • This was part of the puddling blast furnaces complex Thomas Whitwell and his brother ran making pig iron products. They also had iron rolling mills on site making rolled bars that were all shapes, flat, angle, square etc.
      My great great great grandfather was a puddling ironworker in that plant.. Most of the men of thornaby worked there somehow or other. So far I’ve found about 10 relatives who worked there. Whitwells also built the Erimus housing estate for his workers, has anyone any pictures of the houses?
      It was a dangerous place the foundry… Many deaths, and one man actually fell into the molten iron crucible.. They had to skim parts off the top of the molten metal to give to his spouse to bury!
      The whole factory complex filled the area from thornaby station, all of the area where the railway yards are now to the river, along the river to where the princess diana bridge is, and along the side of head wrightsons to the station again… Huge area… Now all gone..

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