Up to about 1965 it was impossible to see this vista as there was a tall fence along side the path that ran down past the North Shore Branch Line, and which blocked the view. The tearing down of the fence and the demolition of the Remploy building was one of the first steps to remodel this part of the riverside. The area in the foreground had been part of a shipyard up to the 1930s.
This photograph was taken three years before the riverside road was built over the small railway freight yard. The freight yard was built in 1949 to help revive Stockton as a port and can just be discerned. Part of Head Wrightsons is on the opposite side of the river.The number of big white vans just visible along the quay confirm that the railway yard was a failure, after its first bit of success in the 1950s.
Photograph and details courtesy of Fred Starr.
This is the pint where Jimmy Kelley ran his Ferry business It shows the demolition of the Remploy building and next to it was Rembrandt. Between these 2 buildings was a large set of wooden doors with a wicket gate where we passed through from the road to get to the Ferry.
Dirty old town in those days but I loved it