Thursday 26th April 2001
Weather: Drizzle at times and dull
Today's walk: Tees Barrage - Stockton Riverside - Newport Bridge
( 9 miles )
Today’s
riverside walk begins at the Tees Barrage,
situated on a stretch of the River Tees between Middlesbrough and
Stockton
At the time of its
construction in 1992, in terms of cost (£50 million) and size
it was Britain’s largest single engineering project
– the barrage is 70 metres long, made of reinforced
concrete,
with a pavilion building at each end and a road running across
the top
. 
Before the
barrage’s construction, the River Tees was tidal as far
upstream as the town of Yarm
- since then, there has been a total transformation of the
upstream river corridor,
the waters are clean and the fish have returned
. 
We begin by
walking upstream along the north side of the Tees,
the riverside path we take here is part of the 40-mile long
‘Teesdale Way’
– across the river are the buildings of the University of
Durham
As we approach
Stockton we pass underneath the Princess of Wales Bridge, often
referred to as the Diana Bridge
- it was opened on 23rd September, 1992, and provides
a road crossing between the Riverside Road, Stockton
and the Teesdale area of Thornaby
Looking ahead we
get our first glimpse of the Teesquay Millenium Bridge,
Stockton’s newest river crossing,
a footbridge linking the Castlegate Centre of the High Street to
Teesdale . . .
.
. 
. . . it is of cable stay design supported by a 40 metre high mast and was completed in December 2000
. 
Just past the Millenium Bridge we reach a replica vessel of Captain Cook’s ship, the Endeavour
Further upstream we cross Victoria Bridge . . .
. . . a plaque
reads, "The Victoria Bridge was formally opened on 20th
June, 1887,
and has been named THE VICTORIA BRIDGE in commemoration of the 50th
year of the reign
of her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria"
. 
From the bridge we walk back downstream alongside the river in the area known as Teesdale
Back in 1987, and
amid great publicity, the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher,
made her famous ‘walk in the wilderness’ amongst this
once derelict and barren site . . .
. . . it has since been transformed into a smart, bustling arena, complete with university, business facilities and housing
. 
Following the river
downstream in a now easterly direction we soon arrive back at the
Tees Barrage
and after passing under the barrage bridge come to the old
railway sidings
where row upon row of rusting rolling stock stand for ever idle
– graffiti artists have helped brighten things up a bit!
We continue along a
fairly straight stretch of the river – however, this
wasn’t always its natural course
as in 1810 and 1830 the Tees Navigation Company improved access
for shipping to Stockton
by means of the Mandale and Portrack Cuts, thus isolating two
huge horseshoe bends in the river
Ahead we see the A19 Tees Viaduct before the river bends towards Newport Bridge
The A19 bridge was opened to traffic in 1975 as part of a comprehensive scheme to improve the Sunderland to Thirsk route – although it boasts two lane dual carriageways, it can still become quite a bottleneck at peak traffic periods
. 
Newport Bridge is one of Teesside's most famous landmarks
An impressive piece
of engineering, it was built by local company Dorman Long
(who also constructed the Sydney Harbour and Tyne Bridges) and
was opened in 1934
It was the first
vertical lift bridge in Britain and the largest of its type in
the world
– it could be lifted 90 feet, giving a clearance of 120 feet
at high water.
The bridge was
raised and lowered for the last time on 18th November,
1990, at a special ceremony attended by thousands
– sadly, the lifting span is now permanently fixed down
From Newport Bridge
we continue along the riverside path by what is now a fairly
quiet area
– here we look across towards the gas tanks near the Cannon
Park Industrial Estate
You wouldn’t
think so looking at today's peaceful scene, but for more than 100
years from about 1850 onwards,
these green pastures were dominated by giant iron and steelworks
and huge blast furnaces
– sadly the industry quickly fell into decline in the latter
half of the 20th century
when local ironstone ran out and cheaper imports could be brought
in
There's still
evidence of the timber wharfs and jetties where great ships
moored
to offload imported coal and ore and take on their cargoes of
steel
Over the river at Billingham and North Tees there are still some fairly large and active chemical plants
This is as far as
we go today and as close as we get to the most famous landmark of
all on Teesside
– the Transporter Bridge
The 'Transporter'
was opened in 1911 to replace the ferry services between
Middlesbrough and Port Clarence
– passengers and vehicles are carried across the river on a
suspended travelling platform
The crossing takes two minutes and I believe I’m right in thinking it’s the only bridge of its type in the world that’s still in use
From this point we
retraced our steps to Newport Bridge,
crossed it, then walked on the north side of the river back to
the Tees Barrage
Click here for some great old black and white photographs of
the bridges
and past industries associated with the River Tees
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