A trip into Middlesbrough town and an opportunity to revisit once familiar places along the banks of the Tees. Much has changed, buildings demolished, waste ground landscaped, signposts for footpaths: the England Coast Walk and the Eight Bridges Walk. That’s a new one on me. But some things remain the same. The white horses on the river as I battled against the wind towards the Newport Bridge. And the smells from the Indian food factory at Riverside Park. Their pakora recipe must be the same.
The iconic Transporter Bridge has had a facelift but still closes when it’s windy. Seen here through a window in a wall on Vulcan Street. This ornate wall has been here since in 1887, when it was built by the Cleveland Salt Company Works. Water was forced down into the 100 feet thick salt beds which underlie the whole of the Tees estuary. The resulting brine was then pumped back up and evaporated in large pans. By the time the site closed in 1947 almost 880,000 tons of salt had been produced.
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