South Bank, Redcar and Cleveland

South Bank is a former industrial town in the Redcar and Cleveland borough in North Yorkshire, England on the south bank of the River Tees. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Middlesbrough and 6 miles (9.7 km) south-west of Redcar. The town is served by South Bank railway station.[2]

South Bank
  • Tees Tilery or Slaggy Island
Middlesbrough Road
South Bank is located in North Yorkshire
South Bank
South Bank
Location within North Yorkshire
Population6,548 (ward 2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceNZ535205
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMIDDLESBROUGH
Postcode districtTS6
Dialling code01642
PoliceCleveland
FireCleveland
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament

Within Redcar and Cleveland, the South Bank ward had a population of 6,548 at the 2011 census.[1] It forms part of the Teesside built-up area's Middlesbrough subdivision. The area is part of Greater Eston.[3]

Ormesby's ancient parish was split into civil parishes. South Bank was in Normanby civil parish. In 1894, the area gained a higher population, and South Bank in Normanby Urban District Council was created. A town hall was built for the district in 1878 and was demolished before the urban district merged with Eston Urban District in 1915.[4] The Eston Urban District was abolished in 1968 with the district becoming part of the County Borough of Teesside.[5] In 1974, the county borough, with the area remaining unparished.

History

Formerly known as "Tees Tilery",[6] South Bank has a long history of steelmaking in the companies Bolckow Vaughan[7] and Dorman Long, and shipbuilding at Smiths Dock Company. The area was also known by the nickname of "Slaggy Island" as it was surrounded by slag heaps.[8]

It was part of the parish of Eston and formed part of the Middlesbrough parliamentary constituency from 1867 until 1918.

Shipbuilding

Bad Back: a sculpture for South Bank's Eco-Village, by Ray Lonsdale

In 1907, Smiths Dock Company, a firm of shipbuilders from North Shields, set up part of its business on the River Tees at South Bank.[9] Smiths Dock closed its North Shields Yard in 1909 focussing its operations on the River Tees.[10]

Smiths Dock built many ships that served during the Second World War,[11] including trawlers that the Admiralty requisitioned and converted to armed trawlers of the Royal Naval Patrol Service such as HMT Amethyst or HMT Arab, in which Lieutenant Richard Stannard (RNR) won the Victoria Cross. Smiths Dock prepared the design of the Flower-class corvette,[12] an anti-submarine convoy escort of the Second World War.

In 1966 Smith's Dock merged with Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson to form Associated Shipbuilders, later to become Swan Hunter Group.[13]

In 1968, the company completed the first British-built and owned container ship, Manchester Challenge of 12,039 gross register tons, for operation on Manchester Liners new container service to ports on the St Lawrence Seaway, Canada.[14] By 1971, the company had delivered three further ships of this design to Manchester Liners.

South Bank railway station

South Bank's shipbuilding era came to an end on 15 October 1986, when the last ship was launched from Smith's Dock, the shipyard itself closing in February 1987.[15] The dock was re-used as Tees Offshore Base in 1988 and became home to offshore service industry companies including Tees Dockyard. Tees Dockyard was bought by Cammell Laird in 1998. On 15 April 2001, Cammell Laird closed the ship repair yard.

Politics

South Bank is part of the Redcar Parliamentary constituency, which is represented by Jacob Young of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons.

Borough Council

In the 2023 local elections, the following members were returned to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council:

WardCouncillorParty
South Bank Izzy Attwood Labour
South Bank Susan Jennifer Jeffrey Labour

Places of worship

St Peter's Catholic Church

The original Catholic parish of St. Peter was formed in 1874, followed by St. Mary's, in nearby Grangetown, in 1886. Together they served the Irish and Lithuanian immigrants who worked in the smelting works by the River Tees. These days, South Bank's Catholic Church is part of a larger parish, which includes the churches of St. Anne's, Eston and St. Andrew's, Teesville. The joint parish is served from, and carries the name of, St. Andrew's Parish.[16]

The Anglican Communion is represented by the church of St. John the Evangelist. The foundation stone for the church was laid in 1893, and was completed two years later in 1895. It is part of the Deanery of Middlesbrough within the Diocese of York.

The South Bank Baptist Church also dates from the late 19th century and the 'non-aligned' South Bank Mission, although not in its original building, was founded in 1908.[17]

Other established places of worship include the Redcar and Cleveland Islamic and Quranic Cultural Association, which mostly serves the Bangladeshi community.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – South Bank Ward (1237321178)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  2. "South Bank History and Photographs". www.billyscarrow.co.uk. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  3. "Greater Eston". Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  4. "South Bank Town Hall". My Town My Future. 5 April 2019.
  5. "South Bank in Normanby". Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  6. "GENUKI: Eston Parish information from Bulmers' 1890".
  7. "How are the mighty fallen: Bolckow Vaughan Co. Ltd. 1864–1929 Marianne Pitts" (PDF). April 2007.
  8. Schofield, Derek (13 June 2017). "Vin Garbutt obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  9. The Sound of Silence Evening Gazette, 18 April 2002
  10. Royal Navy Ship may bring work for 100's Evening Chronicle, 30 August 2008
  11. Proctor, Kate (5 January 2015). "New homes plan for Smith's Dock in North Tyneside to go before planners".
  12. "Ex-Shipyard Worker's Book Sails Through Teesside Dock's History - A&P Group".
  13. Fears for Tyneside tradition as Swan Hunter ship is towed to Govan for completion Guardian, 15 July 2006
  14. Stoker 1985, p. 43
  15. Kirkleatham Museum Archived 26 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  16. "About Us". St. Andrew's Parish Online.
  17. "South Bank Mission's 100 years of service". Gazette Live. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  18. Joyce 2012, p. 48.
  19. Walker, Sarah (4 September 2008). "Tees hero Kenny has sights on more gold". Gazette Live. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  20. Oxley, Lyndsay (22 September 2014). "Government minister in visit to South Bank school where he used to be a pupil". Gazette Live. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  21. Merrick, Jane (4 October 2009). "Greg Clark: Global warming is not on our back burner". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  22. Joyce 2012, p. 73.
  23. Lewis, Roz (2 March 2012). "Paul Daniels: My family values". The Guardian.
  24. "Florence Easton | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  25. Glanville, Brian (15 April 2000). "Wilf Mannion". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  26. Webber, Chris (20 October 2012). "Amid the beauty, pain". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  27. Joyce 2012, p. 243.

Sources

  • Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League players' records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 9781905891610.
  • Stoker, Robert B. (1985). The Saga of Manchester Liners. Kinglish. ISBN 0-9507480-2-1.
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