HISTORY
Building bridges – The Sydney Harbour Bridge was built by Teesside ’ s Dorman Long .
A match for anyone - John Walker refused to patent his invention . than 40,000 people . It is little wonder that former prime minister William Gladstone described the town as “ an infant Hercules ” on a visit to Middlesbrough , while Tees itself remains known as “ the Steel River ”.
BRIDGE-BUILDING Teesside was for many years renowned as the bridge-building capital of the world . In the years between the two world wars , Middlesbrough ’ s Dorman Long & Co constructed some of the world ’ s most celebrated bridges , most famously , the Sydney Harbour Bridge , but also that great symbol of the Geordie nation , the Tyne Bridge .
Dorman Long built bridges in China , India , South Africa and Egypt ; bridges that linked Scandinavian islands and crossed the Victoria Falls . They also built the Newport Bridge , the world ’ s largest vertical lift bridge , linking Middlesbrough with Stockton .
Their arch-rivals , Cleveland Bridge , another local company , built the Blue Nile Bridge in Khartoum , Chiswick Bridge and the great Waibaidu Bridge in Shanghai . The latter is still standing today : a 1930s piece of Teesside engineering genius against a backdrop straight out of sci-fi . In 1911 , Cleveland Bridge also designed the iconic Transporter Bridge across the Tees .
Teesside ’ s bridge-builders worked on some of the biggest engineering projects of the 20th century – the bridge across the
Bosphorus , linking Europe with Asia , the Humber Bridge and the Dartford Bridge , the construction of the Docklands Light Railway and Canary Wharf , and even the arches above the new Wembley Stadium .
And another icon of Tyneside , the Angel of the North , was built on Teesside , at Hartlepool Fabrication .
SHIPBUILDING For more than two centuries , the River Tees and the adjacent port of Hartlepool were among the UK ’ s most prolific shipbuilding regions , with conservative figures estimated at 6,000 vessels . Builders such as William Gray , Ropner & Sons , Smith ’ s Dock and Furness built ships of many types
From Smith ’ s Dock in South Bank , near Middlesbrough , more than 900 vessels were launched , ranging from trawlers to container ships . During World War Two , Smith ’ s Dock designed the Royal Navy ’ s Flower-class antisubmarine corvettes .
CHEMICALS AND PLASTICS Many people know that it was Teesside ’ s industrial skyline that inspired the design of the futuristic city in Hartlepool-educated film director Ridley Scott ’ s movie , Blade Runner . Fewer are aware that a trip to Billingham sparked Aldous Huxley to write Brave New World .
This was the world of ICI – Imperial Chemical Industries . In its heyday , the company employed tens of thousands of Teessiders across its chemicals , plastics and agricultural manufacturing sites in the region . This was where , in 1936 , Perspex was first invented . They ’ d use it on the windshields , canopies and gun turrets of aircraft in World War Two .
But the heavy pollution caused by the manufacture of chemicals and steel also saw visiting football fans nickname Teessiders “ Smog monsters ”, a once abusive term now adopted with pride by many locals who proudly describe themselves as “ Smoggies ”.
THE FRICTION MATCH Perspex wasn ’ t the only great Teesside innovation . Back in 1827 , John Walker , from Stockton-on-Tees ( who ’ d been training as a surgeon until he discovered he didn ’ t like the sight of blood ), had invented the friction match .
Already comfortably well off , he refused to patent his invention , making it freely available for anyone to make . He received neither fame nor wealth for his genius , with his invention only attributed after his death .
33