A sad day for Tyneside

[paulmurphy]

Yesterday the iconic red Swan Hunters cranes were being prepared for transportation to India (where they still build ships) - a sad end to ship building on the Tyne



A couple of images taken at the disused yards, first when the cranes were being dismantled, (deliberately processed to be dark and moody)



Second one of the disused boat pens/docks



Best wishes

Murph

[David Kilpatrick]

My grandfather was a platemarker on Clydeside, then moved to Redcar after WW1, then back to Clydeside. Shipbuilding survive the depression but not the purchase of Britain's steel industry by India...

David

[aster]

This change is indeed sad Paul.
It's always hard giving up on some industry that the country and nation take pride in.
I suppose the land will be opened to renovation projects sooner or later which probably have nothing to do with shipbuilding. Living in Istanbul, a city with similar landmarks, I know how these cranes and the industry they pertain to mean to us and to the city skyline as a whole.

Does this removal partly mean that your new ships will, at least in part, be built in India and shipped back over to the ports of United Kingdom?

Yildiz

[Birma]

Very interesting, historical shots Murph. #2 is my favourite with the dramatic back light. I can't believe that the UK, a group of islands, is losing its ship building industry and heritage. I expect it may come back one day, but perhaps none of us will be here to see it. (Is it me, or is the horizon a bit skew in the last one?)