South Gare 4.18

South Gare is an area of reclaimed land and breakwater on the southern side of the mouth of the River Tees in Redcar and Cleveland, England. It is accessed by taking the South Gare Road (private road) from Fisherman's Crossing at the western end of Tod Point Road in Warrenby.Before the building of South Gare, permanent dry land stopped at Tod Point, at the western end of Warrenby and there was only Coatham Sands and the mudflats of Bran Sands. The creation of South Gare extends this by a further 2.5mi. The building of South Gare offers a safe harbour in stormy weather to ships off the coast and allowed for the dredging of the River Tees entrance. South Gare itself was a settlement but the houses there were demolished many years ago.HistoryConstructionBuilding the of slag training walls in the Tees was started in 1859. Blocks of solid blast furnace slag were cast and moved into position along the banks of the River Tees, then back filled using 70,000 tons of material dredged from river bed. This canalised the river allowing it to keep itself clean by the action of flow and tides.The Gare was constructed from January 1861 to 1884 using 5 million tonnes of blast furnace slag and 18,000 tons of cement at a total cost of £219,393. The slag was supplied free from Tees-side blast furnaces by ironmasters who paid for its removal. The north end of the breakwater carrying the lighthouse uses blocks of concrete weighing from 40 up to 300 tons in weight.Work was planned and supervised by John Fowler, engineer to the Tees Commissioners. With construction complete, the breakwater was formally opened by the Right Hon W.H. Smith, First Lord of the Treasury on 25 October 1888.