Friday April 12th 2019. The ferry is clearly signed as we leave South Shields Metro station. We follow the signs down King St, South Shields’ anonymous, pedestrianised main street and stop for breakfast in a cafe on the market place, where the Friday market is in full swing. Once known as the Market Ferry, the terminus is only a few steps down from the bustling market place. It is modern and striking. There is plenty of information, which Jean studies, an enclosed waiting area with seating and the Nexus branding is clear. It makes a statement – this ferry is an important part of the local transport network.
Looking directly across to the north bank of the river, there is a reminder of Tyneside’s past – an area of empty land, which was the site of Smith’s Dock, one of the ship building and repair yards on which the area’s reputation was built, now being redeveloped for housing and riverside apartments. Gone from the Tyne too are the colliers, laden with coal to feed London’s power stations and gasworks, whose arrival in the Thames I regularly recorded sixty years ago. Just upstream lies the present – the Newcastle – Ijmuiden ferry and terminals for the import of biomass to fuel power stations and for the export of cars.
There is a long history of ferry crossings at numerous points along the Tyne between Newcastle and the sea but the Shields ferry is the sole survivor of this tradition. Starting life as the Market Place ferry in 1830, it was soon joined by 2 more plying between North and South Shields, which both lasted until the 1950s. The Market ferry was the only one of the 3 to carry vehicles but numbers declined dramatically following the opening of the Tyne tunnel in 1967. It was taken over by Tyne & Wear PTE in 1972 and, now known as the Shields ferry, it became foot passengers only.
Today the ferry is fully integrated into the Tyne & Wear transport network. A look at the Metro map shows the ferry linking the outer ends of the Metro avoiding a long journey round through Newcastle, some 8 miles further up the Tyne. It also benefits from integration with the full range of tickets, travel passes and smartcard. Earlier we purchased Metro Day tickets for £5.20 for the journey to South Shields and now we use the same ticket as we board Spirit of the Tyne for the 7 minute journey to North Shields, along with some early shoppers returning from the market with full bags.
We head downstream and approaching the North Shields terminus, we can see the Fish Quay and the white painted High and Low lighthouses, which used to guide shipping into the river. Then, the mouth of the Tyne, protected by 2 long, curving piers, comes into view and beyond the North Sea. As we leave the ferry, a bus is waiting to take passengers up the steep hill to North Shields Metro station but we are going to walk along the riverfront to the Fish Quay.
A small settlement of ‘shiels’ (traditional huts, from which the town derives its name) was founded there around 1225 to supply fish to the monastery at Tynemouth and the earliest record of a ferry between the ‘shiels’ dates from 1377. Today, the Fish Quay supports an inshore fishing fleet, a thriving restaurant scene and shops with appetising displays of fresh fish. We don’t have time to follow the coastal path round to Tynemouth so, after a freshly made crab sandwich, we head back to the ferry.
It’s the school holidays and the ferry is busy with young families. The sun is shining now but it’s still quite chilly so most people have stayed inside. Up on deck, a small boy, 6 or 7 years old and maybe on his first ferry journey, is running around. He shouts excitedly “It’s moving. It’s moving” as we slip away from the pontoon on the way back to South Shields and I am reassured to know that a simple ferry journey still has the power to excite a young mind.
The World in 23 Ferries 