River Wear from the bridge. Taken about 1910 this photo gives a good impression of the shipyards downstream of the bridge. In 1840 there were 76 yards oin the Wear building wooden ships. Changing to iron and steel forced yhards to change to large scale industrial working and by 1914 there were16 large yards on the river. From the 1960's as shipping requirements changed more and more Wear yards closed, the last closure being in 1988.
Information from Len Charlton.
