The first attached aerial view of the staiths is one of several taken on the same day by Turners Photography. I find it particularly interesting because of the two ships in the foreground. The image is shown in a booklet I have and is dated 1950, I wonder about this.
Unless I am mistaken the two ships are FINDON (1957) and CONDE DEL CADAGUA (1959).
Both ships obviously visited the staiths on more than one occasion, my picture of FINDON was taken 17/09/61, the year Stephenson Clark took her over from the Pelton Steam Shipping Co.
The Spaniard was captured on 16/06/62. Built by Soc. Espanola de Const., Bilbao, for owners Altos Hornes De Vizcaya she became KOCAELI in 1983 then INCO197 in 1988 before being demolished at Bhavnagar in 1989.
Although obviously nowhere near as busy as they had been in their heyday the staiths still hosted some interesting ships in the 1960's when I made regular visits from home (ten minutes away!)
1970 saw the closure of the basin at the staiths because of the high cost of dredging needed to keep the basin silt free, coupled with a falling off of tonnage shipped from Dunston.The inner section of the structure was cut down at this time and all loading then carried out at the riverside berths until 1977 when the working life of the staiths came to an end.
The second aerial view shows the configuration of the staiths after 1970. I was actually on board the aircraft when this view was captured, it was one of the occasions when I wangled a flight with my pal at Turners Photography who did most of their aerial work in the 60's and 70's. We "just happened" to pass close to the staiths one day shortly before they were shut down.
The staiths were a prominent feature of the Gateshead Garden Festival in 1990 but afterwards lay neglected and unattended until the inevitable happened when some moron set them alight in 2003. The damage caused will almost certainly never be made good and so the gap remains today, looking akin to a missing tooth!
In March 1963 the steamer LORNA loaded coal at the spot which bore the brunt of the fire some 40 years later.
LORNA was built in 1927 as BARON TWEEDMOUTH for Hogarth Shipping Co., by Lithgows Ltd., Port Glasgow.