A view from July 1968 of the Dunston shipbreaking yard belonging to Clayton & Davie. The paddle tug Eppleton Hall is seen across the decks of the ferries SOUTH SHIELDS and TYNEMOUTH, of late operated by the Tyne Improvement Commission. Behind the camera were several fishing vessels awaiting the cutters torch.
The breaking yard was served by rail, several wagons glimpsed beyond the tug are waiting to be loaded. A good number of steam locomotives were demolished at the yard after the demise of steam working on British Railway metals in 1968.
The two posts protruding from the river bed in the background mark the site of an old mud timber beach where seasoning took place, the stacks of timber behind this spot are on the premises of the timber merchants Palmer Hall & Co. Ltd.
The partly obscured tall brick chimney belongs to the Co-operative Soap Works