South Marine Park, South Shields

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Just a quick one this week, South Shields' South Marine Park (I had planned a couple of the North Marine Park too but trees now block the views).

The Marine Parks date back to 1886 when they were landscaped from the so-called 'ballast hills'; ships on their way to the Tyne to collect coal would be unbalanced if they journeyed with empty holds so they carried ballast in the form of rocks and earth which was dumped on the sea front.

Head gardener John Peebles' meticulous journals were used to restore the parks to their original condition when £5 million from the Lottery Heritage Fund and South Tyneside Council was awarded in 2007, visibly with a new bandstand, the original had been removed even by the time of the second postcard.

2010 photos © Chris Perriman