7 days at South Gare Redcar and Cleveland Yorkshire By Katey Jane photography

Walking and photographing ships birds and landscape with stunning views of the River Tees

After spending about 7 months off grid on the North York moors and after getting over my mothers death (Shelia my mum died on the 28th September 2022) it was time to start heading north. I had planned to be in the North Penneses for christmas but wanted to see South Gare after my mate whose ship photography mad kept telling me to visit south gare and photograph ships because he hadn’t been there since the 1980s.

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As normal when I drive to a new location I like to drive at night, it makes driving the motorhome easier, using less fuel and is more relaxing with less traffic on the roads. I had planned to be there at about 11 pm. It was cold and frosty and Knowing Google street view didn’t go that far down the south gare road I had no idea if I was taking the right ruit. I picked what I thought was the road road on my sat nav and off I went and I was right.

Heading through Recar I came to what looks like a dead end, with a small roundabout. So if I went down this very narrow road, this road seemed to go on forever, with the motorhome sliding around on the icely road. I even;ty came to the end and noticed a few vans parked up. I guess I was there and parked up and stepped out the van only to see the wind turbines and sea to my right and the river tees to my left. I thought this looked rather cool and dived in bed but lay there listening to ships come past that kept me awake due to my excitement of a new place.

As dawn broke with clear skies the views were stunning, the beach empty of people, the sunrise colours looking beautiful and the river tees awash with colourful lights from the port and factories in the low mist looked dramatic. I sat there and thought, ``Where do I start?'' I felt like a kid in a sweet shop. Rushing around like a madwoman I could hear a ship's engine, looked out the window and that would be my first set of shots. Thinking there would be an odd ship coming in or heading out soon was dashed with ship after ship so I decided to concentrate on those first and leave the beach until later.

About 15 ships later I headed back to the van for dinner, planning my next move that would take in the beach to see what birds may be about. I took a short walk along the beach later in the afternoon as my legs were killing me, knowing I didn’t want to put myself out of action for the whole week. So heading back to the van for the night, but ended up going out again close to the van to shoot more ships and the dusk light of the sunset of port lights.

My first walk along the beach for real, I left just before sunrise, none of the other van owners were up, so I had the beach to myself. The sunrise was stunning yet again, with a flat calm sea with the most beautiful reflections of the old steel works in the wet sand, so I lay down on the beach and grabbed some shots.

I walked out 2 miles, looking for different things to photograph, within reason for the sun to rise so I could start shooting the birds.

Some of the first birds were in fact my favourites, the sanderling, I white and grey sword bird that overwinters in the UK, it is small and runs like Usain Bolt. Their legs go so fast you can’t hardly see them. They are a rather funny little bird which has a wonderful chaytor about them. If you are careful and move smoothly they will come within 10 feet of you. I have spent many fun hours with these little birds and it is rewarding to watch.

That week, the weather was super stunning, with sunrises and sunset almost every day but it was the sunsets that seemed most dramatic with the river tees and lights from the port and surrounding works. The lighting was a soft orange that gleamed on the river, and when a ship passed its lights would reflect off the water which made for the most beautiful ship and landscape photos.

Wandering around the beach and in the grass dunes allows you to see all kinds of photography opportunities and nearing the end of the day the lighting can be dramatic. Nearing the end of the day there was a purple sunsets which is a rare sight but this one was out of this world, the sea turned purple! That blown my mind,

I spent today wandering along the river tees and met a chap called Tony who lives in one of the fisherman huts. He took great interest in my motorhomes system panel system that seemed to be the star attraction when the roof panels were titled. Tony is one of those rare people you meet who seems friendly and honest, he even bought me chinese on my last night. Where he lives, there's a small harbour that's full of new and old boats that made for some nice photos and my last night there was the most beautiful sunset, with deep orange colours yet again but this time there was no wind making for a calm river tees and with a low mist forming it was impossible to agnor, I just stood there listen to the birds and the gentle rumble of the ship endings in the distance, it really was one of those magical moments.

South Gare looks as if it's been left in the old days, its run down and messy looking which suited me down to the ground, modern life hasn’t reached there yet making for a prime adventure for me because I come from that style of life. It's the perfect place for landscape, ship, wildlife and bird photography and will no doubt come to live in the winter months. On a personal level I would never visit there during the summer months due to too many cars and vans.

Visited just before Christmas 2021 and wrote September 2022 Katey Jane Andrews
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