Readheads Shipyard was a major influence in both the Social and economic development of South Shields . It was also a major source of work for the shipyard workers and indirectly fed many families , most of my family and friends worked there at one time or another. While in business the shipyard built over 600 ships, mainly Mercantile Marine .What follows is mainly attributable to the work of Amy C Flagg and comes from her book " The History of Shipbuilding in South Shields - 1746 to 1946. Sadly Amy Flagg is long gone , but the work she did on the History of South Shields was outstanding - when it comes to South Shields history she is the reference source . She lived in Westoe Village and her father was Superintendant of the first Marine College in Ocean Road .

John Readhead - 1865

Readhead and Softley ( 1864 – 1872 )

1865 - John Softley , General Manager for Marshalls at Willington and John Readhead , Engineering Manager for the same firm , thought that the time had come to start a small shipbuilding business of their own. They set up in the yard vacated by their former employers in Pilot Street , South Shields . At first they were quite successful , In building in their first year three clipper –brigs – "the Unus" , "the Dou" and and "the Honor", followed by some larger craft . The first steam-ship to be built by them was the tug "Contest" .A great trade depression occurred , and it proved too much for the limited financial resources : work was stopped for some time and in 1872 the partnership was dissolved.

This is one of Readhead & Softley early ships dated 1870 - name unknown . What is also unusual is the view of the Law Top and their shipyard with a another ship being built . Note how narrow is the entrance to the River , plus the absence of the Groyne and the "new" Pier in the distance .

John Readheads Shipyard .

1872 - The story of John Readhead is that of an extremely successful industrialist in South Shields : from being a practical Blacksmith or Millwright , he built up one of the most prosperous shipbuilding firms on Tyneside. In this he was assisted by the co-operation of a large family of sons , all of whom became partners in the firm .

Born at Earsdon Northumberland in 1819, John Readhead worked at Backworth Colliery as a young Millwright but , characteristically was quick to see the coming development of iron ships. He came to Tyneside and rose to be Engineering Manager for T.D. Marshall at Willing ton Quay . The story of his joint enterprise is told at the beginning of this article and its failure in 1872 , but he continued on his own account in the yard at Pilot Street . In spite of many setbacks ,due mainly to financial problems - – it has been said that at times he was hard put to find cash for the weekly wages – trade depressions , strikes , and accidents , he continued to make his way from wood and iron Tugboats to larger steamers for every part of the world .

The first ship built by John Readhead was the "Nord" for Messrs. Berthelot Derode et Cie . In 1875 the "Sagunto" , 950 tons , was completed and under the Spanish flag and the name of "Enrique Maynes" which was still operating 83 years later in 1958 .It is not possible to give compete list of all vessels that were built by the firm at the Pilot Street and West Docks , but the total was well over 600 .

Enrigue Maynes - 1875 to 1965		Trewidden - Built 1879

"President" Steam paddle tug - built 1876 & scrapped 1959 - 83 years old

1879 - In 1879 the they built the "Trewidden" for the Hain Line of St Ives, and she was the first of a great list of ships built for the Cornish firm. The story has been told over and over again – at launches and elsewhere – of how the two businesses began their long association . Sir Edward Hain , speaking at the launch of the "Trevethoe" in 1913 related ." It was my father and myself who first came in to the yard – the old yard – as entire strangers ; we were accosted by a young man who asked us our business and . I suppose observing our intentions to be quite honest , took us under his wing and showed us everything there was to be seen . He took us on board a steamer fitting out at the jetty , which was something like the ship we required , and before very long I signed our first contract with John Readhead and his sons "

Sir James Readhead , on the same occasion , remarked " fortunately I asked their business in a pleasant manner " .It was indeed fortunate for both sides, business between them continued for many years . Readheads built the first 74 ships for Hain , in fact Hain never had a ship built anywhere else until after Sir Edward Hain's death in 1917 . In all , they built 87 ships for them , which was claimed to be a world record at one time . The very last ship to be built for them was the "Trebartha", and this is shown among the pictures below . . It was not only this firm , The Strick Line , Harrowing’s , the Bristol City Line and many others repeated their orders. They built 34 ships for Stricks and some of the last they built for them were regarded amongst the finest looking ships in the Merchant Navy .

1880 - By 1881 orders for more and bigger ships meant the firm needed to expand . The West Docks at the western end of Shields were purchased and by degrees the old shipyard and engineering works were transferred, so that by 1896 the Pilot Street yard was up for Sale .Unfortunately John Readhead did not live to see the final closing down of the old yard as he died on the 9 March 1894 at the age of 76 at his home Southgarth in Westoe Village.For some time the different departments had been managed by his sons – Robert & John ( Engineering) ,James ( Shipbuilding) and William Bell ( Drawing Office) . Thomas had predeceased his father .

1909 - The firm turned into a private Limited company , Robert Readhead retired and James became the first Chairman and Managing Director .

James Readhead

1914 -1918 During World War 1 , the firm launched 20 steam screw cargo vessels and 3 armoured "P" class patrol boats , 4 lighters and repaired many war damaged ships .

1921 - A post war boom occurred as shipping companies needed to replace ships lost during the war , but by 1930 a recession in the business occurred .

1930 - Sir James Readhead died after a long illness , the last surviving partner and he was succeeded by his only surviving son , Sir James Halder Readhead .A recession was under way so that by 1938 it was an open secret that only the threat of World War 2 , saved Readheads from financial disaster.

1940 - There can be no doubt that the tension of the war days told on Sir James Halder Readhead, as it did on many others ,but his death in 1940 came as a great shock.In April 1941 major fires were started by incendiary bombs and several bombs fell in the yard causing much damage , the Joiners shop and sawmills were gutted.As in the first World War , the dry dock were always busy repairing damaged ships and 35 new ships were built.At this time over 2000 people were employed .

1945 -A large area of land to the south of Corstorphine Town was taken over primarily to accommodate the Canteen and a storage yard .

1950,s - Apart from a period in 1950/51 when the yard was closed , the decade was notable for the Strick line maintaining one new build a year and several "Baron" boats were built for H Hogarth & Sons.Until 1957 all new vessels built at the yard , except two , had been Readhead engined and boilered , but however the tendency for diesel to displace steam was universal , therefore it was decide to stop making engines and boilers .

1960,s- This era dawned with the news that Hains were back and in 1963 one of the most widely known names in shipping , the Cunard Steam Ship Co came to South Shields for the first of a series of express cargo liners .In 1965 further extensions were made to one of the births so that they were able to build ships upto 20,000 tons dead-weight .

1970's - Readheads were taken over by British Shipbuilders in 1977 . The very last ship to built by them was the "Singularity " .

1980's - In the early 1980's the yard was to be closed down , but the Management and Workers decided to buy the yard . It was put to the workers that if they invested some or all of their redundancy they would be guaranteed a job . Many did so , but alas it was not to be . In March 1984 a major financial crisis occurred , when they found they had lost £250,000 .The following is an extract from a report.

" The extent of the loss is in the region of £250,000 . The No1 priority was now to save the company and shareholders and it will serve no constructively useful purpose at this time to try and apportion blame , but for your information , the four major loss making contracts mainly responsible for our situation are , "Bridgeman" , "Bell Ruler" , "Ardennes" and "Northern Commander" . Until the period covering these contracts we were operating profitably . And of course , there was the difficulty we have endured from day one - insufficient capital . Why you will ask did these contracts lose money . Two reasons - error of judgement when fixing bid prices and lack of systems to monitor and control costs and to record profitable extras ."

So ended the life of a famous Tyneside shipyard .

West Holborn in 1980 , looking towards Readheads Shipyard and the Commercial Hotel .

Ships and Reminiscences

A Common Bros Tanker being built by Readheads 1975Courtesy Shields Gazette

Redheads West Dock - 1960,s		"Going Home"

I well remember the dock gates opening and the mad rush to get on the buses etc. - these men do not seem to be in a hurry ,so they are probably the "tailenders" after the rush has gone.I heard many stories from my Dad and brothers about Readheads , unfortunately I can only remember some.

It has to be said that in shipyards around the world " nothing is safe" , the only safe things are the Dockyard Clock - everybody watches that and the Toilet seats - they are always fully occupied . Friday was always the big day for "lifting stuff - the "stuff" could vary from as little as a Haversack full of wood offcuts to light the fire, frozen lambs and up to a full size frozen pig . In my Dads case he always made a bee line for the Ships cook to get a coffee jar full of Curry powder as it was hard to get, but that is another story . Also this was the big day to get "govy" jobs out - these were things made by the men in works time and materials for use at home. They could be Sledges and Cricket bats for the Bairns, something for the boat if you owned one , the list was endless . My Father remembered one particular Friday- all the men are lined up behind the Dock gate , loaded with contraband and ready to go when the gate was opened .All of a sudden the "word" is passed back from the front - "there is a Security check on" . Immediately there was a major hustle going on in the crowd , then the dock gates are opened and the stampede commenced . My father who was at the back said it was incredible when the crowd had cleared , there must have been a couple of ton of coal and firewood left behind in little heaps and a couple of frozen lambs.

Recently while talking to an ex- shipyard worker who worked at Smiths Docks at North Shields , he ended up telling me of some of the Dockyard scams that he was aware of . On the Night shift , there were a few fellas who knew how to fillet fish . After clocking in at Smiths for the Night Shift and doing a bit of work , they would hop ower the Dockyard wall and stroll down to North Shields Fishquay and spend a few hours filleting fish , thereby getting a double whammy as regards pay . Other folk would do the same , but with the intention of pinching fish , some times they were spotted and were chased , so they had to be quick on their toes . As regards any ships that were in for repair , the Number 1 target for the Night shift was the Ships bonded store , where all the duty free fags and booze were kept . On one occasion the locks on the store proved very troublesome , but not to be beaten , they found a gas torch and bottle and burned the hinges off the door . That seemed to be considered " over the top " by the Management , so they called the Police but they found nothing . Often the joints in copper welding cables would age and get very hot when used and needing repair . The offending joint would be cut out and a new one made . This left a nice length of pristine , unusable , heavy gauge copper wire , which soon found its way to a local Scrap dealer , to the benefit of all concerned . Another key target was the Ships Freezer , where whole frozen Lambs could be "lifted" and sawn up and distributed . With a bit of planning , whole sides of frozen Pig could be got out . It got so bad , that full time Security staff were employed , but soon they had their own scam going regarding new wood , even going to the lengths of bring a lorry in to take it away , needless to say , it was not long before they were sacked .

They also had their own "bush telegraph" to track the movements of the Foremen and Bosses , if a Foreman was spotted in the vicinity then the message was passed on by patting the top of your head to signify a Bowler hat which traditionally was only worn by them. As a young lad , a friend of mine had a scam going . The Drillers were on piece work and if they broke a drill they had to find the foreman to get a replacement - not an easy task in a big shipyard , so it could mean a lot of time wasted and money lost. My friend worked as a stores lad and he soon had his own cache of new drills which he sold to the drillers for a few bob . He said he did very well out of that .

P31 Patrol Boat - 1916

Eros 1942 - Damage caused by a torpedo		Fitting a Bow section - 1965

Both these scenes in Readheads are from around 1949
Armanistan - Strick Line		Stem Frame being fitted to Nigaristan

Cydonia - Stag Line- Built 1955		Trebartha - (Hains- Nourse Line) Built 1962

The "Zinnia" built for the Stagg Line in 1968. Here she is leaving the Tyne .