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South Shields

Started by Guest_Steve Ellwood_* , Aug 04 2009 10:17 AM

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#1 Guest_Steve Ellwood_*

Guests

Posted 04 August 2009 - 10:17 AM

South Shields is a good base to photograph vessels entering/exiting the Port of Tyne and also getting a view from the South of North Shields Fishquay.

South Shields is a seaside holiday Town and as such has loads of accommodation, restaurants and take aways - plenty of pubs as well.

Satellite view courtesy of Google Earth and points of interest are:

1. Customs House - Mill Dam. This was the former Customs office and has now been converted into a theatre. Free car parking here and good views of passing river traffic.

2. South Shields Ferry Landing - this is where the Nexus cross Tyne passenger ferry lands.

3. Former site of Velva Liquids and now a housing estate - river access can be obtained at the front of the estate with good river views and also almost directly opposite North Shields Fishquay.

4. The Groyne Lighthouse - a charge for car parking is made here, unless you take the chance and pretend to be a customer staying at the Hotel. Great views from here, especially inbound vessel, with line of site through the Tyne Piers and out to sea.

5. South Shields Pier - open to the public in reasonable weather. About a mile walk to the end of the Pier but good views and the sun will be at your back. Car parking beside the Pier which carries a charge.

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#2 mackem1946

Deckie

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LocationPerth Australia

Posted 28 September 2009 - 09:21 AM

Velva Liquids , where they found the body in the tank. The guy who murdered his girlfriend, worked at Velva, didn't know hydrocarbons preserve bodies. :cheers:

Moved to Velva at Hull, got caught when they cleaned the tank at Shields, Cops actually put 2 and 2 together and got it right for a change. :cheers:

I'm happy in my own little world, everyone knows me here.

#3 Guest_Steve Ellwood_*

Guests

Posted 28 September 2009 - 09:50 AM

Quote

Velva Liquids , where they found the body in the tank. The guy who murdered his girlfriend, worked at Velva, didn't know hydrocarbons preserve bodies. :cheers:

Moved to Velva at Hull, got caught when they cleaned the tank at Shields, Cops actually put 2 and 2 together and got it right for a change. :police:

There's more to this case than meets the eye :cheers:

Nowt to do with Ships or Boats - courtesy of http://findarticles....3/ai_n28289144/

Quote

Four workmen approached the petrol storage tank in South Shields ready to start cleaning it out.

They opened the hatch and immediately came across a polythene bag, which they thought contained a pile of oily rags and rubber gloves.

But closer examination revealed the full horror of the situation ( because the workmen had discovered the grisly remains of a murder victim.

In two plastic bags was a human torso and head.

One of the men said: "The arms were still attached but were twisted. The bag wasn't tied. The second bag contained a head with long hair."

A police murder inquiry was quickly under way, but there were problems.

First, what sex was the body and secondly, how long had it been there? The tank, belonging to Velva Liquids Ltd, had last been cleaned out in the 1960s. This was 1979.

An anonymous caller called our sister paper, The Journal, and said the torso had been there for 13 years and was one of Tyneside's gangland war killings.

A plea was issued to the public as detectives began searching through the missing persons file.

The victim was quickly identified as female but the torso was proving a hazard for pathologists because it was feared the petrol-soaked body could be explosive. For 20 days the mystery dragged on until on July 16, when a dramatic development took place. Ernest Adolphus Clarke from Hull was charged with the murder, although the body had still not been identified.

Eventually the victim was identified as Eileen McDougall. The 16-year-old had gone missing from her home in South Shields in 1970 and had died from severe head wounds.

In court Clarke pleaded not guilty but was convicted of murder.

It was said that Eileen and other girls had visited his flat.

Clarke was sentenced to life imprisonment. But that was not the end of the story.

In 1981 he sought leave to appeal against the verdict but was refused.

In 1983 the BBC's Rough Justice programme claimed to have turned up new evidence which cast doubt on the guilty verdict.

Former Attorney General Sam Silkin watched a preview of the programme and said: "I have no doubt whatsoever that if the whole of what I have seen had been in front of the jury at the trial they could not have conceivably convicted Mr Clarke."

The programme was screened nationally and the BBC's verdict was that Ernest Clarke was innocent.

It was also claimed police withheld vital evidence.

An appeal hearing opened in 1986.

Vital evidence which helped convict Clarke was thrown out, but the Appeal Court judges decided the weight of evidence was still such that Clarke was guilty.

In another development Clarke decided to get married while still behind bars. He was then 53 and his bride was Tynesider Mary Sands, who had been writing to him for a year.

In 1994 Clark was released from prison after serving 14 years. He was then 63, and described as in frail health.

On his release his wife said: "We have nothing to say."