Damaged cycleway is reborn at last; Route open again as pounds 2m plan realised.Byline: Tony Henderson Environment Editor THE wheel of history turned full circle yesterday for a key stretch of Tyne riverside. In 1834 the green riverbank at Saltmeadows in Gateshead was developed by Charles Attwood & Partners to manufacture soap and the chemical alkali to become one of the biggest chemical works in the North of England. The legacy was that seven years ago, soil samples showed serious levels of dioxin contamination of the riverbank. The area was closed to the public in 2005. A pounds 2m scheme was put into action by Gateshead Council to restore the area and yesterday it was re-opened to the public. Also available for use again is what was a popular riverside picnic area and the previously-diverted Keelman's Way, a long-distance cycleway which is part of the national cycle network, can revert to its original - but much improved - riverside path. For the first time in four years people will also have the chance to visit the Kittiwake kittiwake: see gull. kittiwake or black-legged kittiwake White oceanic gull (Rissa tridactyla) with pearl-gray mantle, black-tipped wings, black feet, and yellow bill. Tower, which provides a home to around 100 pairs of the seabirds and which is believed to be the UK's only aerial Local Nature Reserve. The tower was erected to accommodate kittiwakes evicted when the nearby Baltic building was restored. Ringing showed that birds which had nested at the Baltic made the switch to the tower. The birds on the tower and those nesting on the Tyne Bridge are part of what is believed to be the most inland kittiwake colony in the world. Further habitat improvement will encourage more birdlife on the riverside, complementing the kittiwake tower. The site was officially re-opened by Michael McNestry, council cabinet member for the environment, while John McElroy, cabinet member for transport and a keen cyclist, joined children from Bill Quay Primary School and local cycling organisations to inaugurate the newly-restored Keelman's Way. HISTORY FOUNDER of the chemical works, Christian Alhusen, came to England from Germany at the age of 25 to trade as a corn merchant. He had no scientific training but a flair for developing the inventions of others into practical businesses. His chemical works expanded to cover 137 acres and three quarters of a mile of river frontage. It was a leading manufacturer of soda ash and crystals, bleaching powder bleaching powder, white or nearly white powder that is usually a mixture of calcium chloride hypochlorite, CaCl(OCl); calcium hypochlorite, Ca(OCl)2; and calcium chloride, CaCl2. and later sulphuric Sul`phu´ric a. 1. Of or pertaining to sulphur; as, a sulphuric smell s>. 2. (Chem.) Derived from, or containing, sulphur; specifically, designating those compounds in which the element has a higher and hydrochloric acid hydrochloric acid: see hydrogen chloride. hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid Solution in water of hydrogen chloride (HCl), a gaseous inorganic compound. . An overhead railway was used to transport materials between different sections of the works. After 1890, it expanded into the production of caustic soda caustic soda: see sodium hydroxide. caustic soda Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), an inorganic compound. The alkalies called caustic soda and caustic potash (potassium hydroxide) are very important industrial chemicals, with uses in the manufacture of and the recovery of pure sulphur. It was the last works in the North East to manufacture alkali, brine being brought for processing by sea from the company's works in Middlesbrough. They closed in the 1920s, and although the works passed to ICI (language) ICI - An extensible, interpretated language by Tim Long with syntax similar to C. ICI adds high-level garbage-collected associative data structures, exception handling, sets, regular expressions, and dynamic arrays. it was never re-started and eventually became derelict. CAPTION(S): ON YER BIKE Children from Bill Quay Primary School get set to ride the reopened Keelmans Way Cycle Path at Saltmeadows in Gateshead. Picture: Paul Norris www.journallive.co.uk/buyaphoto ref: 01223565 |
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