“Can you build a boat’ they asked
And then we found ‘The Wheel’
Towards the end of 2023 three of our volunteers rescued a rusted wheel from the river not far from The Wharf. We subsequently discovered it had been part of one of Yarm’s many riverside Warehouses dating from the late 19th Century.
Jim Semple (husband of Annette who is one of our long serving volunteers) arranged for the wheel to be taken away, shot blasted and then powder coated following which three of the volunteers installed the beautifully refurbished Wheel on the riverside. It is yet another talking point drawing from Yarm’s history when it was a major commercial port on the River Tees.
…..and after
before
And our very own tribute to the ‘True Lovers’
Ian Carter, Chair of TLW, together with the Director of NETA Training Group based in Stockton on Tees held initial discussions aimed at creating a piece of artwork to feature on the walk. Following this, a preliminary outline design was discussed and agreed by all the TLW volunteers. A team of NETA trainees then created this amazing piece of metal artwork which is now installed on our riverside walk.
Thank you NETA and to all involved.
Soon after we first began cutting back shrubs and bushes we uncovered aged steps which had remained hidden for years. These appeared to lead directly towards the garden of the local Vicar (who ministers at St Mary Magdalene). It didn’t take long before an idea was put to the group…… and kicked into action soon after. We decide to make a feature of these steps by creating what became known as “Stairway to Heaven”. At the top of the framed staircase is a piece of art produced by Sophie Humphries (Digital Artist and co-owner of Cloud Cuckoo, Yarm High Street) and designed to create the illusion of continuing steps reaching to Heaven.
Small Steps
And there’s more…….
Seb the Seal and
animal carvings
Bug houses & nesting boxes
Benches, safety rails, planters and tubs
Bespoke signs and information boards (made by our volunteers)
Last, but no means least……..
The King Charles Coronation Garden
So, what are we currently up to?
Bam Nuttall, the flood gate engineering contractors, completed their work at the start of Spring 2025 but almost immediately Stockton Borough Council began closing sections of the walk in order to undertake footpath repairs and general maintenance work. This has not made it easy for our team of volunteers to access the area in order to continue our own maintenance. However, we will not be defeated and we have demonstrated a determination to work around and between these contractors so that we have been able to plant significant quantities of bulbs and plants together with our usual efforts directed at strimming, trimming, pruning, lopping and mowing (thank you Alastair Powell for the masses of large plants you kindly donated from your own private gardens and thanks also to Sainbury’s for kindly donating huge numbers of bulbs).
Peter Walker, one of our lead volunteers, has been spearheading a team who are concentrating their efforts towards the Worsall Walk pathway. For those who are familiar with that path you will understand the enormity of this project and we anticipate this could take up to two years before the entire pathway is completely accessible and free from obstructions. The path has been closed for several years due to collapsing boardwalks which made access extremely hazardous and during the intervening period the whole length of the path has become overgrown and has seen parts of the path washed away as a result of intermittent flooding.
Initially, Peter’s team have been focussing on re-building the two boardwalks and which are currently being prepared in modular fashion so that they can be transported from the off-site building yard (thank you Anthony Ahearne for allowing us to commandeer so much of your garden area) and then installed on top of the existing boardwalk framework. Peter, Geoff, Steve and Anthony…… you are all to be congratulated on your carpentry/joinery skills.
In 2024 we were asked by Yarm Town Council if TLW would be interested in looking after the Rose Garden attaching to Scholars Court on West Street and of course we were very happy to take this on board. Another group of our volunteers have subsequently cleared up and cleaned up and then replaced the bushes, shrubs and roses which had all been looking very sad and uncared for.
At the beginning of April 2025 we were approached by Clara from Systra Landscape Architecture who offered to lend a professional hand in order to further enhance the walk. We were subsequently delighted to welcome a team of 5 from Systra, including Clara herself, who then worked their magic by adding creative artistry to the otherwise plain and ugly concrete steps which were installed as part of the floodgate repair works. More of this will follow.
