Tell me something interesting about Middlesbrough…

On 25th May 1940 Middlesbrough (North Ormesby and South Bank to be exact) was the first British town to be bombed by the Germans when a lone bomber dropped 13 bombs between South Bank Road and the South Steel Plant. One of the bombs fell on the South Bank football ground making a large crater in the pitch.

"The Luftwaffe had been expected for months yet when it finally happened it was almost an anti-climax. In truth, the raid is significant only because it was the first." - BBC.
 
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Christopher Dresser, a prominent designer and design theorist during the Victorian era, was associated with Middlesbrough. While Dresser himself was not born in Middlesbrough, he did spend a significant portion of his career there and had a notable impact on the town's industrial and design landscape.

Christopher Dresser was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1834. He was known for his innovative and influential designs across various fields, including ceramics, metalwork, furniture, textiles, and interiors. Dresser's work was characterized by its simplicity, functionality, and incorporation of natural forms and motifs.

In the mid-19th century, Dresser collaborated with several manufacturers in the Middlesbrough area, particularly in the burgeoning iron and steel industry. He applied his design principles to create aesthetically pleasing yet practical products, such as decorative metalwork, ceramics, and textiles, which contributed to the town's industrial output and reputation for quality design.

Dresser's association with Middlesbrough also extended to his role as the Art Superintendent for the Linthorpe Art Pottery, located in the nearby town of Linthorpe, which operated from 1879 to 1889. Dresser's designs for Linthorpe pottery were innovative for their time, featuring bold geometric patterns and organic forms inspired by nature.

While Dresser's connections to Middlesbrough are primarily through his professional collaborations and contributions to the town's industrial and design sectors, his influence left a lasting mark on the area's cultural and artistic heritage. Today, Dresser is celebrated as one of the pioneers of modern design and is recognized for his significant contributions to the Victorian design movement.


 
Before the Irish came in the 19th century there was the Welsh. Middlesbrough for a few decades had Welsh speaking groups , Sunday schools, chapels and even an annual Eisteddodau ( welsh poetry and music event).
Middlesbrough when it's referred to by outsiders who don't know it it's usually in a lazy way ie "typical white Brexit voting northern town" which is true about Brexit but it misses everything which is unique, it has embraced multiculturalism in its own Teesside way, Lindy Delapenha was a Jamaican playing for Boro in the 50's and he was a crowd favourite. The Club Bongo which was a Boro institution was set up by a Somalia merchant seaman.
The original Frontline in the early 80s was manned by lot of lads who you could say were black, mixed or of south Asian background, in fact you would constantly see the same faces home and away and lit looked like some of them were running the show. Which I know isn't a positive example of multicultrism but I did say we embraced it in our own unique Teesside way.
 
We started to build an eiffal tower at the cenotaph entrance to Albert Park in the late 1800s I believe. It was to be a lot higher than the Paris one. The idea was people would come from far and wide and pay towards its construction. It never caught on and the first part of it lay rusting for years and was eventually dismantled due to lack of funds.
 
Archienoeyes said:
We started to build an eiffal tower at the cenotaph entrance to Albert Park in the late 1800s I believe. It was to be a lot higher than the Paris one. The idea was people would come from far and wide and pay towards its construction. It never caught on and the first part of it lay rusting for years and was eventually dismantled due to lack of funds.
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Sounds like the 2nd Redcar blast furnace.
 
In the 1970s, actor Terry Scott, of Terry and June, managed to drive his car off the end of the Transporter Bridge and was only saved from the River Tees by the bridge’s safety net.
 
The body of a Native American, Moses Carpenter, is buried in Linthorpe Cemetery. Carpenter was a member of the Mohawk tribe and was born in Ontario, Canada in 1854; his birth name was Ska-Run-Ya-Te. In 1889, he visited Middlesbrough as part of a travelling show, where he tragically died of a fever.
Hence the famous terrace song, 'Ska-Run-Ya-Te , he's one of our own'.
 
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