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Apologies to those who have already seen this, but I was talking to Jim down on Marsden Bay on Friday night and we got round to talking about the Rock..........
DEMOLITION OF THE SOUTHERN STACK OF MARSDEN ROCK, 1997
Marsden Rock is an imposing 100ft sea stack of magnesian limestone, lying approx. 100 yds. off the mainland of South Shields.
The 1st map to actually show the Rock as being isolated from the mainland was that of a Captain Collins in 1693 and published as \"Great Britains Coasting Pilot.\"
In 1880, Peter Allen of Whitburn, along with 2 assistants, constructed a flight of steps up the side of the Rock. The steps took 2 weeks to erect and eventually, visitors could climb to the top and buy refreshments from Mr. Allen, who had erected a tent on the top for this purpose.
The Rock was climbed by this method many times and in 1903, several choirs were massed on the top for a choral service.
It is recorded that in 1911, a huge section of the Rock collapsed and it was feared that the entire Rock would be claimed by the sea.
Following many further rockfalls and severe erosion by the sea, much of the cavern and corridor systems within the Rock have disappeared.
In 1996, the top section of the famous arch collapsed, splitting the Rock into 2 separate stacks.
In 1997, following the relentless battering of the North Sea, experts inspected the smaller stack and declared that it was so unstable, that it presented a danger of collapsing onto the shore. In the interests of public safety, the decision was made to demolish the smaller stack..
Owners of the Rock (the National Trust), engaged the company \"Rock Blasting Engineers\" from Crook to carry out the demolition work.
Preparation work began on 17th March 1997 and involved the boring of 81 holes (later to be packed with explosives) around the base of the stack.
The drilling work could only take place during low tide and because the stack was situated at the low tidal limit, only a short period of time was available to proceed with the work at each tide.
Working at every low tide, it was anticipated that the stack would be demolished on 21st March. However, due to bad weather and big sea swells, the preparation work was delayed.
Following more favourable weather conditions, work was able to proceed at apace and the drilling work was completed on 25th March.
On the morning of 26th, the 81 bored holes were packed with explosives and made ready for detonating later in the day.
To lessen any possible chance of vibration damage to the already eroded mainland cliffs (and the main stack of Marsden Rock, itself), it was decided that the charges would be detonated at high tide: the water absorbing much of the effects of the explosion.
By late afternoon a large crowd had assembled along the Coast Road from Marsden Grotto to Souter Point ans at 4:00pm the small stack, which had for so many years formed the Southern support of the famous arch, was brought crashing down into the sea.
The controlled explosion had (in a matter of seconds) reduced the stack to a 12,000 tonne pile of rubble awaiting the passage of time and tide for its dispersal.
This is a photo of me which appeared in the Evening Chronicle with the caption \"UNSTABLE\".....not sure if they\'re referring to me or the rock stack.
[Edited on 18/9/2004 by TC]
[Edited on 18/9/2004 by TC]
DEMOLITION OF THE SOUTHERN STACK OF MARSDEN ROCK, 1997
Marsden Rock is an imposing 100ft sea stack of magnesian limestone, lying approx. 100 yds. off the mainland of South Shields.
The 1st map to actually show the Rock as being isolated from the mainland was that of a Captain Collins in 1693 and published as \"Great Britains Coasting Pilot.\"
In 1880, Peter Allen of Whitburn, along with 2 assistants, constructed a flight of steps up the side of the Rock. The steps took 2 weeks to erect and eventually, visitors could climb to the top and buy refreshments from Mr. Allen, who had erected a tent on the top for this purpose.
The Rock was climbed by this method many times and in 1903, several choirs were massed on the top for a choral service.
It is recorded that in 1911, a huge section of the Rock collapsed and it was feared that the entire Rock would be claimed by the sea.
Following many further rockfalls and severe erosion by the sea, much of the cavern and corridor systems within the Rock have disappeared.
In 1996, the top section of the famous arch collapsed, splitting the Rock into 2 separate stacks.
In 1997, following the relentless battering of the North Sea, experts inspected the smaller stack and declared that it was so unstable, that it presented a danger of collapsing onto the shore. In the interests of public safety, the decision was made to demolish the smaller stack..
Owners of the Rock (the National Trust), engaged the company \"Rock Blasting Engineers\" from Crook to carry out the demolition work.
Preparation work began on 17th March 1997 and involved the boring of 81 holes (later to be packed with explosives) around the base of the stack.
The drilling work could only take place during low tide and because the stack was situated at the low tidal limit, only a short period of time was available to proceed with the work at each tide.
Working at every low tide, it was anticipated that the stack would be demolished on 21st March. However, due to bad weather and big sea swells, the preparation work was delayed.
Following more favourable weather conditions, work was able to proceed at apace and the drilling work was completed on 25th March.
On the morning of 26th, the 81 bored holes were packed with explosives and made ready for detonating later in the day.
To lessen any possible chance of vibration damage to the already eroded mainland cliffs (and the main stack of Marsden Rock, itself), it was decided that the charges would be detonated at high tide: the water absorbing much of the effects of the explosion.
By late afternoon a large crowd had assembled along the Coast Road from Marsden Grotto to Souter Point ans at 4:00pm the small stack, which had for so many years formed the Southern support of the famous arch, was brought crashing down into the sea.
The controlled explosion had (in a matter of seconds) reduced the stack to a 12,000 tonne pile of rubble awaiting the passage of time and tide for its dispersal.
This is a photo of me which appeared in the Evening Chronicle with the caption \"UNSTABLE\".....not sure if they\'re referring to me or the rock stack.
[Edited on 18/9/2004 by TC]
[Edited on 18/9/2004 by TC]
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