Show on mapI have read that the railing are about to be replaced tonight, so there’s a fair chance the battered old plaque may end up on a scrap van too.
Cleveland County Council
Marske-By-Pass
Opened on Friday 9 December 1977
The Rt Hon W T Rodgers MP Secretary of State for Transport
Chairman of Highways and Transportation Committee
Councillor Jim Tatchell BSc (Eng) F I E E
County Surveyor and Engineer
Edwin Shaw BSc.DIP.TP C.ENG. M.I.C.E.M.R.P.T.I
Contractor A. Monk & Co Ltd
God help me I was there ! I was there as a local Labour Party member in Saltburn and I who came along with some Labour Councillors (I did not get my CCC seat until 1983).
Bill Rodgers, as most people know, was the Stockton Labour MP who later became the fourth member of the so-called ‘gang of four’ who founded the breakaway SDP. He is still around as a Lib Dem peer in the House or Lords. I suspect he may not now be a well man as he has not spoken in the House since 2005.
Jim Tatchell was a Conservative Councillor from Stockton or Billingham. As his titles show, he was an engineer and was the natural choice for the ruling Conservative Group to nominate as the Chairman of that Committee. I remember him as a slight man with a small mustache and very approachable to all.
Edwin Shaw was in the classic mould of County Surveyors and Engineers. He came from the traditional route of past service with the army and the RE. I think he retired soon after the opening and was replaced by Garth Drabble, a man with exactly the same kind of background.
The by-pass itself was originally designed to be dual carriageway, but this was changed to be single carriageway. Oddly enough this only happened after the scheme commenced, and to this day you will see on the northern side of the road the space where the other carriageway was to have been built. Given that it had been purchased and leveled, the bridge had to be built to the original spec which added perhaps needlessly to overall cost.
Sorry about this ramble. If I have got any facts wrong (it was, after all, some 36 years ago now) please correct.
Many thanks for the details Dave, to be honest I was expecting your reply !
Have now asked if plaque can be rescued. Two other things. It was interesting to see that Mr Shaw (I think known as Ted) was also a member of the Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as well as the County Surveyors Society – normally disciplines forever at each others throats. The other thing is how ‘wooded’ the A174 road now is, compared to the slashed and burnt wedge originally pushed through the countryside from Marske roundabout to the Greystones exit (ditto the A66 from Grangetown through to the Middlesbrough Town Centre edge. It proves that all that landscaping (forever at threat from cuts in the capital budget) worked.
I noticed in passing that the Plaque is now back in place, painted a nice shade of gloss black without any highlighting of the lettering.