award winning
Congratulations to Martin Pontin, who has been awarded champion butty maker 2009!
Martin has been serving up sizzling rashers to visitors of the Fish Quay, North
Shields, for years, from the historic traders W M Wight...
The family-run store, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2006, provides fishing
fleets with stores and provisions with scores of fishermen and members of the Revive
team queuing up for their morning snack.
what a home!
In 1807 construction work commenced on two lighthouses, the Low Light and the High
Light, for North Shields. Located on the banks of the River Tyne, they were built
as navigation aids for ships arriving in the Fish Quay.
North Shields was then at the peak of its shipping trade with cargoes including
salted herring, iron, wheat, nitrates and tar, most of which were transported to
and from the Baltic and South America.
Completed in 1810, the Low Light at seven storeys tall and around 100 ft high was
the larger of the two buildings, and its substantial construction meant it was designed
to last the test of time.
Stephen Morse and his partner Kristina purchased the Low Light back in 1999 and
set about the daunting task of converting the Grade 2 listed building into residential
use.
The Morse family come from a strong fishing background. Stephenís grandfather worked
as a fishing boat skipper in Sunderland, and the family then moved to North Shields
in 1962 shortly before Stephen was born, where his father built up a fleet of five
fishing boats.
Stephen, who runs his own industrial screen-printing business in North Shields,
has somehow managed to find the time to take on the huge task of renovating the
lighthouse, together with the attached three-storey building, which was offered
for sale at a later date.
Although practically beyond redemption, the extra space of the attached property
has allowed Stephen to construct a garage, kitchen and bathroom over three levels,
all of which are now directly accessible from the original lighthouse.
Gas central heating has been installed throughout, connected to period radiators
which were sourced locally.
One particularly interesting part of the project was the shower. After viewing everything
available and deciding nothing fitted in with his own idea, Stephen contacted Roman
Showers to ask them if he could buy three sets of their glass and uprights to construct
his own unique version of one of their showers. The managing director was so intrigued
by this that he offered everything free of charge provided the company could photograph
the finished version.
Stephen routed a figure of eight base to shape in marine ply. After it was plumbed
in it was covered in miniature mosaic tiles, and the shower panels were then arranged
to fit around an open plan walk in design.
The whole shower is free standing and located off centre in the vast bathroom. Chrome
uprights produce vertical jets of water which combine well with a traditional overhead
spray.
Stephen also tracked down a magnificent Victorian enamel bath with claw feet from
a local salvage yard, which is also free standing in the bathroom.
All of the woodwork in the tower was originally either Scots pine or Douglas fir
and this has been retained or replaced wherever possible. All the original curved
windows have been replaced with replicas to the original specification.
Stepping out on to the tower top, itís possible to walk right round the building,
protected by its original cast iron safety rails, and enjoy 360-degree views.
The main tower building itself has over 130 stairs, and as Stephen plans to run
the top level as his home-based office, he finds it can be quite annoying when you
reach the top only to realise that you have left something some seven storeys below!