North & South Shields piers

We walked the mile long South Shields pier today. It was fantastic warm weather so it was filled with men fishing off the end of the pier. The pier is a lovely walk as it curves round giving great views north and south of the river. Took lots of photos across to the north side but thought I'd blip this pic as it includes both north and south lighthouses.
There are tram tracks running down the pier which was apparently for a crane that carried rubble from the production of the pier away to the sea.
There used to be little porcelain dolly in the cement of the lighthouse. It was a local tradition for people to take their children to the end of the pier to rub the dolly- but over time the dolly was chipped and total worn away, now none at all remains. Now there is a plaque commemorating the dolly and encouraging children to take the 2 mile walk to the end and back as exercise, in an effort to reduce childhood obesity.

Some history about the pier:
In the 1850s the Tyne was becoming increasingly used in ship building but the shifting sand bars caused ships to run aground. To try and solve this problem the piers were built at the mouth of Tyne. The foundation was laid in 1854 but they weren't completed until 1885.