Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum'

Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum'
[ Norman Dunn's 'Hebburn and our Neighbours Forum' ]

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A bit good news that hopefully brings work to our area

Posted by Norman Dunn on 7/3/2025, 1:47 pm

How amazing is this,
For quite a few years I have kept in touch with a friend and ex pat Gerry Roberts who I remember from my St Aloysius schooldays in the 1950s.
Gerry reads this Forum every day and it keeps him in touch with his Hebburn roots & what’s happening here.
He served a 5 year apprenticeship in Hebburn Leslies shipyard and when he finished his apprenticeship he decided to emigrate alone to Canada (Quebec) with just a few hundred British pounds in his wallet.
How brave was that? Emigrating 3000 miles across the Atlantic ?
In Quebec, everything was in French so he moved east to New Brunswick & got a job in a Shipyard.
Eventually he moved into the USA, married a lovely American lady called Donna from one of the places we’ve all heard about in the Cowboy films that we watched at the local Pictures’ & started a family.
These days the Roberts family live in Steam Boat Springs, Colorado where Gerry runs his own Company servicing Power Stations etc in place like Wyoming etc..
A couple of years ago Gerry told me of his invention/innovation for producing electricity from running water and it’s so good, Gerry paid Lancaster University in England to do tests & computer simulations etc .
The last twice Gerry was over in Hebburn I arranged visits to places like ‘Siemens’ in Hebburn where we were treated well and shown around & also a Company called ‘Ro-Flow’ in Jarrow plus visits to the ‘Viking Energy Scheme’ at the riverside on Hebburn-Jarrow border. His innovation is called a ‘Hydrus’ and it will generate electricity from the water being returned to the river after the process is finished.
Whilst at Ro-Flo we were treated like royalty by the managing director Tom Robson a Dunston man.
During discussions Tom mentioned that Stevie Mongan is often popping in as a consultant (I think he said) and by coincidence Gerry said he knew Stevie as he was in his class at school. Gerry hadn’t seen Stevie since those far off days. But since then things have changed because Gerry & Stevie have met up and they are going to create a business on the Bede Trading Estate in Jarrow.
Stevie also has a invention or two so fingers crossed some great benefits will come from Gerry & Stevie meeting up.
Already they have an office and facilities for producing these ‘Hydrus’ machines.
They also have a well established Company in Cornwall involved with them and they have been in the pump/turbine business since the bosses Great Grandfather worked with the famous Armstrongs in the 1800s who supplied pumps to the NE Coalmines.
So if all goes well, Gerry will realise his ambition to bring work to his beloved hometown of Hebburn and of course the area
Not bad for two St Aloysius lads that failed the 11plus and left school at 15 eh?
Gerry's house in Steam Boat Springs is called 'Northumbria' & an out building is named 'The Iona'.

Wishing Gerry well in his endeavours But

Posted by Allan Campbell on 7/3/2025, 3:50 pm, in reply to "A bit good news that hopefully brings work to our area"

Because of Normans post I looked at Hebburn on Google Street view.

Land available for industry in Hebburn is now very limited or none existent.

What was ideal land for industry now housing estates, deliberate sabotage or very short sightedness.

The only place that you would build a factory WAS the old Coke Works and that looks full now. Why there, because of access to Motorways, about a mile away.

Probably the Quay declined because of lack of access no decent road structure to it.

Because of the decline of industry in Hebburn are there any skilled workers available to work in a new Business.

You could maybe set up an office but a factory with more than 20 people, doubt it and that making small items.

Could the same be said of the whole of South Tyneside.

Allan C.