This is the prilling tower that’s part of the former ICI plant at Haverton Hill, in Stockton-on-Tees. Prilling is a process I heard about in GCSE chemistry, yet I never quite believed it was true.

Essentially, a chemical (ammonium nitrate in this case) is melted and pumped to the top of the tower, and then released in drops which cool and solidify as they fall, resulting in handy little balls of solid ammonium nitrate to use as fertiliser. It’s reminiscent of the shot towers of the 18th century, and it’s a little bit remarkable that such an early industrial technique is still a common way of producing something.

I know that fertiliser is still made at Haverton Hill, but I’m not sure whether the prilling tower itself is still operational. I suspect it probably is, as most of the big industrial sites surrounding it are clearly still active.

Today’s photo is of Stockton Town Hall, which sits in the middle of Stockton High Street and dates from 1735 – some 41 years before the United States was founded! It was in this very building, in 1810, that the construction of the world’s first passenger railway was initially proposed. That plan came to fruition some fifteen years later, with the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

Stocktonites often claim that their high street is the widest in the country – a fact I first learned some eight years ago when an elderly lady chose to share it with me whilst we both queued for blood tests.

Ever since, I’ve wondered quite what the parameters for the claim are: I think I know of several wider commercial streets in the UK, not least Lord Street in my home town of Southport. The claim is repeated on countless websites, yet none of those I’ve seen seem to properly define their terms.

I thought for a while that it was, perhaps, the widest street called “High Street”, but that idea appears confounded by the assertion on some sites that it’s the widest in the UK, but the third widest in Europe: it seems unlikely that there are too many “High Streets” on the continent.

So – can any of my readers explain the origin of the claim?

This is the Infinity Bridge across the Tees in Stockton, so called because it looks a bit like a ∞ when reflected in the water. I first wrote about this bridge when its design was still being decided and I was studying at the University of Durham’s Queen’s Campus, eight-and-a-half years ago:

The new design for the bridge in Stockton has been decided. Five designs were drawn up for the bridge (which will go from the university campus to the other side of the river, where there is currently – well, nothing, actually). These designs were then put to a public vote, via post, phone and online. The overwhelming winner of the vote was design ‘D’. So they’re building design ‘C’. No, I didn’t understand either.

Here’s a BBC Tees article from the time, which shows all five proposed designs. It’s interesting to see that the artist’s render in this case stands up very well to comparison with the finished product. But I’m still quite fond of the design the public voted for.

It’s also worth noting that, all this time on, there’s still very little on the far side of the bridge!

This bizarre flower display thingy (that may not be the technical term) at Wellington Square in Stockton used to be Wendy’s favourite flower display thingy in the whole of Stockton. This wasn’t because it was only a short walk from our house, but was mainly due to the large clusters of amusingly amorous pigeons which used to congregate upon it. Sadly, none were around today when I was taking this photo!

This is the Ebsworth Building at Durham University’s Queen’s Campus. It was in this building that I sat through most of my pre-clinical medicine lectures from 2003 to 2005, and returning here always feels a bit nostalgic.

It’s no Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Drive, but I go down this road with a ridiculously long name regularly, and it always makes me smile when the sat nav spits it out.

This ship, one of the world’s two full-size replicas of James Cook’s famous vessel, is permanently moored in Stockton-on-Tees, just round the corner from my office. And yes, it really is that sunny today.

This building, especially the i on top, always reminds me of those theme park strategy sims, like Rollercoaster Tycoon and Theme Park. In reality, it’s in the middle of Teesside Retail Park.

The view from my office window, in “celebration” of the first working day of 2012.