South Gare is an area of reclaimed land and breakwater on the southern side of the mouth of the River Tees in Redcar and Cleveland, England.

[1][2] The building of South Gare offers a safe harbour in stormy weather to ships off the coast and allowed for the dredging of the River Tees entrance.

The Gare was constructed from January 1861 to 1884[4][5][6] using 5 million tonnes of blast furnace slag and 18,000 tons of cement[2][7] at a total cost of £219,393.

[8] To construct South Gare a rail line was built from the Warrenby iron works to carry men and materials.

[12] What is now the South Gare Marine Club is the site of a maintenance base for electrically fired submarine mines defending the mouth of the River Tees.

[2] Paddy's Hole is a small harbour constructed from slag in the lagoon on the Teesmouth side of South Gare.

The dunes on the eastern flank are protected by three slag banks close to the breakwater, known as the German Charlies that are partly exposed at low tide.

The high limestone content of the slag produces a base rich soil that is attractive to lime loving plants.

The area consists of tidal mudflats, scrub, grassland, sand dunes, rocks and freshwater and saltwater pools, and attracts a very wide range of birds.

[23] As well as those out for a stroll other activities indulged in include sea fishing from small boats and angling from the concrete breakwater, photography of wildlife and shipping etc., also birdwatching,[24] sailing, kite surfing, windsurfing, jet-skiing, diving and motorcycling.

This tower houses a radar antenna, an automatic fog detector and a vertical set of four sectored red and white leading lights for navigation purposes.

[29] Near the end of the breakwater, in the fenced compound, there is a tall steel framed mast, housing air speed measurement devices.