Hidden Teesside

In what it now a car park are the remains of Grosmont Ironworks built in 1862 and demolished in 1892. Despite now being a rural setting the immediate area contains numerous ironstone mines.

The most promenant feature is a large brick structure which is believed to be part of the system which carried raw materials to the top of the three blast furnaces. Apologies for the dark photos but it was getting late and I only had a basic camera.

Closer to the railway station is the base of the third blast furnace, added in 1876

Scale Cross was a small whinstone concern operated by the Commondale Whinstone Co in the early 20th century, the quarries from this period although now overgrown can still be located on the moor. This quarry may also have been known as Howl Sike but I’ve not seen any documentary evidence of that.

A tramway ran down the hill past Scale Cross farm towards the railway at the bottom of the valley.

The Wesleyen Chapel built in 1839 is next to the footpath which crosses the Esk via the stepping stones

If you look over the wall there next to the side door, there are a series of levels carved into the wall showing the heights of large floods.

The 1930 flood washed away bridges at Egton and Glasdale.

On the day I visited the Esk was swollen with melting snow and the stepping stones were covered, but the chapel is still 50m from the water which shows the extent of those floods.

Donkey Pond is a flooded whinstone quarry in woodland near Gribdale Gate.

Very little is know of the history of this site, such as whether it was linked with the underground workings of the Gribdale Mining Company about 1km west.

As the whinstone ridge head in that direction a large cutting is visible where the whinstone has been removed, and numerous tramways can be traced through the woods.

I first came across this site nearly 20 months ago and hadn’t realised what it was at the time, now looking back with a little more experience it became apparent it was on the whinstone dyke crossing the area.

A small quarry cutting can be seen with rocks outcropping from the sides.

A small bridge over a stream is visible which connected the site to the adjacent railway line

Some people say this is a First World War jetty, it may well have been reused / rebuilt then but the 1894 OS maps already shows a tramway running from the powder wharf in the direction of the gare, joining up with the tramway on which sail bogies were also known to run. This would tie in nicely with 1880’s submarine mine loading complex on the gare which presumably needed a supply of explosives.
   

The small inlet immediately to the south east is known as Powder Hole.

Despite being two of the founding fathers of Middlesbrough, the graves had fallen into disrepair until they were recently refurbished

Bolckow died in Ramsgate on 18th June 1878, 10,000 people attended his funeral, said to be one fifth of the population of Middlesbrough.

Vaughan died in London on 16th September 1868

A plaque to Vaughan which was found under a bush 20 years ago is also going to be put back on display

The weather is preventing me getting much new, so time to dig into the archives for some photos from the summer.

‘World Fruit’ is a series of exotic cast iron fruits and vegetables by Andrew McKeown

They can be found in the grass at the edge of Ayresome Gardens towards Linthorpe Road.

Loftus Ironstone mine operated from 1865 until 1958 (although some earlier working was done by several companies back to 1847 in the immedite area)

The name of the town and mine are said to have been altered to avoid confusion with Lofthouse near Wakefield when the railways arrived.

The pit for the Waddle ventilation fan is still very prominant on the site

The Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum (formerly the Tom Leonard Mining Museum) which occupies the site is currently closed for the winter, so I shall have to return for internal shots next year, however a few items can be seen outside even when its closed.

1882 datestone from the engine house of Lumpsey Mine

1914 datestones from the fan house at South Skelton Mine

The mine stables are currently being converted, a drift ran underground from the stables directly into the mine

William Henry Thomas (1858 - 1923) was the founder of the Middlesbrough and District Betterment and Open Spaces Association, a small rest garden on Acklam Road houses the memorial.

Considering the subject matter, its rather sad that part of the park has recently been lost to roundabout for new housing estate and the general state of disrepair of the steps leading up to the monument.

However I found some council meeting minutes which say the developer is to spend £500,000 on upgrading the public open space, hopefully those will include the park and memorial.

Despite being very close to Lumpsey pit, this item has no relation to the ironstone site.

The wheel was donated to the “Blooming Lights” group in September 2003 and originated at the Boulby Potash mine.

At 18ft I have read elsewhere it is the largest Sheave wheel in Europe.

This mosaic by Derek Mosey, Helen Gaunt and the village community depicts various aspects of Skinningrove such as the mine and the “merman” legened, it was erected during 2009

The small park also contains the Sylvania Anchor, which was used to help refloat a ship stranded at Skinningrove for six months, it was retrieved from the sea in 2001 after spending 100 years buried.

This mosaic was originally constructed in 1963 for Rosecroft School in Loftus, when that was demolished in 2009 it was moved here. Its 18ft by 9ft and weighs 4.5 tonnes.

The original artist Philippa Threlfall who was 23 at the time and is now 70 visited to see its new location, one of the councillors involved in the move was actually one of the school children who collected the stones and fossil from Skinningrove beach 46 years earlier.

The boat and chainsaw carved figures appeared some time in mid 2008.

Despite the enigmatic name, a previous owner points out its just Super spelt backwards

This mosaic memorial to Mo Mowlem by John Todd was unveiled on 23rd October 2009, It was funded by £12,000 of public donations.

 (its location makes it tricky to photograph whole)

Subject matter includes local steelworks and racecourse, doves for the Northern Ireland Peace deal and the Houses of Parliament

 The 1930s boating lake has recently been redeveloped at a cost of £850,000

‘Mare et Ferro’ - Sea and Iron, granted 10th October 1922 (Coatham Enclosure was built in the 1930s)

The heavily eroded parts at the top are iron ingots and a blast furnace, they can be seen better in this printed version

The stone is mentioned in the first preamble of the Duncombe Estate from 1642, other than that very little is known of its origins or the reason for the carving.

23 local scenes from 1994/1995 by the blacksmith Chris Topp from designs by Stephen Abbey, Humphrey Holland, Richard Albanese and Pete Douglas. , situated between the Regent cinema and the boating lake.

They all contain letters which form a riddle (answers on a postcard)

One very unusual artifact in the Whitby Museum is a Hand of Glory.

Reputed to be the hand of a hanged man which gives the owner the powers of a master thief.
I’ll leave the detailed descriptions of the item and its magical powers to the museum and wikipedia

More from the archives.

I’m struggling to find any reference to the origins of the naval mine that stands next to Saltburn Pier, presumably its from the war, but I don’t know which.

I do recall that from time to time munitions are washed up on Saltburn beach from wartime wrecks.