Hidden Teesside

Although there ironstone workings in the immediate area and this looks like a drift I dont think it is.

I think this is more likely the location where the culvert from the Boulby Alum Works passed underneath the road on its way to the Alum House for processing.

The house is probably not original, although a wall in the garden at the edge of the cliff looks much older. The vertical shaft from the Boulby Alum Tunnel on the shore would emerge in the garden of this house were it still open.

Aislaby Quarry was a source of blockstones in the 17th and 18th Century for harbours such as Whitby, Margate and Ramsgate, and the Strand Bridge in London.

The blockstone was returned from the Whitby pier in 1964

The quarry reopened in 2002, I have read that in the 1970s the remains of a jet mines were also accessible, but the whole area seems to have been freshly opened up, so I doubt the current owners would take kindly to visitors searching for any remains.

Two large telecommunications cables land on the Stray between Redcar and Marske.

CANTAT-3 links to Canada, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Denark and Germany.

Pangea North links to Fanø in Denmark
On Google Earth they can be clearly seen to line up with two rows of large posts either side of the car park, which must have been placed to alert any rogue JCBs to their position.

This unmarked (but highly secured) little building is the landing point for the CATS gas pipeline

The CATS (Central Area Transmission System) pipeline is a 36-inch diameter pipe transporting gas from fields in the central North Sea to terminals at Teesside.Clicking the ‘Show On Map’ button above clearly shows the line of a trench running NE towards the sea.

Access to these workings can be tricky, the quickest route is probably via ropes to the beach at Deepgrove Wyke near the southern portal of the Sandsend Tunnel, also check the tide tables before setting off.

There are a series of large cuttings into the base of the cliff, these are then interconnected by a passage running parallel to the shore, the whole cliff is very unstable and should be visited with caution.

The most easterly cutting contains a shelf approximately 6ft high, progressing onto this there are two distinct passages both filled with washed-in debris (including a step ladder) and collapses. The workings are fairly high with plenty of head room.

A high parallel passage runs inside the cliff to the second cutting, however there are no deeper workings behind this entrance.

A waterfall empties over the third large cutting, behind this entrance are again much deeper passages into the cliff.

After about 20m the workings again become clogged with washed-in debris and roof collapses.

Two entrances to Jet workings are easily located next to a path alongside Bold Venture Gill. The workings extend perhaps 20m in a grid pattern.

The tunnels are large enough to stand upright in and have very few collapsed areas.

This second set of jet working located about 300m away are much more unstable, three holes surrounded by fencing have opened up. The floor inside is littered with collapses and it can only be a matter of time before they totally collapse.

This whole area of the woodland shows much evidence of collpases from jet workings just below the surface and many more must still exist.

An entrance to extensive jet workings opened beside the footpath during forestry work in 2002 and was subsequently explored by the Moldywarps Speleo Group and Scarborough Cave Club. Nearly 1000m of passages were discovered, their investigation and mapping being covered in much details in Cleveland Industrial Archeology No. 30.
The entrance is now gated and locked, although looking down into an adjacent small collapse gives a good idea of the narrow and fragile passages through the shale.

The area of surrounding woodland is littered with collapses relating to the workings, some of the larger ones very dangerous due to ground cover, depth and collapsing sides.

In fields to the south west, three parallel collapses are visible and a large shale tip still scars the hillside. These show up particularly well if you click the “Show On Map” link at the top of this post.

As with the nearby cementstone mine at Kettleness, these are also positioned at the top of a quarry just below the sandstone cap, making for a pretty tricky scramble.

Three adjacent entrances can be found, all appear to have suffered collapses from the loose shale roof so exploration isn’t the best idea.

The leftmost tunnel slopes steeply downwards, i’m unsure if they were built dug this way or whether its just successive heaped up roof collapses leading down to the level of the original drift.

Access to the central tunnel is tighter, although a similar flat area at the bottom of the slope could be seen when I stuck the camera over the top.

 The rightmost entrance has totally collapsed and only a small gap is left.

Another entrance is visible high on a ledge to the north, but access to that looks to be virtually impossible without climbing gear.

Due to its position just below the sandstone cap, this is thought to be a trial drift for cementstone, post-dating the end of quarrying in 1871. A cement works at Sandsend stayed open until 1935.

The adit only appear to be about 10m long, but the roof was flaking shale and I didn’t fancy exploring too deeply.

Alum production occurred at Kettleness from 1727 until 1871. This has radically altered the appearance of the area.

The original Alum house at beach level was destroyed by a huge landslide in 1829, what now appear to be cliffs are the face of the quarry where the sandstone over the shale has been removed.

The remains of the second alum house are on a flat area on the west side of the works, foundations remain and jet mines can be found under the platform which holds the building. The whole area is covered is loose blown shale where little grows.
 

The foundations of another building can be seen on the eastern edge of the site.

To the south of the building are a number of steeping pits which are slowly being lost over the cliff edge.

The remains of stone conduits used to transport liquids are also visible in the south east.

To the north of the steeping pits is the top of a cistern, again collapsing over the cliff edge.

There are a huge number of features around the site although they are often difficult to interpret due to being buried by the constantly shifting shale, they are however extensively covered in English Heritage survey AI/24/2003

There are numerous photos of this structure being unearthed by the York University Cave and Pothole Club back in 2006. They called it a mine and while there are jet mines below the Alum House, this is at a much higher level.

To me the construction looks more like some sort of storage tank and it appears to end with a wall rather than a collapse. Also the suspended wooden planks which would allow access above the liquid below.

The easiest way to avoid a plummet down the cliffs is to approach from Boulby and continue straight on where the Cleveland Way turns sharply uphill.

The first remains to be encountered are the foundations of a reservoir, theres also a large metal tub, although I cannot say if its contemporary. 

Adjacent to this is a small length of tunnel which has collapsed a short way in.

All over the site are numerous smaller conduits that must have been used to move liquids around.

The path then passes directly between the bases of two circular cisterns.

Up towards the base of the cliffs the top of a short waterlogged tunnel can be seen to the right of a retaining wall, this only travels through the bank and appears to be for drainage.

The next area you come across is the series of huge stone retaining walls visible from the top of the cliffs on the Cleveland Way.

Huge boulders from the cliffs litter the area above the works.

Two small tunnels can be seem running through the remains of the alum clamps where the stone was burnt for months on end, it has been suggested they were to aid the process.

Towards the edge of the cliff a tunnel runs around an area of an old landslip re-emerging some distance away, The regular blocks suggest some sort of trough or conduit was originally present.

A smaller conduit joins the tunnel at one point, and somewhat mysteriously a pretty teapot sits in one corner.

Armouth Wath is located at the meeting of two small streams at the head of Baysdale. 

A pair of old stone bridges cross the streams, as well as some more modern pipes.

A ruined building stand by the track, it looks more industrial than the domestic as I couldn’t spot any chimneys or fireplaces.

About 100m to the South-West is a small single roomed structure

The main area of mining is to the side of the stream, north of the buildings. Three collapses running perpendicular the stream can be seen, the first of which contains a lot of rubble.

Within this largest depression stands a small arch, which presumably was once the mine entrance.

Downstream is a nice waterfall probably rarely seen due to the remoteness of the site.

To the South-East is evidence of the existance of Black Hagg Pit.

We found a fair amount of coal lying around in the area, and found it to burn very well in the pub at Commondale on the way home.

Throston Engine House was built between 1838-1840.

It contained a steam winding engine which hauled the coal waggons of the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway up 14ft to the staithes of the Hartlepool Railway.

The roof was originally flat and held a water tank.

The Engine house was redundant within 10 years with the development of the West Hartlepool Docks. 

Between Cold Moor and Cringle Moor is a large bright red scar on a field.

On closer inspection it appears to be a large amount of burnt shale, very different in colour to the dozens of shale tips in the area.

This could be the remains of an Alum Clamp which was an early stage in the Alum making process. Or it may just have burnt for reasons unknown.

About 50m up the slope there is a recent collapse in the ground, although I cannot tell if this is related.

Very easy to locate due to the small waterfall just to the north of the only path in the area.

Nearest to the path is a sizeable chamber thats big enough to crawl around inside.

Theres a lot of what i’m assuming to be jet in the walls of this area.

Slightly further towards the waterfall is another open area that would require crawling on the stomach, again vein of jet are visible on the sides. The second shot is HDR to try and bring out some details.
 

After a third hole which is only big enough to stick your head in, theres the largest open area behind the waterfall

Its extremely muddy inside but almost high enough to stand in places, there an area which goes off to the left.
 

With a second area going deeper and to the right, again lots of jet in the walls.
 

A good amount of light comes in from outside although due to flat torch batteries (doh) we had to return to the entrance rather than going deeper.

A drift runs 1770 feet from moorland to the south of the Whinstone Dyke.

The remains of a mine building stand adjacent to the entrance.

The drift entrance is dated 1940 whereas the mine building is 1899, this is most likely due to the large bomb crater next to them both which most likely destroyed the original drift entrance.

A short distance behind the gated entrance is a small collapse which allows access to the tunnel, but only to the sort stretch out-by, not further inside.

The drift would lead to the base of the mine working within the Whinstone Dyke, left was “Tinkers End” and right was “Sillars” both approximately 150 feet below the surface of the quarry.

This mine was actually accessible until the 1980s, and also subject to a rejected application for receational purposes in the 1970s. Internal photos can be seen on Mine Explorer

Firstly if you intend to visit this site double check the tide tables before setting off,  to give yourself enough time to get there are back and avoid an air-sea rescue. The cliffs are also very unstable we heard numerous small rock falls and you don’t want to be underneath one.
There are numerous caves and what looks like the remains of a ships boiler on the the way around from Cowbar,

The remains of the 17th Century Alum Tunnel were revealed by coastal erosion in the 1990s. Subsequent landslips and erosion are rapidly removing the tunnel at a rate of several feet per year, and its only a matter of time before a further landslips buries it, or its completely lost to the sea.

The left-hand tunnel is now eroded nearly all the way back to what looks like a wall, it appear to be built against this wall, rather than actually being a blocked entrance although I cannot be certain if there is another tunnel behind or not. The outside edge of the inner course of bricks has been recently exposed to reveal symbols (perhaps masons marks, or maybe even something to indicate the order of constuction ?) A row of bricks is also visible under the tunnel base.
 

The right-hand tunnel is open and contains the remains of sleepers and rails as well as a large pile of washed in stones and debris.

Shortly after the pile of debris the tunnel opens into a slightly wider area with a large room off to the right hand side.

At this point there is a very large roof collapse with a chasm open in the cliff above, knowing the instability of the cliffs I though it wise not to progress any further, despite the tunnel looking in good condition further on.
Tracks can be seen leading off into the distance after the collapse, they would presumably at some point connect with a shaft from the Alum Works at the cliff top.

For anyone intending visiting I cannot say enough times, always remember this site is extremely dangerous.

The site was used from the 1880s until the 1920s, it stretches for about half a mile.

The kilns are adjacent to the remains of a quarry, and can be found fairly easily from the Commondale road.

There are two entrances with short tunnels leading into the kilns, the right hand tunnel is mis-shapen and will likely collapse in the future.

The kilns themselves are collapsed, but there are the remains of the entances to the left and right at the end of the tunnel.