Hidden Teesside

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.

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.

Its seems like an eternity since I posted any new pillboxes, so here’s one from Hummersea above Skinningrove

Its flooded inside, so no internal shots.

This painted sign has somehow survived 65 years and indicates the site of a likely still intact Second World War air raid shelter for 367 people.

The cannon has a long history and has been in several locations since arriving in 1858, it overlooked Cannon Lake in Albert Park until 1947 before being dumped in Stewarts Park, recovered after an Evening Gazette campaign in 1965, with the Territorial Army until 1978, then to the Dorman Museum for 23 years and finally over the road into the Albert Park Memorial Garden in 2001

The right inscription mentions 1824, which is the year the cannon would have been cast.

There are a number of other plaques to other conflicts and causes in the Memorial Garden

Spigot Mortars had a range of 100 meters with 20lb anti-tank and 450 meters with 11lb anti-personnel mortars.

I’m afraid I’m keeping the exact location of this one off the site.

Its clearly been forgotten by the local kids due to the lack of any recent litter/beer cans, its only a few hundred meters from a playground and the condition of the place is very poor looking liable to collapse in places, so I don’t want to put it back on their radar.

There are three main areas inside, with several open vertical shafts running to the surface as well as two side entrances.
If you think about ironstone mines still open during the second world war, you may deduce where this is located.

The Rosedale ROC post has a good complete set of surface features.

The circular metal plate on the main hatch is a mount for a Ground Zero Indicator (GZI) which was an arrangement of 4 pinhole cameras to indicate the direction of nuclear blasts. The metal pipe emerging from the side would have connected to the hand pump at the bottom of the shaft.
A louvered air vent is located at each end, one is part of the main hatch the other standing alone.

The large metal post is a Radiac mount which would hold equipment to measure radioactivity levels.

The smaller metal post is part of a Bomb Power Indicator (BPI) which was connected to a gauge underground to measure the pressure or shockwave from the blast.

The first enemy aircraft shot down over England crashed here on 3rd February 1940, the radar station at Danby was involved in the detection of the plane.

A full account of the incident can be found here

Photos from 2003 before the guard house building was badly damaged by fire.

The mound behind the house holds a two storey ROTOR R2 bunker built in 1951, and destroyed by fire in 1958. The underground areas reached through the red door in the floor are flooded and contaminated with asbestos.

Further info on ‘RAF Goldsborough’ (’JEX’) R2 CHEL

Update Dec 2007 :

Some more photos showing the badly damaged guard house in late 2007

Update Feb 2009 :

Geoff Pallett has kindly provided me with a picture of the site taken in the early 60’s, he can be contacted directly at geoffrey.m3uxb@virgin.net, there is also much discussion of the site in the comments section.

I really have no idea what this short tunnel/shelter just below the cliff top is for, it seems too neat and too short to be mine related. To me it gives the impression of being a shelter from where the view can be admired. It looks to have been cut by hand.

Does anyone have any idea of its age and purpose ?

Just a short distance away to the north, this unusual item is visible by the side of the Cleveland Way, the metal part still freely rotates and there appear to be the remain of powerful springs attached.

It is some distance away from both the Sandsend and Kettleness tunnels.

UPDATE : Dave Richardson has kindly come up with an answer for the second one, its a Motley Mount for Twin Vickers “K” Machine Guns for light anti aircraft defense, there were originally four as the Goldsborough Cliff Radar Station was here from 1940 to 1945.
The pictures here and here backup the point, cheers Dave.

A short series of posts inspired by looking through my older printed photos, before going digital and before this website existed.

Memorial plaque to Lockheed Hudson which crash landed near Captain Cooks monument on 11th February 1940.

Full details of the crash can be found here 

This plaque was unveiled on 17/12/2008, 66 years after the crew of Lancaster bomber W4319 SR-N were all killed, shot down by ‘friendly fire’. 

The Evening Gazette report say it came down near where Steel House is now located, although thats about 200 yards North East, not 200 yards West as the plaque says.

The plaque is on Lord McGowan Bridge (built in 1951, named after a chairman of ICI) 

Also adjacent to the plaque is a nice way marker for the Teesdale Way, apparently there are 6 more sculptures of footware by Jim Roberts, between South Bank and Coatham Marsh.

This Type 23 pillbox is visible in a field beside the Trunk Road between Redcar and Middlesbrough.

The pillbox is under threat of destruction due to the re-development of the area.

The council development plan says :- “The World War II Pill box should be retained on the site, if possible, or buried in situ, otherwise it should be recorded prior to demolition.” As that particular area is pencilled in for shops/pubs/takeaways, I strongly suspect the latter will be the outcome. The land itself that the farm stood on was owned by the Lady Hewley Trust, giving it a link back to the Eston ironstone mines.

As that particular area is pencilled in for shops/pubs/takeaways, I strongly suspect the latter will be the outcome. The land itself that the farm stood on was owned by the , giving it a link back to the Eston ironstone mines. 

 I first visited this ROC post about six years ago, at the time it was in good condition, dry with numerous papers still on the wall. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to locate the photos I took that day with my first brick sized digital camera, you can however get an idea of how it used to look here.

Two lonely telegraph poles which once carried the communications point out the site from the road.

The surface features are pretty much unchanged, although the lid has been removed and thrown into the shaft.

Being open to the elements means theres now an inch of water at the bottom of the ladder, all the paper and card items once inside are either gone or soaked, the cupboards have also been smashed up.

The switch mechanism which was on the wall near the door in the older photos seems to have been very carefully removed, hopefully this has been taken to a museum or by someone restoring another ROC post rather than as a personal trophy.

ROC posts are fast disappearing or being vandalised, the fantastic example at Hinderwell was filled with soil in the last couple of years. No idea if any of the fixtures or fittings were saved before this was done.

A pair of pill boxes guard both side of Blacks Bridge between Marske and Redcar.

This level of defense is probably due to it being adjacent to the site of the Marske Aerodrome, now only referenced in road names such as Barnes Wallis Way.

The ROC post is situated at the top of Ruebury Hill

The hatch is not locked and the ladder still in place, i didn’t venture inside today but you can see pictures of that here

There are the remains of an aircraft post right next to the bunker.

Update May 2008 - Interior photos.

Sump pump and switches

Vintage newspaper and targets on bedframe

Original batteries (no mains) and chemical toilet

The Auxiliary Units were to be Britains own resistance should a German invasion have been successful.

Their existance was top secret and only acknowledged by the government in the 1990s.

Little remains of this local “OB” or Operational Base except a few depressions in the ground which become covered in wild garlic most of the year,

There is an excellent diagram here that lets you relate to what’s still visible.

Its most easily located by walking to the end of the promentary above where two stream meet.

The current lighthouse was built in 1926 after the previous lighthouse was removed to give the Heugh Battery and Lighthouse Battery a clearer view of the sea.

The position of the orignal stopped retaliatory fire during the Bombardment of Hartlepool on 16th December 1914

1500 shells were fired at Hartlepool during the bombardment by the German Cruisers Seydlitz, Moltke and Blucher. Leading to the death of the first soldier killed on British soil during the First World War

This cannon was captured from the Russian Army at the battle of Sebastopol, during the Crimean War 1854-1856.

The cannon was transported from London on the steam ship Margaret at a total cost of £2 19s 3d and arrived in Hartlepool in September 1858.