At the beginning of the ‘Boro Brick Road’ outside the Riverside Stadium are a series of bricks to commemorate the 8 Middlesbrough players killed in both World Wars.
Their full stories can be read here
The Farnsdale mines operated between 1873 and 1897 under the Blakey Iron Company and later the Farndale Iron Company.
An incline can be followed down to the location from the railway line up at Blakey Junction.
At the bottom of the incline, a tramway ran along the hillside at the level of the ironstone
Most of the remains are obscured by subsequent rock falls, but one small drift is still visible.
At this point the railway link to the Rosedale mines passed under the road.
A cutting can be seen approching the now blocked bridge, with a junction in the left of the photo leading off to the Blakey / Farndale mines.
A row of cottages were also present at this junction but have since been demolished.
I have marked the original location of the Grangetown Power Station built by the Cleveland and Durham Electric Company in 1906 which worked until 1937 and was finally demolished in 1969 to make way for the new steel plant. It was the first in the world to generate at 11,000 volts.
The current position of the date stone and plaque is elsewhere within the Corus site, so cannot be visited by the public.
I’ve not been able to find out much about this concrete structure on Wileycat Beck
Its been suggested to me it was used to pump water to Guisborough during shortages, although I would be keen to hear any further details anyone may have.
The Slapewath mine was originally started by Thomas Charlton in 1864 via a drift near the village names after him. The shafts date from a later period of around 1880 when the mine was being operated by Samuelson & Co.
The downcast shaft now surrounded by a high wall is 286 feet deep
The upcast / ventilation shaft is located a little to the NW and is of similar depth.
A sizeable heap of spoil is still on the site, which has been cut by a farm track
A hatch in the middle of moorland leads down to a short entrance passage, which then drop down into a larger room.
The main room was a backup receiving area for the Chain Home radar station during the second world war, I am omitting the exact location on purpose as its filthy and flooded to the ceiling and you’ll only end up getting as wet as I did or worse.
The area around Runswick has a number of wartime defences, as the break in the surrounding cliffs would have made a potential invasion point.
The pillbox is now on the beach due to erosion around its base.
There are a number of anti-tank cubes in the immediate vicinity next to the sailing club, which was once the area of a minefield.
Its been a long time since I added any new features, but I thought an alphabetic list of all the posts on the site might be useful rather than having to navigate through all the posts chronologically or by category.
I believe this is the control bunker for a Starfish decoy site from WW2, I suspect the area was a decoy for the nearby Marske aerodrome which was used during the war.
I’m sure it will be fully explained when the relevent volume of Defence of the UK by the North Yorkshire and Cleveland 20th Century Defence Study Group is published.
The pipe on the site is stamped with the name of the North Bitchburn Fireclay Company, which was apparently the brick making subsidiary of Pease & Partners who owned the nearby Upleatham ironstone mine.
UPDATE : As of August 2010 this site has been completely flattened and cleared by the farmer.
Middlesbroughs old football ground Ayresome Park was demolished in 1997 and a housing estate built on the site. A penalty spot is marked by a bronze football on a road called “The Midfield”
Its parts of a number of pieces called “Trophy Room” by Neville Gabie
A series of chainsaw carvings by Steve Iredale are being errected at various points in Errington Woods. Here are the first batch that I found on a recent visit, I shall return to find the rest later
Hedgehogs in the Car Park
Owl on the lower path
Heron at Peters Pond
Squirrel on the higher path
Theres another opportunity to explore the ironstone remains in Errington Woods with local expert Simon Chapman.
The 6th set of Jim Roberts boots i’ve found, but theres still one more out there. This is the start of the Teesdale Way which goes to Dufton in Cumbria,
South Gare is entirely man made, it was constructed between 1866 - 1888, its 2.5 miles long and contains an estimated 5 million tons of slag from the local blast furnaces, which shows the vast size of the industry in that period.
This particular area contains some intact balls that havent been attacked by the sea or covered by sand and vegetation.
This cast iron sign must be exceptionally durable, its in a very exposed place but still seems to have much of its original paint despite the fact the Dorman Long became part of British Steel in 1967.
The two mounds carried 4.7″ Hotchkiss QF guns during WW1.
The mound closest to the river was re-used during WW2 when it held a BL 6″ Mk7.
An extensive battery covered the whole site, with much underground, but very little remains visible on the surface now.
These plinths would each hold a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun, there are a total of four at the location 14ft apart.
The second mount for a 29mm Spigot Mortar that I located today.
I had previously misidentified something on the other side of the road as this several years ago.
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