Author Archives: chris.twigg

Handale Abbey / Scaw the Serpent Slayer

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Handale was site of Cistercian nunnery founded in 1133 and dissolved in 1539. In the 1750s the site was used as a Cotton Mill.
Handale Abbey Walled Garden, Liverton / Loftus
None of the original priory buildings remain today but the stone has been reused in the current farm buildings and walled garden.
Handale Abbey Walled Garden, Liverton / Loftus
A Medieval cross base and tomb lid are located just outside the walled garden.
Handale Abbey Walled Garden, Liverton / Loftus

Sixteen skeletons, a stone coffin and a sword were found on the site in 1830. Local legends speak of a serpent (or a dragon) that would devour the beautiful maidens of Loftus, until a brave Knight called Scaw killed it and rescued Emma Beckwith

The stone coffin supposedly carried the words “Snake Slayer” with Scaw inside still holding his sword, but the stone coffin on-site doesn’t seem to carry such an inscription and the present location of the sword appears to have been lost.

An unusual memorial on the site was erected to the last carthorse on the farm, before diesel tractors took over
Handale Abbey Walled Garden, Liverton / Loftus

The walled garden has been restored with funding from the National Park and LEADER
Handale Abbey Walled Garden, Liverton / Loftus

George Hanson Memorial, Staithes

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This clock and barometer in Staithes commemorate a local tragedy. George Hanson the Runswick Lifeboat Head Launcher died after saving a school boy and attempting to save a man in the harbour at Staithes.
George Hanson Memorial, Staithes
The plaque reads :-
Erected to honour the memory of George Hanson, A Staithes fisherman who lost his life in a gallant attempt to rescue a drowning bather in a rough sea on Wednesday 28th August 1957.
George Hanson Memorial, Staithes

Unveiled by Sir William Worlsey (4th Baronet of Hovingham and amateur first-class cricketer.) and dedicated by the Bishop of Whitby in 1959 (which would have been Philip Wheeldon at the time)

Frank Wild Statue, Antarctic Explorer, Skelton

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Commander John Robert Francis “Frank” Wild CBE RNVR FRGS was born in Skelton in 1873.

Quoting Wikipedia :-

Frank Wild took part in the following Antarctic expeditions:

In 1901 he was a member of Robert Falcon Scott’s crew as an Able seaman on the Discovery, along with Ernest Shackleton who was then a sub-lieutenant.
He was with Shackleton on the Nimrod Expedition 1908–1909 and was a member of the team that crossed the Ross Barrier and Beardmore Glacier at a record latitude of 88º23’S.
In 1911 he joined Douglas Mawson’s Aurora expedition and was in charge of the western base on the Shackleton Ice Shelf.
He served as Shackleton’s second-in-command on Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–1916).
He was second-in-command of the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition (1921–22).

Frank Wild was also awarded the ‘Polar Medal with Four Clasps’

On 29 September 2016 this statue by sculptor William Harling was unveiled in the Ringrose Orchard by Mr Anthony Wharton.

Frank Wild Statue, Skelton

Blackstone No.1 Digger, Port Mulgrave

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Buried in the undergrowth at the side of Cleveland Way near the cliff top at Port Mulgrave are the rusting remains of a Blackstone No.1 Digger
Blackstone No.1 Digger, Port Mulgrave
Blackstone & Co were based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. This piece of farm machinery was a potato spinner and probably dates from the 1930s as Lister took over Blackstone & Co in 1937 to form Lister Blackstone.
Blackstone No.1 Digger, Port Mulgrave
Here is an intact model.
Blackstone Digger potato spinner at Woolpit 2009

1949 Industrial Adverts, Middlesbrough / Darlington

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First batch that I posted on Facebook this week, thought it a good idea to post them here too as not everyone uses Facebook and if it didn’t just happen you’ll never find it.

Gjers Mills & Co, Ayresome Ironworks, Middlesbrough
Gjers Mills & Co, Ayresome Ironworks 1949

Darlington Railway Plant & Foundry, Bank Top
Darlington Railway Plant & Foundary 1949

Davy and United, Roll Foundry, Billingham
Davy and United, Roll Foundry, Billingham / Middlesbrough 1949

River Tees Conservancy Commissioners
River Tees Conservancy Comission 1949

Mystery plaque about miscarriage of justice for “Susan” at Sawdon

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I have been totally unable to find any information on what this plaque at Sawdon relates to.
Sawdon
It looks very modern, but gives no detailed dates on names for the events it mentions. Just “Susan”
Can anyone shed any light on it ?

Hutton Hall, Guisborough

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Hutton Hall was built in 1866 for Sir Joseph Whitwell Pease, the son of Joseph Pease one of the key players in the Stockton & Darlington Railway
Hutton Hall, Guisborough
Pease became first Baronet of Hutton Lowcross and Pinchinthorpe in 1882.

In 1902 a Bank crash forced the Pease family to sell the Hutton Hall estate, this photo is from the sale catalogue
5-10-49-01-guisborough-jp-front

During the Spanish Civil War the Hall was used to house Basque refugee children.

Two More Stench Pipes in Redcar

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I’ve known about the Stench Pipe on Park Avenue for years.
Park Avenue Stench Pipe, Redcar
However I only recently became aware of two more of a different design, a very short distance away. The first in the back alley between Beech and Elm Road.
Stench Pipe, between Beech and Elm, Redcar

A second base is in the adjacent back alley between Beech and Lime Road.
Stench Pipe, between Beech and Lime, Redcar

Stockton and Darlington Railway F10, Barnard Castle

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Ceramic tiles were placed on properties owned by the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the late 1850s, early 1860s.
Stockton and Darlington Railway F10, Barnard Castle
The F-Line ran to Barnard Castle and F10 is Barnard Castle crossing.
Stockton and Darlington Railway F10, Barnard Castle