These two concrete foundations once held the winding drums at the top of the New Bank Incline.


The drums would have looked very similar to these.

This cutting which is current clear of undergrowth would have contained tracks for the empty wagons coming up the incline.

The full tubs would have descended the incline, hauling up the empties with their extra weight before arriving at the Low Drum in California.

There were two other inclines, Old Bank and Trustee in the system, the remains of all three are still visible but cut by the A174 Parkway.

A local group have spent a lot of time this year clearing the undergrowth and rubbish from the hauler bases at New Bank, so you can now get a good view of them for the first time in years.

This base of a brick building is from the later electric hauler which pulled wagons to and from Wilton Lane to the east, parts of it were still standing in the 1970s but it was demolished rather than conserved.

Many Bolckow & Vaughan bricks can be seen in its foundations.

Immediately adjacent are the more substantial sandstone remains of the older steam hauler where the various bolts and pits that held the engine and winding drums can be identified.

The two small parks at the end of Mansfield Road have had their fences decorated with reminders of the areas mining past by the Eston Residents Association

The panels depict miners tools, tubs, a midge lamp and a horse drawn tub.

Inside the parks are a couple of much older plaques from March 1951. One from Councillor J.T. Cook and the other J. Finegan (who the town hall is named after)

Only one of the two oak trees remains today.

The Eston Residents Association have put in a lot of effort to make sure the towns mining past isn’t forgotten.

A ‘book’ in the middle of the square gives a history of the town.

A number of plaques adorn the railings and seats around the square.

A replica ironstone tub stands in a nearby flower garden

A plaque on the Eston Institute shows miners laying the foundations of the buildings some time around the turn of the century