Sea Breezes July 2013

Living by the sea...

4

Saltburn by the sea

July Saltburn Jazz Night with THE GERRY RICHARDSON QUARTET Fri 5th July Doors and bar 6.30pm starting at 7.30pm

All or Nothing presents BRASS NECK COMEDY CLUB. with Tom Deacon,and MC Ray Peacock + another great act to be confirmed soon. Keep an eye on Brass Neck Facebook for more details.

Sat 6th July Doors and Bar 7pm Curtain Up 8pm

’53 Youth Group presents LES MISERABLES Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption – a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Directed by Nigel Hestletine.

Doors & Bar 6.45pm Curtain Up 7.30pm Mon 8th - Saturday 13th July

HENRY PRIESTMAN (formerly of The Christians) with support from fabulous local Yarm based band SUS2 Friday 12th July Doors and bar 6.45 starts 7.30pm (tickets also available from 07960935263)

PETE FIRMAN:EDINBURGH PREVIEW. Prepare to be amazed and amused as ‘the UK’s leading comedy magician ‘(Time Out) previews an astonishing new show.

Sun 14th July Doors and Bar 7.30pm Curtain up 8pm

Saltburn Film Club presents AMOUR. Award winning film (English subtitles). Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple’s bond of love is severely tested.

Thurs 25th July Doors 6.30pm Screening 7pm

Welcome

Sweeping beaches, cliffs, big skies, surf, seabirds, Saltburn has them all and is our favourite place to be. This month sees the publication of our fourth magazine bringing you some special features which encapsulate, accentuate and celebrate Saltburn by the Sea and the rest of our north eastern coastline as part of the great British seaside – its landscape, its history, its attractions and its community.

At last we have some sunshine, calm seas and soothing breezes. In the sunshine the whole atmosphere changes and days can be spent on the beach. Wandering, reading, exploring, staring at people, surfing, bodyboarding, rockpooling and building elaborate sandcastles. The choices seem endless and life seems less complicated. As soon as your feet touch the sand anxieties and problems can be forgotten as you walk along the shoreline. I remember days from childhood when the beaches were crowded, parents sitting in their deck chairs, children digging holes in the sand. It was a well known fact that if you dug deep enough you could dig all the way to Australia. And after digging there were few things more exciting than parading a fishing net and exploring rock pools hoping to find a starfish, catch a crab or watch the fluttering tentacles of sea anemones.

In Saltburn there is a local legend about two eccentric ladies who lived in Teddy's Nook and owned a pet lion.

They used to exercise by walking it along the beach. Sitting cross legged on the shore line it's easy to imagine the three parading along the sands. I'm not sure if it's fact or fiction but I like to believe it's true. Life's too short not to believe in legends.

And of course, if you're tired of sand in your sandwiches there's always the Valley Gardens to explore, woodlands to wander through or a picnic in the park. The boating lake and paddling pool are no longer there but you can still enjoy an ice cream with a lemon top on it just like it used to be served years ago when Pacitto's first created it.. Nice to know some things never change.

Sea Breezes welcomes contributions from readers. If you have a photo, story, poem, event or article of news that you would like to share please e-mail it to: saltburnbysea@gmail.com and include Sea Breezes in the subject box.

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Sea Breezes is produced by saltburnbysea.com, an independent website which is not affiliated with, or officially sponsored by any Local Authority or Tourist Information Centre based in or near Saltburn by the Sea. saltburnbysea.com tries to ensure that the articles and announcements made on the Sea Breezes pages are accurate, but views expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the webmaster. Any offers in adverts are made by the advertiser and details should be confirmed with them. Always confirm event details with the organisers, in case of alteration or errors. Š 2006-2013 SaltburnbySea.com. All rights reserved worldwide | Created by seasalt |

The Saltburn and Cleveland Advertiser

Between the 1870’s and the 1930’s The Saltburn and Cleveland Advertiser was a free monthly publication which prided itself on being the 'Largest, Best, and Cheapest Advertising Medium in Cleveland'. It was published by The Ivanhoe Press, proprietor Joseph Parks, from its office on Windsor Road and circulated 5,000 copies gratis each month, distributed in Saltburn, Marske, New Marske, Guisborough, Brotton and the Skeltons. The following article is the second of a number of articles which were published in monthly episodes throughout 1930.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SALTBURN

BY IVANHOE CHAPTER III The fire-flash shines from Reculver cliff, And the answering light burns blue in the skiff, And there they stand That smuggling band, Some in the water, and some on the sand, Ready those contraband goods to land; The night is dark, they are silent and still — At the head of the party is Smuggler Bill!

"Ingoldsby Legends"

John Andrew, publican, passed off as an eminently respectable "free trader" who made, spent and gave liberally, doing a deal of good in the world. He was also a staunch supporter of the Cleveland Hounds, being at one time master. Staithes, Skelton and Saltburn were at his beck and call, being a conscientious "free trader" who made money for all his friends. Occasionally he would leave his beer-brewing copper and tuns to take a trip over to France or Holland for the purpose of strengthening his business relations.

He made arrangements for fresh cargoes of tobacco, Hollands gin, best Chateau Lafitte wine, and valuable silks and laces. These shipments were landed on dark nights by a code of signals on Old Saltburn Beach. In this fashion the richest part of the trousseau of the 5th Countess Fitzwilliam passed through his hands. His end is uncertain, but he was taken red-handed one night and sent to York. Doubtless in the gloomy cells of York Castle he often pined for the old wave-washed Ship

Inn and the towering heights of Huntcliffe.

The Ship Inn was at one time the resort of a club of local literati and kindred spirits who were wont to hold periodical gatherings for their carousals. It was also noted for its 'Fat Rascal' pasties and 'Saltburn Stingo' and these attractive refreshments drew customers from miles around. In the bar of the 'Ship' there still stands the figurehead of the Schooner 'Loch Alsh' which came ashore at Saltburn during a heavy gale on the 29th November 1897. The figurehead; a bust of a fine, well-proportioned woman, is painted a vivid red and blue. The crew were rescued by the members of the lifeboat, 'Mary Dagmar.' Until recent years a very old dog could be seen, often near the top of the incline tramway. This was 'Wreck' who was saved off the 'Loch Alsh'.

In a recent police court case it was mentioned that the offender carried a 'Maulin Rattler.' This term is incorrect.

The proper term is 'Morgan Rattler' and owes its origin to a very famous smuggling craft plying off Saltburn.

This was a fast cutter, and a terror to the preventive men. Her crew were armed with short weighted sticks - very useful in hand-to-hand combats which, after the good ship, they nicknamed 'Morgan Rattlers.' Although the trade has long since ceased the term has not altogether died out.

There was an older 'Ship Inn' which occupied the site, upon which, until recent years there stood the Lifeboat House, demolished a few years ago. At the same time there was another hostelry known as the 'Gull' or 'Seagull.'

It is believed that Charles Dickens visited Saltburn in 1844 or 1845, some years prior to the coming of the 'Ironroad.' The reason for his visit is

not stated, but it is at least hoped, that he came away with a better impression of Saltburn than he did of Redcar. On the occasion of his first and last visit to Redcar it was stated that he left the Station, carpetbag in hand, marched down to the beach, took a mournful glance at Coatham then retraced his steps and took the first train back.

We find that Saltburn was a very early link in the history of the ironstone industry. In 1801, according to Joseph Berwick the younger, the Tynside Iron Company commenced using nodules of Cleveland ironstone collected on the beach between Saltburn and Scarborough, and continued to do so until 1861. This ironstone was shipped off as best as could be when the weather permitted; but as those in charge of the workings, in their ignorance of mineralogy, sent off not ironstone alone but dogger and cement stone alike, it is small wonder that the Cleveland ironstone was not appreciated by the company from the samples which their own workmen had sent them. A few of the old mooring posts at Old Saltburn, to which the vessels loading the iron ore were moored, still remain, firmly embedded in the rocks near the present sewerage. ( TO BE CONTINUED) Stingo - In the days of old nearly every publican and innkeeper was his own brewer, the fame of his house depending almost solely on the quality of the "stingo" he could pour out to his customers. Its name comes from a fashionable slang word of the 18th century for strong or old ale originating in the north of England, especially Yorkshire. The name possibly comes from the sharp, or "stinging" flavour of a well-matured beer.

Ship's Figureheads

The origins of the ship’s figurehead lie in the early days of seafaring. They were used as religious symbols to protect the ship, and to express the sailors’ belief that the ship was a living thing. There was also the belief that a ship needed to find its own way, and could only do this if it had eyes.

The ancient Egyptians used figureheads to provide both protection and vision, by mounting figures of holy birds on the prows. The Phoenicians used the heads of horses to symbolise vision and swiftness.

The ancient Greeks had a boars’s head to represent vision and ferocity. Roman ships often carried a carving of a centurion to signify their elite fighting ability.

In northern Europe, the favourite decoration for the longship was a serpent, although some Danish ships had dolphins, bulls or dragons.

All were meant to strike fear into the enemy and scare away their enemy’s guardian spirits.

B y t h e 1 3 t h c e n t u r y, a favourite figurehead was the swan, renowned for its grace and mobility on the water.

All these figureheads were mounted on or carved directly onto the stem of the ship. With the development of forecastles built above and beyond the ships’ stem in the 16th and 17th centuries, the position of the figurehead was changed to the bowsprit.

During the 17th century, the lion remained the favourite figurehead for warships of most nations, although many important ships had more elaborate designs - for example Prince Royal (1610)

had St. George slaying the dragon. The French preferred figures representing fame, v i c t o r y a n d g l o r y. T h e Revolution in France led to the use of some very different fi g u r e h e a d s - t h e f r i g a t e Carmagnole had a guillotine as its figurehead. The lion went out of fashion in the latter part of the 18th century and was replaced by carvings to represent the name of the ship; these were mainly classical or mythological figures. The pictorial representation of the ship was a means of identification in the days when many sailors could not read.

Female figureheads were popular, usually baring one or both breasts. This represented the superstitions of the seamen. Women on board ship were thought to be unlucky, but a naked woman was supposed to be able to calm a storm at sea. Merchant ships also followed this naval practice.

The last ship to have a figurehead in the Royal Navy was HMS Espeigle. This ship was broken up in 1923, but the figurehead can be seen in the Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth.

The size of some figureheads created weight problems especially as they were made from hard woods; in the 17th century, they were made predominantly from elm. This was changed in the early and mid-eighteenth to oak. After an order by the Navy Board in 1742, figureheads were made from soft woods, such as pine.

However, deal and teak were also used and these proved to be more resistant to woodboring insects and decay.

The technological development of ships in the 19th century, from sail to steam and wood to iron, led to the gradual end of the naval figurehead. The loss of the bowsprit, under which the figurehead was traditionally placed, was the main reason for the disappearance.

The figurehead from the 'Loch Alsh, wrecked in 1897, looking worse for wear, stands above an external door outside the Ship Inn.

The Long John Silver Collection - photograph taken in 1930.

The Long John Silver Collection

Sydney Cumbers, an enthusiast whose eyepatch gained him his nickname, collected over 80 figureheads which he kept in his London home. In 1953 the collection was given to the Cutty Sark Trust for display on the clipper in Greenwich.

It is the largest collection of Merchant Naval figureheads in the world.

These figureheads come from vessels mostly dating from the 19th century and the collection, like the Cutty Sark herself, is dedicated as a memorial to the men of the Merchant Navy.

Some of the figureheads in the 'Long John Silver' collection given to the Cutty Sark Trust now on display with the vessel in Grenwich.

The Ingoldsby Legends  

Richard Harris Barham (6 December 1788 – 17 June 1845) was an English cleric of the Church of England, novelist, and humorous poet. He was better known by his nom de plume Thomas Ingoldsby.

From 1820s onward he wrote for a series of magazines and journals. His best known publication, The Ingoldsby Legends, appeared in parts during the 1840s.

Daffodils

The Jackdaw of Rheims and The Hand of Glory are two of the best-known of the Ingoldsby Legends. This collection of humourous and macabre stories in prose and verse was published in three series between 1840 and 1847 with splendid illustrations by Cruikshank and other artists. The best of them are very superior light verse, marked by verbal cleverness, wit, elaborate rhymes and bi-lingual puns. They were very popular in the 19th Century and remained so until relatively recently, but are now out of print.

Almost all the popular writers of the time were influenced by it and many refer to it explicitly or quote from it. Even Walt Disney used "The Lay of St. Dunstan." However, it is now difficult to obtain and deserves to be better known.

THE SMUGGLER'S LEAP: A LEGEND OF THANET. 'Near this hamlet (Acol) is a longdisused chalk-pit of formidable depth, known by the name of "The Smuggler's Leap."

The tradition of the parish runs, that a riding-officer from Sandwich, called Anthony Gill, lost his life here in the early part of the present (18th) century, while in pursuit of a smuggler. A fog coming on, both parties went over the precipice. The smuggler's horse only, it is said, was found crushed beneath its rider. The spot has, of course, been haunted ever since.'-See 'Supplement to Lewis's History of Thanet, by the Rev. Samuel Pegge, A.M., Vicar of Gomersham.' W. Bristow, Canterbury, 1796, p. 127.

The fire-flash shines from Reculver cliff, And the answering light burns blue in the skiff, And there they stand, That smuggling band, Some in the water and some on the sand, Ready those contraband goods to land: The night is dark, they are silent and still, -- At the head of the party is Smuggler Bill!

'Now lower away! come, lower away!

We must be far ere the dawn of the day.

If Exciseman Gill should get scent of the prey, And should come, and should catch us here, what would he say?

Come, lower away, lads -- once on the hill, We'll laugh, ho! ho! at Exciseman Gill!'

The cargo's lower'd from the dark skiff's side,

And the tow-line drags the tubs through the tide, No trick nor flam, But your real Schiedam.

'Now mount, my merry men, mount and ride!'

Three on the crupper and one before, And the led-horse laden with five tubs more; But the rich point-lace, In the oil-skin case Of proof to guard its contents from ill, The 'prime of the swag,' is with Smuggler Bill!

Merrily now in a goodly row, Away and away those Smugglers go, And they laugh at Exciseman Gill, ho! ho!

When out from the turn Of the road to Herne, Comes Gill, wide awake to the whole concern!

Exciseman Gill, in all his pride, With his Custom-house officers all at his side!

-- They were called Custom-house officers then; There were no such things as 'Preventive men.'

Sauve qui peut!

That lawless crew, Away, and away, and away they flew!

Some dropping one tub, some dropping two;-Some gallop this way, and some gallop that, Through Fordwich Level -- o'er Sandwich Flat, Some fly that way, and some fly this, Like a covey of birds when the sportsmen miss; These in their hurry Make for Sturry, With Custom-house officers close in their rear Down Rushbourne Lane, and so by Westbere

Sauve qui peut! That lawless crew, Away, and away, and away they flew!

Some seek Whitstable -- some Grove Ferry, Spurring and whipping like madmen -- very -For the life! for the life! they ride! they ride!

And the Custom-house officers all divide, And they gallop on after them far and wide!

All, all, save one -- Exciseman Gill,-He sticks to the skirts of Smuggler Bill!

Smuggler Bill is six feet high, He has curling locks, and a roving eye, He has a tongue and he has a smile Trained the female heart to beguile, And there is not a farmer's wife in the Isle, From St. Nicholas quite To the Foreland Light, But that eye, and that tongue, and that smile will wheedle her To have done with the Grocer and make him her Tea-dealer; There is not a farmer there but he still Buys gin and tobacco from Smuggler Bill.

Smuggler Bill rides gallant and gay On his dapple-grey mare, away, and away, And he pats her neck and he seems to say, 'Follow who will, ride after who may, In sooth he had need Fodder his steed, In lieu of Lent-corn, with a Quicksilver feed; -- Nor oats, nor beans, nor the best of old hay, Will make him a match for my own dapple-grey!

Ho! ho!-- ho! ho!' says Smuggler Bill -He draws out a flask and he sips his fill, And he laughs 'Ho! ho!' at Exciseman Gill.

Down Chislett Lane, so free and so fleet Rides Smuggler Bill, and away to Up-street; Sarre Bridge is won -Bill thinks it fun; 'Ho! ho! the old tub-gauging son of a gun -His wind will be thick, and his breeks be thin, Ere a race like this he may hope to win!'

Away, away Goes the fleet dapple-grey, Fresh as the breeze and free as the wind, And Exciseman Gill lags far behind.

'I would give my soul,' quoth Exciseman Gill, 'For a nag that would catch that Smuggler Bill!-No matter for blood, no matter for bone, No matter for colour, bay, brown or roan,

So I had but one!' A voice cried 'Done!'

'Ay, dun,' said Exciseman Gill, and he spied A Custom-house officer close by his side, On a high-trotting horse with a dun-coloured hide.-'Devil take me,' again quoth Exciseman Gill, 'If I had but that horse, I'd have Smuggler Bill!'

From his using such shocking expressions, it's plain That Exciseman Gill was rather profane.

He was, it is true, As bad as a Jew, A sad old scoundrel as ever you knew, And he rode in his stirrups sixteen stone two.

-- He'd just utter'd the words which I've mention'd to you, When his horse coming slap on his knees with him, threw Him head over heels, and away he flew, And Exciseman Gill was bruised black and blue.

Daffodils

None of them stopping, But shooting and popping, And many a Custom-house bullet goes slap Through many a three-gallon tub like a tap, And the gin spirts out And squirts all about, And many a heart grew sad that day That so much good liquor was so thrown away.

When he arose His hands and his clothes Were as filthy as could be,-- he'd pitch'd on his nose, And roll'd over and over again in the mud, And his nose and his chin were all cover'd with blood; Yet he screamed with passion, 'I'd rather grill Than not come up with that Smuggler Bill!'

--'Mount! Mount!' quoth the Custom-house officer, 'get On the back of my Dun, you'll bother him yet.

Your words are plain, though they're somewhat rough, 'Done and Done' between gentlemen's always enough!-I'll lend you a lift -- there -- you're up on him -- so, He's a rum one to look at -- a devil to go!'

Exciseman Gill Dash'd up the hill, And mark'd not, so eager was he in pursuit, The queer Custom-house officer's queer-looking boot.

Smuggler Bill rides on amain, He slacks not girth and he draws not rein, Yet the dapple-grey mare bounds on in vain, For nearer now -- and he hears it plain -Sounds the tramp of a horse --'Tis the Gauger again!'

Smuggler Bill Dashes round by the mill That stands near the road upon Monkton Hill,-'Now speed,-- now speed, My dapple-grey steed, Thou ever, my dapple, wert good at need!

O'er Monkton Mead, and through Minster Level, We'll baffle him yet, be he gauger or devil!

For Manston Cave, away! away!

Now speed thee, now speed thee, my good dapple-grey, It shall never be said that Smuggler Bill Was run down like a hare by Exciseman Gill!'

Manston Cave was Bill's abode; A mile to the north of the Ramsgate road.

(Of late they say It's been taken away, That is, levell'd and filled up with chalk and clay,

Smuggler Bill, he looks behind, And he sees a Dun horse come swift as the wind, And his nostrils smoke and his eyes they blaze Like a couple of lamps on a yellow post-chaise!

Every shoe he has got Appears red-hot!

And sparks round his ears snap, crackle, and play, And his tail cocks up in a very odd way; Every hair in his mane seems a porcupine's quill, And there on his back sits Exciseman Gill, Crying 'Yield thee! now yield thee, thou Smuggler Bill!'

Smuggler Bill from his holster drew A large horse-pistol, of which he had two!

Made by Nock; He pull'd back the cock As far as he could to the back of the lock; The trigger he touch'd, and the welkin rang To the sound of the weapon, it made such a bang; Smuggler Bill ne'er missed his aim, The shot told true on the Dun -- but there came From the hole where it enter'd -- not blood,-- but flame, -- He changed his plan, And fired at the man; But his second horse-pistol flashed in the pan!

And Exciseman Gill with a hearty good will, Made a grab at the collar of Smuggler Bill.

The dapple-grey mare made a desperate bound When that queer Dun horse on her flank she found, Alack! and alas! on what dangerous ground!

It's enough to make one's flesh to creep To stand on that fearful verge, and peep Down the rugged sides so dreadfully steep, Where the chalk-hole yawns full sixty feet deep, O'er which that steed took that desperate leap!

It was so dark then under the trees, No horse in the world could tell chalk from cheese -Down they went -- o'er that terrible fall,-Horses, Exciseman, Smuggler, and all!!

Below were found Next day on the ground By an elderly Gentleman walking his round, (I wouldn't have seen such a sight for a pound,) All smash'd and dash'd, three mangled corpses Two of them human,-- the third was a horse's -That good dapple-grey, and Exciseman Gill Yet grasping the collar of Smuggler Bill!

But where was the Dun? that terrible Dun? From that terrible night he was seen by none!--

There are some people think, though I am not one, That part of the story all nonsense and fun, But the country-folks there, One and all declare, When the 'Crowner's 'Quest' came to sit on the pair, They heard a loud Horse-laugh up in the air!--- If in one of the trips Of the steam-boat Eclipse You should go down to Margate to look at the ships, Or to take what the bathing-room people call 'Dips,' You may hear old folks talk Of that quarry of chalk: Or go over -- it's rather too far for a walk, But a three-shilling drive will give you a peep At that fearful chalk-pit -- so awfully deep, Which is call'd to this moment 'The Smuggler's Leap!'

Nay more, I am told, on a moonshiny night, If you're 'plucky,' and not over subject to fright, And go and look over that chalk-pit white, You may see, if you will, The Ghost of Old Gill Grappling the Ghost of Smuggler Bill, And the Ghost of the dapple-grey lying between 'em.-I'm told so -- I can't say I know one who's seen 'em!

Daffodils

Thither he urges his good dapple-grey; And the dapple-grey steed, Still good at need, Though her chest it pants, and her flanks they bleed, Dashes along at the top of her speed; But nearer and nearer Exciseman Gill Cries 'Yield thee! now yield thee, thou Smuggler Bill!'

MORAL.

And now, gentle Reader, one word ere we part, Just take a friend's counsel, and lay it to heart.

Imprimis, don't smuggle!-- if bent to please Beauty You must buy French lace,-- purchase what has paid duty Don't use naughty words, in the next place,-- and ne'er in Your language adopt a bad habit of swearing!

Never say 'Devil take me!'

Or 'shake me!'--or 'bake me!'

Or such-like expressions -- Remember Old Nick To take folks at their word is remarkably quick.

Another sound maxim I'd wish you to keep, Is, 'Mind what you're after, and -- Look ere you Leap!'

Above all, to my last gravest caution attend -NEVER BORROW A HORSE YOU DON'T KNOW OFF A FRIEND!!!

Saltburn by the Sea

The Ship Inn Welcome

There are two Saltburns; the Victorian planned new town and the ancient hamlet now known as Old Saltburn. The older of the two nestles below the cliffs under the shadow of Huntcliff. It has obscure origins, attracting only passing references in local histories and public documents, existing only to serve its few inhabitants who appear to have made a living from such diverse occupations as farming, fishing, milling, lime burning and the export of alum, ironstone nodules and hazel rods. Its most exciting and lucrative activity was undoubtedly smuggling, led by the notorious John Andrew and the local gentry.

The original Saltburn, consisting of a row of fishermen's cottages and the Ship Inn, still stands entirely alone, facing the sea on the Huntcliff side of Skelton beck. From the sands here there is little of modern Saltburn to be seen besides the pier. The rectangular streets and blocks of houses have been wisely placed some distance from the edge of the grassy cliffs, leaving the seafront relatively unspoiled.

A brief history: Old Saltburn - tiny hamlet though it was - was an important centre long before Saltburn by the Sea was thought of. Both the mill and The Ship Inn drew men in from the surrounding district, particularly The Ship Inn, which was the rendezvous of smugglers and also attracted Cleveland foxhunters. Most notorious of those engaged in the contraband trade was one John Andrew, landlord of the Inn, who eventually lived in The White House nearby. John Andrew was also Master of the Cleveland Hunt and the pack was kennelled at his White House. The Inn became one of the pack's trysting places as Clevelands Nimrods would gather together here to discuss the day's sport and to arrange future fixtures for the pack.

In 1906 a Mr Hugh W Cook of Redcar wrote the following: "Until 1860 Saltburn consisted only of a few cottages which were inhabited by fishermen. In former days the smuggling trade was carried on to a considerable extent and reminiscences of the illicit traffic are still the theme on which 'old salts' assembled at the Ship, love to dilate.

The whole coast from Coatham to Saltburn round to Robin Hood's Bay was a hotbed for smugglers, and legend tells us that even now large hordes of spirit and other treasures are hidden in the cliffs and rocks.

the hamlet of Old Saltburn, the quaint old Ship Inn stands as a witness to  

At the hamlet of old Saltburn, the quaint old Ship Inn stands as witness to the past. It is undoubtedly old - four or five hundred years at least - but no record of it's history is in existence. In stormy weather the sea at times dashes up to its front door and we can well imagine the days when smugglers congregated here to sup and chat and plan and to divide their profits. Their risky and exciting trade brought prosperity to the inn, the hamlet and to many in Cleveland. Years ago visitors from all parts of Cleveland resorted to the Ship to eat 'Fat Rascals,' a pastry for which the Inn was famed. It is interesting to note that in one of the ancient cottages adjoining The Ship lived an old lady, Mrs Marshall, who resided there for seventy-six years, and died a few years ago (circa 1900) at the age of 99.* She remembered well the activities of the smugglers, the coast-guards, the Customs 'Preventive' men, and the Press Gang, and when there was a constant going and coming of men on horseback and afoot, to the Ship. There was an underground passage under the Ship used by smugglers both to store the cargoes landed and also to get them away without observation." *(There is a short article on 'Granny Marshall in our May 2013 edition)

At one time the single-storied fishermen's cottages at Old Saltburn extended along the north side of Cat Nab; these have long gone but amongst those remaining was another inn, 'The Nimrod', and there is a tradition that the house adjoining the Ship once had a license as 'The Sea-Gull.' In his research about the Ship Inn - commissioned by the Beverley Brothers Ltd of the Eagle Breweries, Wakefield, after their purchase of the Ship in 1944 - noted Yorkshire historian J. Fairfax Blakeborough, was unable to confirm that this was the case but said that he was able to visit the house by the invitation of its then occupant, a Mrs Longley, who showed him the opening to a passage that had once been used by smugglers. His explorations concluded that although there were many stories related to underground passages, the claims that they extended for miles were certainly exaggerated. It would seem that the main object of the smugglers was to keep their contraband goods safe and unobserved until they were able to get them to the strings of pack-ponies used to convey them inland.

Sir Alfred Pease, in his History of the Cleveland Hunt wrote that "when John Andrew was landlord of the Ship, Saltburn was but a fishing village and a colony of smugglers on the seashore, and not the large and fashionable watering place it has since developed into. On top of the cliffs, with a wooded ravine running inland, stood then, and still stands, the home of the Andrew family, a farmhouse known as the White House.

Up this secluded ravine, many a string of pack-horses wended their way with contraband goods, which found a ready market at Guisborough, Stokesley, and all the country-side, this illicit trade being encouraged by the gentry and clergy as well as the farmers. At the head of this smuggling fraternity was Mr King, a brewer at Kirkleatham, and Mr John Andrew, and many a good cargo was run ashore at Saltburn and stored in the clay-holes of Hob Hill, in the ravine behind the house. The most celebrated craft in the trade was the 'Morgan Rattler,' an extraordinarily fast cutter, which eluded the coastguard for years, and was a terror to the Preventive men. You may now see in the stables of the White House a large flagstone, which, when removed, discloses the entrance to a spacious cellar. In this stall John Andrew had always a celebrated mare who would kick like mad when any but her master approached that stall. Upstairs in this house is a room which had a secret hiding place, where in case of a search, the men might hide, or lay in ambuscade."

Although the Ship Inn was a smugglers haunt long before the arrival of John Andrew we only get on to definite historic ground at the time when he came to Saltburn from Kincardine as a very young man and became landlord of the Inn. He was born in 1761, and had a brother Joseph, who was surgeon's mate on His Majesty's Frigate The Rose. John came from Scotland circa 1781 and soon married Ann Harrison, who helped him at the Ship. They prospered both as landlord and landlady of the Inn and in the smuggling of gin, rum, brandy, and lace. It was not long before John was able to buy the White House, and he apparently then left the Ship, although he would continue to meet his colleagues there, and also the Cleveland sportsmen who came to talk hunting, possibly riding off afterwards with bottles of Jamaica, Hollands or cognac in their saddlebags.

The old mounting block - with its three stone steps and flat stone platform top - once used by these horsemen was unfortunately removed from outside the Ship not long after the Beverley Brothers took over ownership.  

John Andrew was eventually caught, an enormous fine was levied which he could not pay so he underwent a long term of imprisonment. He died in 1835. Smuggling continued for a while after John Andrew's capture in 1827 but without his brains and organising abilities. This, along with the punishment he recieved and reduced duties on imports all acted as an additional deterrent. Soon the clandestine meetings at the Ship Inn declined as the smuggling cutters ceased to make their trips to the Continent and back to the Cleveland coast.

Even after the heyday of smuggling had passed, the village of Old Saltburn remained a seafaring community, with most of the residents earning a living as sailors and fishermen. Some of the men were occupied seasonally in the collection of ironstone nodules from the beach for shipping to Newcastle although steady employment in this field was not secured until the first ironstone mine opened in 1864 at Hob Hill.

In 1848, in the first guide book to Saltburn ever published, Walbran said "All visitors to Saltburn should ... make a point of duty, once at least, to drink tea and eat 'Fat Rascalls.'" From this it can be noted that even after the Ship had lost its importance as the headquarters both of the smuggling fraternity and of those interested in the Cleveland Hunt, its situation and its tradition made the Inn a popular summer resort.

The Ship Inn survives today, having been enlarged over the centuries with the original bar closest to the road. Improvements to the Ship came slowly. Although electricity for private comsumption came to Saltburn in 1900, hurricane styled lamps were still being used in the Inn as late as World War II.

From 'The Graphic' September 14th 1895

"The British Bather: How to bathe in a land where there are no bathing machines."

Join us on our reading project. Month by month we will present part of a short story from R Austin Freeman's 'Dr John Thorndyke's Cases', a collection of short stories of detective fiction first published in 1909.

Richard Austin Freeman (11 April 1862 London – 28 September 1943 Gravesend) — known as R. Austin Freeman — was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke.

He claimed to have invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Freeman used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.

A large proportion of the Dr. Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.

JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES (1909) (a.k.a. Dr. Thorndyke's Cases) ORIGINAL PREFACE TO 'JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES' THE MAN WITH THE NAILED SHOES - Part 4 in this (July 2013) issue..

THE STRANGER'S LATCHKEY THE ANTHROPOLOGIST AT LARGE THE BLUE SEQUIN THE MOABITE CIPHER THE MANDARIN'S PEARL THE ALUMINIUM DAGGER A MESSAGE FROM THE DEEP SEA Preface...

The stories in this collection, inasmuch as they constitute a somewhat new departure in this class of literature, require a few words of introduction. The primary function of all fiction is to furnish entertainment to the reader, and this fact has not been lost sight of. But the interest of so-called 'detective' fiction is, I believe, greatly enhanced by a careful adherence to the probable, and a strict avoidance of physical impossibilities; and, in accordance with this belief, I have been scrupulous in confining myself to authentic facts and practicable methods. The stories have, for the most part, a medico-legal motive, and the methods of solution described in them are similar to those employed in actual practice by medical jurists. The stories illustrate, in fact, the application to the detection of crime of the ordinary methods of scientific research. I may add that the experiments described have in all cases been performed by me, and that the micro-photographs are, of course, from the actual specimens.

R. A. F. Gravesend, September 21, 1909.

"All this time I had neither seen nor heard anything of my four confederates, and I hoped and believed that they had passed completely out of my life. But they had not. Only a month ago I met them once more, to my sorrow, and from the day of that meeting all the peace and security of my quiet existence at Sundersley have vanished. Like evil spirits they have stolen into my life, changing my happiness into bitter misery, filling my days with dark forebodings and my nights with terror."

Here Mr. Draper paused, and seemed to sink into a gloomy reverie.

"Under what circumstances did you meet these men?" Thorndyke asked.

"Ah!" exclaimed Draper, arousing with sudden excitement, "the circumstances were very singular and suspicious. I had gone over to Eastwich for the day to do some shopping.

About eleven o'clock in the forenoon I was making some purchases in a shop when I noticed two men looking in the window, or rather pretending to do so, whilst they conversed earnestly. They were smartly dressed, in a horsy fashion, and looked like well-to-do farmers, as they might very naturally have been since it was market-day. But it seemed to me that their faces were familiar to me. I looked at them more attentively, and then it suddenly dawned upon me, most unpleasantly, that they resembled Leach and Jezzard. And yet they were not quite like. The resemblance was there, but the differences were greater than the lapse of time would account for. Moreover, the man who resembled Jezzard had a rather large mole on the left cheek just under the eye, while the other man had an eyeglass stuck in one eye, and wore a waxed moustache, whereas Leach had always been clean-shaven, and had never used an eyeglass.

"As I was speculating upon the resemblance they looked up, and caught my intent and inquisitive eye, whereupon they moved away from the window; and when, having completed my purchases, I came out into the street, they were nowhere to be seen.

"That evening, as I was walking by the river outside the town before returning to the station, I overtook a yacht which was being towed down-stream. Three men were walking ahead on the bank with a long tow-line, and one man stood in the cockpit steering. As I approached, and was reading the name Otter on the stern, the man at the helm looked round, and with a start of surprise I recognized my old acquaintance Hearn.

The recognition, however, was not mutual, for I had grown a beard in the interval, and I passed on without appearing to notice him; but when I overtook the other three men, and recognized, as I had feared, the other three members of the gang, I must have looked rather hard at Jezzard, for he suddenly halted, and exclaimed: 'Why, it's our old friend Ted! Our long-lost and lamented brother!' He held out his hand with effusive cordiality, and began to make inquiries as to my welfare; but I cut him short with the remark that I was not proposing to renew the acquaintance, and, turning off on to a footpath that led away from the river, strode off without looking back.

"Naturally this meeting exercised my mind a good deal, and when I thought of the two men whom I had seen in the town, I could hardly believe that their likeness to my

quondam friends was a mere coincidence. And yet when I had met Leach and Jezzard by the river, I had found them little altered, and had particularly noticed that Jezzard had no mole on his face, and that Leach was clean-shaven as of old.

"But a day or two later all my doubts were resolved by a paragraph in the local paper. It appeared that on the day of my visit to Eastwich a number of forged cheques had been cashed at the three banks. They had been presented by three well-dressed, horsylooking men who looked like well-to-do farmers. One of them had a mole on the left cheek, another was distinguished by a waxed moustache and a single eyeglass, while the description of the third I did not recognize. None of the cheques had been drawn for large amounts, though the total sum obtained by the forgers was nearly four hundred pounds; but the most interesting point was that the cheque-forms had been manufactured by photographic process, and the water-mark skilfully, though not quite perfectly, imitated. Evidently the swindlers were clever and careful men, and willing to take a good deal of trouble for the sake of security, and the result of their precautions was that the police could make no guess as to their identity.

"The very next day, happening to walk over to Port Marston, I came upon the Otter lying moored alongside the quay in the harbour. As soon as I recognized the yacht, I turned quickly and walked away, but a minute later I ran into Leach and Jezzard, who were returning to their craft. Jezzard greeted me with an air of surprise. 'What! Still hanging about here, Ted--' he exclaimed. 'That is not discreet of you, dear boy. I should earnestly advise you to clear out.'

"'What do you mean--' I asked.

"'Tut, tut!' said he. 'We read the papers like other people, and we know now what business took you to Eastwich. But it's foolish of you to hang about the neighbourhood where you might be spotted at any moment.'

"The implied accusation took me aback so completely that I stood staring at him in speechless astonishment, and at that unlucky moment a tradesman, from whom I had ordered some house-linen, passed along the quay. Seeing me, he stopped and touched his hat.

"'Beg pardon, Mr. Draper,' said he, 'but I shall be sending my cart up to Sundersley tomorrow morning if that will do for you.'

"I said that it would, and as the man turned away, Jezzard's face broke out into a cunning smile.

"So you are Mr. Draper, of Sundersley, now, are you--' said he. 'Well, I hope you won't be too proud to come and look in on your old friends. We shall be staying here for some time.'

"That same night Hearn made his appearance at my house. He had come as an emissary from the gang, to ask me to do some work for them--to execute some forgeries, in fact. Of course I refused, and pretty bluntly, too, whereupon Hearn began to throw out vague hints as to what might happen if I made enemies of the gang, and to utter veiled, but quite intelligible, threats. You will say that I was an idiot not to send him packing, and threaten to hand over the whole gang to the police; but I was never a man of strong nerve, and I don't mind admitting that I was mortally afraid of that cunning devil, Jezzard.

"The next thing that happened was that Hearn came and took lodgings in Sundersley, and, in spite of my efforts to avoid him, he haunted me continually. The yacht, too, had evidently settled down for some time at a berth in the harbour, for I heard that a local smack-boy had been engaged as a deck-hand; and I frequently encountered Jezzard and the other members of the gang, who all professed to believe that I had committed the Eastwich forgeries. One day I was foolish enough to allow myself to be lured on to the yacht for a few minutes, and when I would have gone ashore, I found that the shore ropes had been cast off, and that the vessel was already moving out of the harbour. At first I was furious, but the three scoundrels were so jovial and good-natured, and so delighted with the joke of taking me for a sail against my will, that I presently cooled down, and having changed into a pair of rubber-soled shoes (so that I should not make dents in the smooth deck with my hobnails), bore a hand at sailing the yacht, and spent quite a pleasant day.

"From that time I found myself gradually drifting back into a state of intimacy with these agreeable scoundrels, and daily becoming more and more afraid of them. In a moment of imbecility I mentioned what I had seen from the shop-window at Eastwich, and, though they passed the matter off with a joke, I could see that they were mightily disturbed by it. Their efforts to induce me to join them were redoubled, and Hearn took to calling almost daily at my house--usually with documents and signatures which he tried to persuade me to copy.

"A few evenings ago he made a new and startling proposition. We were walking in my garden, and he had been urging me once more to rejoin the gang--unsuccessfully, I need not say. Presently he sat down on a seat against a yew-hedge at the bottom of the garden, and, after an interval of silence, said suddenly:

"'Then you absolutely refuse to go in with us--'

"'Of course I do,' I replied. 'Why should I mix myself up with a gang of crooks when I have ample means and a decent position--'

"'Of course,' he agreed, 'you'd be a fool if you did. But, you see, you know all about this Eastwich job, to say nothing of our other little exploits, and you gave us away once before. Consequently, you can take it from me that, now Jezzard has run you to earth, he won't leave you in peace until you have given us some kind of a hold on you. You know too much, you see, and as long as you have a clean sheet you are a standing

menace to us. That is the position. You know it, and Jezzard knows it, and he is a desperate man, and as cunning as the devil.'

"'I know that,' I said gloomily.

"'Very well,' continued Hearn. 'Now I'm going to make you an offer. Promise me a small annuity--you can easily afford it--or pay me a substantial sum down, and I will set you free for ever from Jezzard and the others.'

"'How will you do that--' I asked.

"'Very simply,' he replied. 'I am sick of them all, and sick of this risky, uncertain mode of life. Now I am ready to clean off my own slate and set you free at the same time; but I must have some means of livelihood in view.'

"'You mean that you will turn King's evidence--' I asked.

"'Yes, if you will pay me a couple of hundred a year, or, say, two thousand down on the conviction of the gang.'

"I was so taken aback that for some time I made no reply, and as I sat considering this amazing proposition, the silence was suddenly broken by a suppressed sneeze from the other side of the hedge.

"Hearn and I started to our feet. Immediately hurried footsteps were heard in the lane outside the hedge. We raced up the garden to the gate and out through a side alley, but when we reached the lane there was not a soul in sight. We made a brief and fruitless search in the immediate neighbourhood, and then turned back to the house. Hearn was deathly pale and very agitated, and I must confess that I was a good deal upset by the incident.

"'This is devilish awkward,' said Hearn. "'It is rather,' I admitted; 'but I expect it was only some inquisitive yokel.'

"'I don't feel so sure of that,' said he. 'At any rate, we were stark lunatics to sit up against a hedge to talk secrets.'

"He paced the garden with me for some time in gloomy silence, and presently, after a brief request that I would think over his proposal, took himself off.

"I did not see him again until I met him last night on the yacht. Pitford called on me in the morning, and invited me to come and dine with them. I at first declined, for my housekeeper was going to spend the evening with her sister at Eastwich, and stay there for the night, and I did not much like leaving the house empty. However, I agreed eventually, stipulating that I should be allowed to come home early, and I accordingly went. Hearn and Pitford were waiting in the boat by the steps--for the yacht had been

moved out to a buoy--and we went on board and spent a very pleasant and lively evening. Pitford put me ashore at ten o'clock, and I walked straight home, and went to bed. Hearn would have come with me, but the others insisted on his remaining, saying that they had some matters of business to discuss."

"Which way did you walk home?" asked Thorndyke.

"I came through the town, and along the main road."

"And that is all you know about this affair?"

"Absolutely all," replied Draper. "I have now admitted you to secrets of my past life that I had hoped never to have to reveal to any human creature, and I still have some faint hope that it may not be necessary for you to divulge what I have told you."

"Your secrets shall not be revealed unless it is absolutely indispensable that they should be," said Thorndyke; "but you are placing your life in my hands, and you must leave me perfectly free to act as I think best."

With this he gathered his notes together, and we took our departure.

"A very singular history, this, Jervis," he said, when, having wished the sergeant "Goodnight," we stepped out on to the dark road. "What do you think of it?"

"I hardly know what to think," I answered, "but, on the whole, it seems rather against Draper than otherwise. He admits that he is an old criminal, and it appears that he was being persecuted and blackmailed by the man Hearn. It is true that he represents Jezzard as being the leading spirit and prime mover in the persecution, but we have only his word for that. Hearn was in lodgings near him, and was undoubtedly taking the most active part in the business, and it is quite possible, and indeed probable, that Hearn was the actual deus ex machina."

Thorndyke nodded. "Yes," he said, "that is certainly the line the prosecution will take if we allow the story to become known. Ha! what is this? We are going to have some rain."

"Yes, and wind too. We are in for an autumn gale, I think."

"And that," said Thorndyke, "may turn out to be an important factor in our case."

"How can the weather affect your case?" I asked in some surprise. But, as the rain suddenly descended in a pelting shower, my companion broke into a run, leaving my question unanswered.

to be continued...

To the First Bathing Machine (after Wordsworth)

O Blank newcomer! I have seen, I see the with a start: So gentle looking a Machine, Infernal one thou art!

When first the sun feels rather hot, Or even rather warm, From some dim, hibernating spot Rolls forth thy clumsy form.

Perhaps thou babblest to the sea Of sunshine and of flowers; Thou bringest but a thought to me Of such bad quarter hours.

I, tightly grasping, pale with fear, Thy very narrow bench, Thou, bounding on in tight career, All shake and jolt and wrench.

Till comes an unexpected stop; My forehead hits the door, And I, with cataclysmic flop, Lie on thy sandy floor.

Then, dressed in Nature's simplest style, I, blushing, venture out; And find the sea is still a mile Away, or thereabout.

Blithe little children on the sand Laugh out with childish glee; Their nurses sitting near at hand, All giggling, stare at me.

Unnerved, unwashed, I rush again Within thy tranquil shade, And wait until the rising main Shall banish child and maid.

Thy doors I dare not open now, Thy windows give no view; 'Tis late; I will not bathe, I vow; I dress myself anew.

Discover some of the hidden jewels Of the North Yorks Moors. This years programme of walks has everything from short family rambles to a challenging 12 mile moorland hike for experienced walkers.

Each walk is guided by National Park Rangers, specialist guest leaders or a knowledgeable and dedicated band of volunteers. They will take you to almost every corner of the Park to enjoy a breath of fresh air, to look at wildlife, geology, archaeology, buildings, signs of Spring, beautiful views, in fact almost everything that makes the North York Moors the place it is.

Booking is essential

Other information

All walks are FREE but donations are welcome as they help us to care for the National Park.

Unless specifically stated dogs are welcome on walks provided they are on a short fixed lead at all times.

Places are limited on all walks and each one operates on a first come first served basis, so booking is essential. To book a place call 01439 772738 What to bring

Please wear appropriate clothing and suitable footwear. Do bring sun protection in hot weather.

Please bring plenty to drink and for our longer walks, the individual event details will state whether you need to bring a packed lunch with you.

1 Level 1 Walks are 30 minute walks on easy going terrain for about 1-1.5miles. Total time allowing for stops etc will be about 1hr.

Children are welcome on all walks but MUST accompanied by an adult; some of the walks stipulate a minimum age.

A number of walks are accessible by wheelchair and this will be specified in the individual walk details.

You can get to many of our walks by Moorsbus or public transport, check out www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/public-transport for more information.

2 Level 2 is slightly more challenging. You will be walking about 2 or 3 miles.

These walks could take up to 2 hours including information stops.

3 Level 3 is the highest level and will be up to 5 miles. These walks are much more challenging and you will need to be reasonably fit; they could take up to 3 hours for the total walk including information stops.

Wed 3 July

wed 3 july

Howdale and stopped brow moor

Walking with Romans?

Guest education officer Tanya Eyreof the Hawk and Owl Trust takes you ona 3.7mile wildlife walk in the butterfly season.

During the outing you'll enjoy views of two very different landscapes - heather moorland and rugged coastline.

Sorry, no dogs allowed. Packed lunch required.

Start 10:00am Finish 1:00pm Ravenscar transmitter mast car park (OS Grid Ref NZ970012)

Walk with Peter Turton along Wade's Causeway, long considered to be one of the finest example of a surviving stretch of Roman roadway in the country. This 2 mile walk challenges the accepted view and wonders who else can lay claim to this splendid thoroughfare.

Start 6:30pm Finish 8:00pm Wheeldale Bridge over Rutmoor Beck, Keys Beck Road (OS Grid Ref SE803970

sunday 7 july

Sunday 7July

Bilsdale at its best

Sandsend stroll

Mike Nicholson takes you on a stroll through the lovely countryside of Bilsdale. Following sections of ancient 'green lanes,' you get a chance to appreciate the dale's size and charm on this 5 mile walk. There are some styles.

Enjoy a pleasant, wheelchair-friendly, 1.5 mile stroll in the company of Peter Turton in this picturesque seaside resort, and experience one of the finest stretches of beach along the Yorkshire coast. There will also be a short walk to Lythe in the afternoon.

Start 10:00am Finish 1:00p, Chop Gate car park (OS Grid Ref. SE558993)

Accessible by wheelchair Start 11:00am Finish 12noon.

Sandsend slipway (OS Grid Ref. NZ860128) NOT East Row slipway.

Sunday 7 July

Sunday 4 August

Looking round Lythe

Explore a 12th century planned village

Join Peter Turton on our 1.5mile walk around Lythe, which occupies a superb position overlooking the North Sea above Sandsend.

Viking stone carvings shed light on the local church and its past. There may be an opportunity to make a detour into the Marquis of Normanby's Mulgrave Estate.

Start 1:30pm Finish 3:00pm Lythe Village Green (OS Grid Ref. BZ846130)

Join Jim Hall on a gentle morning stroll around the village of Appleton le Moors, looking at its development from the 12th century to Victorian times. There is also a 15minute illustrated presentation of the History Group Archive, with a further chance to study the archive over a hot drink after the walk.

Start time 10:45am Finish 12:00noon Appleton le Moors Village Hall (OS Grid Ref. SE735877)

REALLY GET TO KNOW THE NORTH YORK MOORS Join a National Park Ranger or one of our specially chosen experts on one of our walks.

Sunday 28 July

Saturday 8 June

Sunday 18 August

Sunset Bird Walk

Esk Valley Wildlife Walk

Discover Danby and Fryup Dale

Join senior ranger Simon Bassindale for a moorland an forest walk at sunset to discover birds at one of their most attractive times. Please come in sturdy footwear and bring binoculars as well as a torch, as it will be dark when we return.

Start 7:30pm

Explore the charming Esk Valley in the company of Simon Hirst, the River Esk Project Officer. The short walk will introduce you to both the wild flowers and wildlife of the valley, with plenty of stops along the way for riverbug identification and woodland activities.

Finish 9:30pm

Start 10:30am

Snek Yate car park (OS Grid Ref SE510876)

Finish 12:30pm

Experienced walkers won't want to miss our challenging 12 mile route around Danby and Fryup Dale, led by a National Park Ranger. It passes through some remote locations, including Ainthorpe Rigg, Glaisdale Moor, and Great and Little Fryup Dale, with stunning views and picturesque moorland en-route. You'll need to be prepared for some steep ascents and descents, and participants should be used to doing walks of this length and difficulty.

Danby Moors National Park Centre

Packed Lunch needed.

Start 10:00am Finish 4:00pm Moors National Park Centre, Danby

Discover...

Saltburn to Skelton

An easy to moderate linear walk through the Valley Gardens and woodlands. Why not take the time to enjoy the Italian Gardens, stopping at the Tea Rooms for refreshment?

Crossing Skelton Beck beneath Saltburn's rail viaduct provides both archeological and photo opportunities. Part of the walk follows the Cleveland Way.

Leave the car park and walk across the bridge into the Valley Gardens, away from the sea front.

Follow the footpath through the gardens keeping the miniature railway line on your left.

Continue to follow the track crossing two bridges over the beck, keeping the railway line to your left, until you arrive at a third bridge at the end of the miniature railway line.

Saltburn to Skelton - distance approximately 2 miles.

Cross the bridge and follow the path up several steps, turning left at the top to walk towards the Tea Rooms, Italian The return journey can be made using local transport i.e. a Gardens and Woodlands Centre. bus from Skelton High Street or simply extend your walk The path from the Woodlands Centre continues uphill to and enjoy the return journey in reverse. meet with the Rose Walk footpath at the picnic area. Take the left hand turn to continue your walk.

There are a number of starting points for this walk depending upon your means of transport and arrival in If you arrive by bus or train you will find yourself on Station Square.

Saltburn.

Walk away from the Station and Bus Stops, up Station Starting points vary. If you are travelling by car Cat Nab Street, passing the Queen's Hotel on your left. car park is situated on the lower promenade at Saltburn- Cross the main road past the Community Hall and Theatre by-the-Sea on the A174, signposted Woodland Centre and and continue walking along Albion Terrace towards the War Memorial.

Miniature Railway. OS Map Grid Reference NZ666215

When you see the War Memorial cross the road and turn right, walking along the footpath for a short distance, keeping the children's playground on your left hand side.

Just beyond the playground there is a set of steps on your left hand side. Walk down the steps and follow the path downwards towards the picnic area.

At the picnic area you can choose to take the left hand downward path to the Italian Gardens, Tea Room and Woodlands Centre or you can take the right hand path to continue your walk through the woods.

Both walks converge at this point.

Follow the undulating pathway through the woods, passing an ornamental metal seat featuring the Green Man on your right.

At the second ornamental metal seat follow the road to the left as it drops down towards the site of the old Marske Mill.

The now overgrown and abandoned excavation site can be viewed if you vere towards the left, otherwise follow the path as it turns right towards the viaduct.

Passing underneath the viaduct cross the bridge over the beck. The water here tumbles over rocks and scars and offers a great photo opportunity.

Follow the path as it meanders through Crow Wood. Here the pathway turns sharply left as it begins to rise upwards, some parts with steps.

The pathway continues through Crow Wood until it arrives at the A174 underpass. Here you can choose to turn around and make the return journey or continue into Skelton to use public transport for your return. Follow the Cleveland Way through a new housing project, then crossing open land before passing through a metal gate which brings you on to the bottom of Derwent Road in Skelton.

Follow Derwent Road, turning left at the library onto Coniston Road.

At the top of Coniston Road turn left onto Skelton High Street and walk along towards the bus stand.

Start: Various - Cat Nab Car Park, Saltburn railway station portico, Station Square Bus stops.

Distance: approximately 2 miles (4 if return route is followed) Going: Roadside pavements, tarmac walkways and woodland paths. Several moderate gradients. Care needed crossing public roads.

Refreshments: Stop at the Valley Gardens Tea Rooms Dogs: Under proper control Wheelchair access: Not suitable

50 Spades of Clay...

Growing your own fruit and vegetables.

July Bring in the harvest - July is the month when all your hard work and preparation in the spring pays dividends as the early harvests both in the fruit garden and on the veg plot start to mature.

You may have already been picking strawberries and gooseberries for a little while now, but these will be joined this month by cherries and currants, all of which require protection from the birds if you are to enjoy them first. Get your netting installed now before fruits start to ripen. On larger trees this may mean protecting low growing bunches of cherries with anything that allows the fruit to breathe, such as old net curtains or pieces of crop protection fleece.

Harvesting in the veg garden will also be in full swing and it is important to keep cutting to ensure continued production.

Here are some tips for harvesting individual crops:

❯ Radishes: Start to thin rows as soon as the first roots are large enough, leaving the rest to mature. Pull while young and tender. Maintain even watering to prevent splitting. ❯ Salad leaves/spinach/lettuce: Pick over plants, removing a few leaves from each or snip over with scissors, but avoid damaging the growing tips of plants. Alternatively thin whole plants as for radishes.

Water well and watch for slugs. ❯ Summer cabbage: Sever plants at the base of the head, leaving the stalk in place. Cut a cross in the top of the stem to encourage plants to produce a flush of leafy greens. Alternatively remove plants to make way for second sowings. ❯ Courgettes and cucumbers: Check plants every day and remove fruit as soon as it is large enough.

Maintain watering in dry spells. ❯ Potatoes: Lift maincrop potatoes as required but

watch for signs of early blight. If this occurs cut back the haulms to ground level immediately and lift the tubers storing them in sacks. Allow the skins to harden by leaving tubers on the surface for a few hours prior to bagging. ❯ Beans and peas: Beans of all types must be harvested regularly – cut rather than pull pods from the vines as the stems are easily damaged. Allow the pods to ripen and plants will become unproductive. Freeze any surpluses. ❯ Tomatoes: Pick over plants regularly and remove fruit as soon as it is ripe. Support plants and heavy trusses to prevent breakages in windy weather as the crop develops. ❯ Turnips/beetroot: Harvest these crops while still young for the most tender roots. Both are delicious when grated raw in salads as well as cooked.

❯ Sow now... Salad leaves*, Swiss chard, Perpetual spinach, Radish* (including winter types), Lettuce*, Coriander*, Chinese leaves, Chicory, Endive, Kohlrabi, Peas, Spinach*, Turnips, (*Avoid sowing in hot weather) ❯ Plant now... Broccoli, Winter cabbages, Winter cauliflowers, Kale, Brussels sprouts (early in month), Leeks ❯ Harvest now... Globe artichokes, Tomatoes, Broad beans, French beans, Runner beans, Beetroot, Peppers, Carrots, Cauliflowers, Cabbages, Cucumber, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Courgette, Marrow, Peas, Potatoes, Radish, Spinach, Turnips, Redcurrants, Whitecurrants, Blackcurrants, Gooseberries, Late/perpetual strawberries, Summer fruiting raspberries

Sow: In final position from March onwards. Protect early sowings with cloches. Sow cut-and-come again salads in a line, thinning later. Sow lettuces up to 14in apart for cos, and 11in apart for butterheads. Do not sow in the heat of the day.

Soil: Work in plenty of well-rotted manure the previous autumn.

Sun: Prefers part shade in hot weather.

Grow: Water well, especially during dry periods. For cut-and-come again crops, sow continually every three weeks.

Salads.

Harvest: For hearting lettuces, when the head feels full. Cut cut-and-come again crops when leaves a reasonable size and leave to grow back.

Problems: Can flower prematurely (bolt) and become inedible in hot weather – plant in the shade and always water well. Slugs love the leaves – use nematodes, crushed eggshell barriers etc to protect them.

LEMON TOP ICE CREAM Lemon Tops are delightfully refreshing and indulgent. For most of us the name is synonymous with warm sunny days and trips to the seaside.

A number of shops on the North East coast sell this delicious treat, the best of which can be found at Pacitto's on Redcar seafront. The Pacitto family are credited as being the original creators of the lemon top and operate two ice cream parlours in Redcar selling their signature cone - a velvety smooth and scrumptious ice cream topped with a swirl of bright and refreshingly tangy lemon sorbet. The family also previously ran the Stray Cafe, an ice cream factory in Redcar, and an ice cream shop in Scarborough.

The stories surrounding the creation of sorbets throughout history have been sparse and vague. However, one thing seems apparent: every story ends in Italy.

It is believed that Asian cultures discovered the roots of sorbet in the form of crushed ice and flavouring.

Five-hundred years later in this same practice was emulated when Pharaohs offered visitors a cup of ice mixed with fruit juices. Historians believe that Marco Polo brought a recipe for a sorbet-like dessert back to Italy from China in the late 13th century, as written in an account of his journey, The Travels of Marco Polo.

Other folklore holds that Nero, the Roman Emperor, invented sorbet during the first century AD when he had runners along the Appian way pass buckets of snow hand over hand from the mountains to his banquet hall where it was then mixed with honey and wine.

Frozen desserts are believed to have been brought to France in 1533 by Catherine de' Medici when she left Italy to marry the Duke of Orleans, who later became Henry II of France. By the end of the 17th century, sorbet was served in the streets of Paris, and spread to England and the rest of Europe.

Ingredients:

Basic Lemon Sorbet: Makes 2 pints, or about 5 cups 1 3/4 cups water 2 cups sugar 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice 1-2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

A sorbet contains more sugar but less fat than ice cream, is non-dairy, and is usually flavoured with fruit. Because you don't have to prepare a custard as part of the process, sorbet making is incredibly easy. The basic formula is water + sugar + flavour = sorbet. Although many recipes suggest it you don't need an ice cream maker to get good results.

In a small saucepan over medium flame, combine the water and sugar and boil for about 1 minute, or until the sugar dissolves and the water is clear. Remove from heat, and allow to cool.

Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest, and pour into the bowl of an ice cream maker*. Freeze according to manufacturer instructions. When sorbet is frozen (it will still seem quite soft), transfer to a storage container, cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve. *If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can also simply transfer the mixture to a 13-inch x 9-inch metal baking pan. Freeze until firm (about 2-3 hours), stirring with a fork each half hour.

A brief glimpse of the past... Redcar The name Redcar means either "place by the red marsh" derived from the Old English rēad meaning red and Old Scandinavian kjarr or the first part of the name could be from the Old English hrēod meaning reed, or "reedy marshland" referring to the low lying marshland site by the sea that Redcar occupies. Redcar originated as a fishing town in the 14th century, trading with the larger adjacent market town of Coatham which was one of the most important fishing villages in the area Redcar was described as a “Poore Fishing Toune” in 1510 and was for many centuries overshadowed by its neighbour, Coatham, which held a market and fair from 1257. In 1847 the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway was created to attract tourism and trade, but like much of the Middlesbrough region, Redcar's real population expansion began with the discovery in 1850 of iron ore in the Eston area of the Cleveland Hills. Redcar became a regular destination for Victorian trippers and prospered as a seaside town drawing tourists who were attracted by its eight miles of sands stretching from the South Gare to Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

Any research on the town shows that Redcar was initially not one resort, but is composed of what had, in the first half of the 19th century, been two separate villages. These were Redcar and East Coatham. Each village had a resort function by 1800, and developed as separate resorts, separated by a stretch of common, until they were finally amalgamated in 1898.

The building of the Middlesbrough to Redcar railway in 1846 had a significant impact on the two resorts.

Coatham, once 'the rival or superior' resort became cut off from the sea by the railway line and fell into gradual decline. Redcar meanwhile saw its growth boosted and began to develop a number of resort facilities. By the late 1850’s railway excursions were in their heyday and Redcar found itself having to cater for an increasing number of trippers.

Over time the Esplanade is described as being developed in a 'higgledy-piggeldy' way without any frontal unity as there was no single ownership of land and little control over building.

In 1903 the Redcar Urban Council approved a scheme for the extension of the Esplanade which included the erection of a bandstand and public lavatories at a cost of about £2,500. Initially the bandstand was exposed to the elements but eventually a sheltered enclosure was built. Concerts were popular throughout the season and drew large audiences.

Leo's Pub and Disco occupied the site of the bandstand. The building itself was originally erected as a beach centre in the late 1960’s by Redcar Council. The new Beach Centre, with its distinctive shape, was an unflattering replacement which included a functional mix of council offices, deckchair store and lifeguard base. Within 10 years it was sold off and became a pub, Eric Lloyd’s The Old Kent Road.

The Old Kent Road lasted little more than a year, leaving the building part empty until, in 1983, a local man, Pete Lyons, bought it. On September 9, 1983, Leo’s Pub and Disco - Leo’s because of Pete’s surname - opened for business. It became extremely popular until changes in the licensing laws saw clubs like Leo's struggling to fend off the increased competition. In June 2006 Leo's closed its doors for the last time. The building stood empty and derelict until it was bought by Redcar Council in 2008 and demolished to make way for a new building as part of plans for a major regeneration of Redcar seafront.

The Redcar Beacon opened to the public on 28 March 2013. This 80ft landmark forms the centrepiece of a multi-million pound regeneration of Redcar Seafront and is a free visitor attraction at the heart of the seafront. It provides spectacular views up and down the coast from its various viewing platforms.

Along with an attractive and appealing promenade, Redcar's new icon brings something special and unique to the town. Over 100 aluminium foils of gold, purple and silver have been added to the outside of the Beacon to create the effect of three brightly coloured ribbons wrapping around the entire structure.

The seaside attraction also offers a series of unique studios/workspaces for those involved in the creative industries sector providing studio workspaces where visitors can see artwork, jewellery etc being manufactured and displayed.

Each of the six levels of the Beacon are accessible by lift or stairs. Taking the stairs on the journey to the top offers dynamic views of local landmarks framed by the outer foils wrapped around the tower.

At roof level, with its open air viewing platform, there are panoramic view across the dramatic seascape and surrounding landscape.

Redcar Beacon facts: The Beacon is 80ft high and has seven floors There are 132 steps (and a lift!)

The Beacon took 12 months to build It includes a two-storey cafĂŠ with open terraces offering 360 degree views There are four floors of business space A sky lounge for meetings and events The top floor is an open roof terrace offering fantastic views all year round Eco features include an energy efficient heat recovery system and solar reflective glazing The Beacon is included in a LED lights installation which runs the full length of the seafront to the bandstand

The project is part funded by the Council, One North East and the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013.

Admission to the 80ft Beacon is FREE The building is open from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm, seven days a week closed Christmas and New Year's day.

Seasons cafe is situated within the fantastic Redcar Beacon, an 80ft landmark building on the seafront, offering visitors the opportunity to climb (or get the lift) the 132 steps to the viewing platform for 360 degree views of Redcar seafront. Admission to the Beacon is FREE.

Seasons is a bright, contemporary cafe located on the ground floor and first floor of The Beacon with fabulous outside areas on both levels.

The views are spectacular!

Seasons serves fresh food all day with a range of sandwiches, soup, panini and main dishes served from our hot counter.

Freshly ground coffee and loose leaf tea are served as well as a large selection of delicious homemade cakes.

Opening times; Seasons is open every day except Christmas Day. Monday to Friday 9am - 7pm

Contact: Redcar Beacon, Esplanade, TS10 3AA Phone: 01642 296537 E-mail: redcar@restaurant-seasons.co.uk

Backdraft Things you might have missed...

Breaking news, events and happenings you might have missed last month.

The Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway opened in 1846, operated by the Stockton and Darlington Railway. It branched off from the Middlesbrough Dock line and followed the high water mark to Redcar. The station at Redcar was opposite the west end of Redcar High Street. The Redcar and Saltburn Railway opened in 1861, again operated by the S&D. This required a new Redcar Station. The original 1846 station was sold and became the Central Hall. The NER itself was formed on 31st July 1854. It came to dominate the north east region and eventually absorbed the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 13th July 1863.

N.E.R. Not Easily Rivalled

of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum – by Craven Dunnill and Company Limited.

A handful of railway stations in the north of England still display a large, strikingly beautiful wall mounted map made of coloured, glazed, tiles. These are the survivors of several put up by the North Eastern Railway company at the turn of the twentieth century.

As well as a few lines belonging to other companies most of the NER's own passenger lines were shown, and the map also includes some nearby features such as lakes, lochs, country houses and their parkland, battlefields, castles, abbeys, monasteries and cathedrals. Very attractive, but simple, colouring was used. What is immediately apparent when first looking at an NER tiled map is the sheer size of the Company’s network. Stretching from Berwick to almost Rotherham, and Carlisle to Withernsea, it is easy to see why this was once the world’s largest railway company.

The directors of the North Eastern Railway, meeting in 1900, authorised their General Manager, George Stegmann Gibb, to erect large maps of the company’s passenger network at several of their stations. They were to be constructed of sixty four 8” x 8” glazed tiles, with a further eight 8” x 4” ones spelling out the company name at the top. Lines over which they had running rights were included, as were large scale map tiles showing the docks owned by the NER. The result was a very beautiful tile map, which showed the entire NER passenger system. The tiles were made at Jackfield tile works – now part

Very little is really known about these tile maps but at least 25 of them were displayed at various stations, the last, it is believed, by 1910. A contemporary author, G.W.J. Potter, wrote that they were a “striking improvement” and that the idea had “attracted considerable attention, and its adoption has much to recommend it – being easily cleaned, very legible, practically everlasting...”

Quite prophetic stuff, because a century later 12 tile maps still exist, 9 of them at their original stations - those at Beverley, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Morpeth, Saltburn, Scarborough, Tynemouth, York and Whitby.

The map at Saltburn, previously 'hidden' behind a very worn, scratched Perspex covering, was given a facelift yesterday when the old protective covering was removed and replaced with a new one. The tiles continue to look striking and attract as much attention now as they did when the map was first installed.

Frank Maidens, member of the Saltburn Line Users Group in front of the N.E.R. Map as it was uncovered prior to replacing the protective covering. For many years the Saltburn map which is attached to the wall of the old station building has been protected by a polycarbonate covering. Over time the natural action of sunlight on it had caused the sheet to discolour and turn opaque rendering it virtually impossible to see the map in detail. SLUG has recently obtained a grant from Groundwork to replace the polycarbonate, and three members of the group - Mark Lloyd – Philip Thomson – Frank Maidens - have now completed this task. The wonderful detail on the map which shows the extent of the NER’s system is now clearly visible to the many townsfolk and visitors who pass by it daily.

The Lagonda Club visits Saltburn.

On the afternoon of Tuesday 11th June Saltburn, Marske & New Marske Parish Council welcomed members of The Lagonda Club, Cheshire as part of their North Yorkshire tour.

Approximately 30 vintage Lagonda cars parked on the top promenade in Saltburn. The drivers spent time in the town exploring the historical motor links, as well as visiting the Victorian Pier and taking a ride on Saltburn's unique Hydraulic Cliff Lift. Afternoon tea was provided at the Community Centre and they were able to look at a display by Middlesbrough Motor Club.

The cars departed for Guisborough via a leisurely climb of the historic Hill Climb route.

Electricity.

Supermodel Agyness Deyn brought a touch of glamour to Saltburn as she took part in the latest film shoot in the town, joining cast and crew during the filming of the new movie 'Electricity'.

The decision to shoot in Saltburn was taken because executive producer Alison Morgan grew up in the town.

Alison thought our remote but stunning seaside town would make a dramatic opening for the film and she was on set to meet the actors as the film kicked off with its opening scene last month (11June).

Electricity is the story of Lily, a brash

Actress Agyness Deyn with director Bryn Higgins on set at Saltburn.

young woman who leaves her remote seaside hometown to go in search of her long lost brother.

The film is based on a novel by Ray Robinson.

Ray said the film “brings my book to life.”

More filming is taking place at various locations in the North-east.

The film has been adapted for the screen by BAFTA-winner Joe Fisher (Soundproof) and is being directed by BAFTA-nominee Bryn Higgins (The King of Chaos). Actor Christian Cooke also takes a leading role in the film.

Foghorn Requiem

On Saturday 22nd June a flotilla of ships, hundreds of people and a brass band gathered for an unusual musical tribute at Souter lighthouse between the mouths of the Tyne and the Wear.

As part of the Festival of the North East the lighthouse was the focal point for the Foghorn Requiem, devised by artists Lise Autogena and Joshua Portway, with the score written by British composer Orlando Gough - specially composed to mark the disappearance of the sound of the foghorn from the UK’s coastal landscape.

A foghorn has stood on the Leas overlooking Marsden Bay for 142 years, warding vessels off this treacherous part of the North-East coast. But its roar is one of the last of a near-extinct species. These days captains are reliant on satellite navigation rather than sea charts and stars. As a result, Britain’s foghorns are no longer needed.

In Scotland the last foghorn was switched off in 2005 at Skerryvore lighthouse. In Ireland, the final few were decommissioned in 2011. Trinity House, which has responsibility for lighthouses across England and Wales, says only 24 are still in use.

Last year, one more was switched off at Trevose Head in Cornwall. Even Souter was officially decommissioned in 1988, although it is kept operational by a team of volunteers from the National Trust, which runs the site.

Souter Lighthouse was the first lighthouse in the world designed and built to be powered by electricity and was one of the first to have a foghorn.

It was built in 1870 (it opened in 1871). The previous year there had been 20 wrecks between the mouths of the Tyne and Wear, then two of the busiest shipping routes in the world.

In Scotland, the first foghorn was installed at St Abbs Head on the Borders in 1876 – after experiments with bells, gunfire and gongs. It was followed in 1895 by one at Rattray Head, north of Peterhead, where shipowners and fishermen had long petitioned for help navigating its “foul ground, rapid tides and high and dangerous seas".

Each foghorn was designed with its unique wail, so mariners could tell which part of Britain’s coastline they were close to even in the thickest of fogs. Many were given nicknames according to the blasts they gave out.

Whitby’s former foghorn station, which began operating on January 4, 1902 and was decommissioned by Trinity House in 1988, was known as the “Hawsker Bull”.

One of the last remaining active foghorns is the “Lowing Cow”, at the Platte Fougère lighthouse one mile off the coast of Guernsey. In bad weather it still booms defiantly, every 45 seconds, as it has done for the past 104 years.

Trinity House has decommissioned all but one of its foghorns on the

island. But Captain Peter Gill, the Guernsey harbour master, refuses to switch off the ones he operates at Platte Fougère and St Martin’s Point.

“Trinity House has made its decision based on its risk assessments,” Capt Gill says. “Modern navigational systems on board ships are quite different to what they used to be. But if I thought I didn’t need our foghorns, I would save myself a lot of money.”

In British waters the fogs still arrive as thick as ever but now sailors rely on the bleep of a GPS to keep them company and out of trouble. For those of us onshore the nights may be quieter without the foghorn’s mournful cry but it doesn’t mean many of us sleep any sounder without the comfort and reassurance of the foghorns eerie moan.

Local Notes...

Saltburn ten years on - 5th July 1873 The fame of this watering place grows apace.

Every year brings shoals of visitors, who, on their return home, tell of the charming retreat by the Cleveland hills, and its many attractions.

Nor need we wonder at this ever increasing popularity, when we consider the advantages which Saltburn enjoys over its numerous rivals.

To a delightfully salubrious climate it unites all the characteristics of the fadhionable inland Spa and a seaside resort of the first rank, with scenery of unrivalled diversity. Within sight, nay within hearing, of the murmuring waves, the eye may rest upon woodland scenery hardly to be surpassed in Yorkshire, at the same time as it beholds cliffs rivalling in altitude the most stupendous headlands of Yorkshire's iron-bound coast. Saltburn has hardly yet completed its tenth birthday, and being a new town-created in deed for and not by the railway-its residences and shops are of a most sumptuous description.

There is a total absence of the squalor and poverty which is so often a disagreeable adjunct to older watering places-the very atmosphere seeming to breath of wealth and refinement.

This is mainly due to the wise policy pursued by the owners of the land who persistently discourage the erection of inferior houses; and, indeed, we believe the residences built during the past year might be counted on the one hand. Having previously given minute descriptions of Saltburn in these columns, and being aware of the impossibility of saying anything new concerning its attractions, we shall simply content ourselves with chronicling its progress since last season. The pier is still, as heretofore, a great rendezvous of promenaders, and, serving as a landing stage for excursion steamers, it contributes in no small degree to the prosperity of the place, while the hydraulic hoist, by which the sands and pier are reached, is extensively patronised by those wishful to avoid the tiresome ascent of the hill. An admirable institution known as the "British Workman" has been opened through the liberality of several local gentlemen, for the general improvement of the working men of the district. During the winter classes have been held for instruction in the elementary branches of education which have proved a great boon to the miners and others whose school-boy days have passed before the advent of the school board epoch. The noble Convalescent Home, erected through the munificence of the Messrs Pease, is rapidly approaching completion, and it will be a conspicuous ornament to the town. Few spots in England can boast a finer example of landscape gardening than the grounds of the I m p ro ve m e n t C o m p a ny p re s e n t . T h e magnificent glen of Skelton beck, with its teeming foliage, must, even in its primitive state, have been a glorious prospect, but adorned as it now is by the cunning hand of Art, nothing more is required to realise a dream of Arcadia.

Notwithstanding the severity of the winter the trees and shrubs have, with few exceptions escaped the blast and the flower beds have seldom looked more charming, while the splendid Oak Avenue and the numerous other sequestered walks are clothed in luxurious foliage affording greatful shade from the rays of

The orchestra in the Valley Gardens as designed by William Peachy (who also designed the Zetland Hotel, Station and the original Post Office buildings). The structure was fitted with revolving shutters to protect the band from the vagaries of the weather. A verandah was also erected for the convenience of listeners to the band. In 1873 the band was under the tuition of Mr Groenings and was considered by some to be one of the finest in the north of England. the sun. The Italian Garden again exhibits great taste in the blending of colours. The central figure is a fine bed of yellow calceolaria, relieved with a bed of geraniums, mangles silver and lobelia, the whole forming a light focus very pleasing to the eye. Adjoining these are two large beds of pink geraniums edged with a belt of cerastium between which and two large outer beds are two ex-beds of the deservedly popular Mrs Pollock. The beautiful chain border is as heretofore laid out in conformity to the laws of contrast and harmony. The American Garden is again laid out with a choice selection of bedding plants, and improvements may be noted in other beds and borders. We are informed that Mr Everett, the gardener, is about to obtain a comprehensive collection of named herbaceous plants which will be of interest to students of botany and others. A very elegant orchestra has been constructed from the designs of Mr Peachey, of Darlington, and is fitted with revolving shutters by which rain and sun are excluded. A commodious verandah for the convenience of listeners to the band - which has been strengthened, and is now, under the able tuition of Mr Groenings, one of the best in the north of England - is erected on the slope. It is as yet only twenty-five feet in extent-a third of its ultimate lengthand it is approached by a twelve feet gravel walk, which describes a semi-circle round the orchestra. The pleasant and secluded nook in close proximity to the Oak Avenue has been converted from a geranium garden into a rosary, and now contains some excellent blooms. Leaving the gardens by the hot houses, a few minutes walk through the lovely woods, kindly thrown open by the Earl of Zetland, brings us to what is known as the Saltburn Extention Railway Viaduct at Marske Mill. This huge structure, which adds considerably to the imposing grandeur of the ravine, consists of eleven arches, and is 156 feet in height to the top of the parapet. It has already occupied fifteen months in construction, and will probably be completed in November, but for the present it will,only be used as a mineral line. Such is the record of a years development at Saltburn; to those who wish for detailed information of a guide book nature, we would recommend a perusal of the guide to Redcar and Saltburn by Mr G. F. Bates, of both towns, and which is beautifully embellished with strikingly faithful views, from artists sketches taken on the spot. published in the Evening Gazette 5th July 1873

Snippets:

On this day in July...

1st - 1916 The British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

2nd - 1644 Oliver Cromwell achieves his first major victory over Royalist forces at the Battle of Marston Moor.

3rd - 1936 Jahangir Khan kills a sparrow while bowling, Cambridge U v MCC 4th - 1776 Britain's thirteen North American colonies make a public declaration of independence.

5th - 1913 Alfred Lyttleton dies of an abscess after being struck in the stomache by a cricket ball. He was the first man to play both cricket and football for England.

6th - 1483 Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was crowned King Richard III in a lavish and well attended ceremony at Westminster.

7th - 1313 Under its chancellor, Henry Harclay, the University of Oxford passed a statute forbidding the carrying of weapons by its students.

8th - 1836 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches SaintHelena.

9th - 1877 The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club opens its first tennis tournament at Wimbledon.

10th - 1553 Lady Jane Grey becomes queen of England.

11th - 1776 Captain James Cook begins his third and final voyage.

12th - 1963 The Moors Murderers begin their killing spree abducting 16year old Pauline Reade who was on her way to a dance near her home in Gorton, England.

13th - 1955 Ruth Ellis is convicted of murdering boyfriend David Blakely. Ellis was later executed by hanging and became the last woman in Great Britain to be put to death.

14th - 1789 The French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille prison during a popular uprising in Paris.

15th - 1799 The Rosetta Stone - key to the translation of heiroglyphs - is discovered in Egypt by a French soldier.

16th - 1439 Kissing is banned in England (to stop germs from spreading).

17th - 1917 George V announces that the British royal family's name will change from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.

Just not cricket... The first recorded mention of a cricket match dates from around 1550, just after the death of Henry VIII. The game had long attracted gamblers. At the turn of the 18th century, most of England’s wealth was in the hands of a few landowners. With plenty of leisure time on their hands, to amuse themselves, they became patrons to teams formed to play for high stakes. In one of the first references to this, from 1697, the sides at a match in Sussex split 100 guineas. The first recorded attempt at settling on some basic rules was made for a match in 1727. Formal laws, however, were not drawn up until 1744, making cricket the first game to be codified.

These laid out, among other things, the dimensions of the pitch, the height of the wicket, the weight of the ball, the length of overs and the various ways of being out.

One can only guess at the expletives uttered by Lumpy Stevens, the most formidable bowler of the late 18th century, as he produced three perfect (underarm) deliveries, only for it to dawn on Lumpy that the middle stump had yet to be adopted. Instead the three balls sailed harmlessly through without dislodging the bail.

It was this spell that encouraged an early amendment to the laws: the introduction of a third stump. For much of the game's early history, cricket balls were delivered underarm.

At first it was rolled along the ground; only later did bowlers start to use bounce. In 1780 one Tom Walker started to bowl with a roundarm action, his arm horizontal to the ground. This was thought to be against the spirit of the game and he was called for “throwing”.

He was being chastised “not for straightening his arm but for raising it too high. In other words they thought he was a cheat, not a chucker.” By the middle of the 19th century, however, roundarm bowling was the norm.

Canny bowlers tried to gain more advantage by moving their arm ever closer to the vertical.

Although at first they were often no-balled, by 1864 the overarm style was legalised. So began the modern era of cricket.

18th - 1872 The Ballot Act introduces the secret ballot in elections, where before votes were made openly.

19th - 1553 Lady Jane Grey's nine day reign came to an end as Mary Tudor is proclaimed Queen.

20th - 1944 Hitler survives a bomb-blast assassination attempt led by Germany army officer Claus Von Stauffenberg.

21st - 1969 US astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon, stepping down from Apollo 11.

22nd - 1298 Edward I of England defeats Scottish rebels under William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk.

23rd - 1940 Britain's 'Local Defence Volunteers' become the 'Home Guard' after Winston Churchill coins the name.

24th - 1851 Window tax abolished in Britain 25th - 1978 Britain's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, is born at Oldham General Hospital in Lancashire.

26th - 1945 War leader Winston Churchill loses the general election to his Labour rival Clement Attlee.

27th - 1586 Sir Walter Raleigh brings 1st tobacco to England from Virginia.

28th - 1794 French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre is executed, ending his bloody 'reign of terror'.

29th - 1588 The Armada sent by Philip II of Spain to invade England is defeated at the Battle of Gravelines.

30th - 1935 Penguin paperbacks are launched to make books affordable to all, creating a revolution in publishing.

31st - 1917 Third Battle of Ypres (Passchaendale), a British-led attempt to break the German line in Flanders, begins.

In 1872 a Ballot Act was passed that introduced the right for voters to vote in secret during an election away from prying eyes. With open voting, voters who rented out property or relied on a local employer for work had to invariably vote as the property owner or employer wanted them to vote. If they did not, they risked losing their accommodation and employment.

The description of an election in ‘Pickwick Papers’ by Charles Dickens gives a graphic description of what an election was like prior to the 1872 act.

Daylight robbery?

The window tax was imposed by William III in 1696; every household had to pay a levy depending on the number of windows in the house, a crude measure of prosperity or income. It was hated, because it was considered to be a tax on light and air.

Because houses with more than a certain number of windows were liable to be taxed, house owners often, reluctantly, blocked up windows, (often temporarily when an inspection was due) and there was a tendency to include fewer windows when new houses were built - some houses were actually built with no bedroom windows. The tax was finally abolished in July1851.

The term "daylight robbery" is thought by some to have originated from the window tax as it was often described as being a "tax on light". However, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the phrase daylight robbery was first recorded in 1949, many years after the "window tax", which places doubt upon the claim. However, the phrase originates from at least 1916, when it was mentioned in Harold Brighouse’s play Hobson's Choice. It should be remembered that the OED records only the first provable written instance of the phrase that its etymologists can find, so the phrase might have been used in everyday speech beforehand, or even in published writing.

Many argue that the meaning of the idiom doesn’t necessarily refer to a crime as such, but to any unreasonable financial demand or outrageous injustice: if you went into a pub in a strange town and were charged a tenner for a pint of beer, you’d no doubt describe that as daylight robbery (or possibly highway robbery, a related term with the same sense).

Accordingly, it is argued that no reputable authority would suggest the phrase and the window tax were connected, because of the way it obviously developed, coming from a literal daylight robbery; to attempt one during the day rather than under cover of darkness was to be daring or audacious because of the much greater risk of being opposed or recognised.

If we are looking for evidence that is beyond reasonable doubt, the Window Tax story doesn't provide it. Unless and until evidence that relates the phrase to the tax is found we have to say that the origin is unknown.

Les Très Riches Heures