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Published: July 13th 2006
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Part X
5th June - Monday
"Thank You" Martin and Karen for your wonderful hospitality and great company, also "Thank You" Denise and Stewart for a fabulous meal last night
We followed Martin into Darlington and he parked his car in Blackwell and drove ours into Darlington so he could give us a bit of a tour of the town centre. It was Market Day so we would have been hopeless trying to get around the one-way system. We stopped at Taylor’s the pork butchers so we could get some of their famous pork pies - yummy! We said a tearful goodbye to Martin and took the A66 to Stockton and Middlesbrough the start of our coastal drive to Whitby. Stockton was happily bypassed and we saw part of Middlesbrough including the industrial area of Teesmouth. Howard wanted to look at the huge steel making factories and chemical works so we had a bit of a drive around the industrial area.
Middlesbrough, on the south bank of the Tees estuary, was a small fishing village of 40 people before a group of Quakers, associated with the Stockton and Darlington Railway, decided to turn it into a town
in 1829. The original purpose of the railway was to convey coal from Auckland to the River Tees at Stockton. However, the depth of water proved insufficient for large vessels so it was decided to find a site for a better port down the river. The 1831 census showed the population had reached 383 but ten years later this had risen to 5,709 and in the 1881 census was 56,000.
John Vaughan and a German entrepreneur, F. W. Bolckow, opened an ironworks in Middlesbrough in 1840 (later to known as Dorman Long). The discovery of workable ironstone in the nearby Eston Hills in 1851 helped their business expand. In 1879 the company became the first to make use of the new Bessemer steel-making method. Linda’s White, Bishop and Mudd families came to Middlesbrough to work at the ironworks.
In 1856 the South Durham & Lancashire Railway opened. High-grade ironstone from Furness in Cumbria was now brought across the Pennines to Middlesbrough. This was a profitable railway line and in 1877 a new impressive gothic station was built in the town.
This is not a very pretty part of the world and the seaside town of Redcar reflects
this - not the nicest holiday resort these days. Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Marske-by-the Sea are marginally better but then we reached the Yorkshire Moors and the Cleveland Hills and things vastly improved. Staithes is a lovely old fishing village reached by a steep narrow road. We had to ignore the park at the top and walk signs and drove down to the seafront. Sandra Denise and Martin spent many happy holidays here with their parents.
Our next stop was Whitby and it was choked with traffic and happy holidaymakers from the tour buses - not the best time to see this lovely old fishing village. We couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere so contented ourselves with driving around
Whitby lies on the mouth of the river Esk, which flows through a narrow gully to reach the sea. On the cliffs above are the ruins of the abbey founded by St. Hilda in 658 AD.
Whitby has long had a reputation among mariners as a safe harbour and the only real refuge between the Humber and the Tyne. By the 18th century the port was substantial. There was a ropery, several large shipbuilding yards and many smaller ones, and
even a dry-dock in operation.
Prosperity was founded above all on shipping coal and alum. Whitby men owned some 200 ships trading all over the world. The town with its many taverns, places of worship, and fine new houses, was a busy and lively centre. From the late 18th century it became an important whaling port, in addition to berthing a large herring and inshore fishing fleet.
Whitby is also famous for its black jet and was once the main whaling port of the North of England
The ruins of St Hilda’s abbey high on Whitby’s East Cliff dominate Whitby’s skyline. Spreading below Whitby, a maze of alleyways and narrow streets run down to the busy quayside. From the old town of Whitby, 199 steps lead up to the parish church of St. Mary, whose churchyard on Whitby's East Cliff gave Bram Stoker the inspiration to write his world famous book, Dracula. Howard wanted to see where Captain James Cook was an apprentice seaman and where he set of in the bark Endeavour to Australia. The replica ship was out at sea, but we could see it from the cliffs.From Whitby we took the road to
Egton Bridge in Glaisdale and then up the Rosedale Chimney one of the two steepest roads in England at 33% - the other is Hardnott Pass which we did the other day. From here it was across Spaunton Moor - which forms part of the largest continuous moorland in Britain (Britain has 75% of the world’s moorland) to the small town of Kirkbymoorside and from there to Sutton Bank. Sutton Bank is a high vantage point at the very edge of the Hambleton Hills and the North Yorks Moors with extensive views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mobray. Because of its location and high elevation, Sutton Bank is popular with gliding and flying enthusiasts.Once down into the Vale of York we headed for the A1M and M1 (Howard was thrilled!) and off to Wentworth to meet the White family…………………..Total travelled 184 miles (294.4)We were in County Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
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