Redcar, and Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

Thursday 7th – Sunday 10th August 2025

We have brought Fufu along to a rally of the Autosleepers Owners Club, held on the Redcar Rugby Club fields. Thank you to the Steward, Liz and her helpers Alec and Sharon, for the warm welcome, fine weather (though very windy!), and excellent organisation.

Redcar:

After we had set up on site, we went for a walk along the promenade towards Redcar centre. It was windy enough to blow your socks off, but it was a warm wind, so I ended up tying my fleece around my middle. This is a beautiful area and the beach is excellent.

We returned to explore Redcar further over the time we were there.

Much of the shopping area is being pedestrianised, including the area around the town clock.

Also on the front is a small, free, maritime museum, which houses what is claimed to be, the oldest lifeboat in the world, The Zetland Lifeboat, which was stationed here in 1802.

We found it really interesting with additional exhibits on the first floor including a reconstruction of the original boatswains lodgings.

Further away from the front is a World War 1 sound mirror, built to detect the sound of approaching Zeppelin and other aircraft, which did attack along this coast. The approaching enemy could be detected around 25 miles off the coast.

On the Saturday, we cycled along through Redcar, to South Gare Breakwater and the lighthouse, passing through large areas of old industrial sites, all being cleared and levelled, presumably for redevelopment.

As you get towards the end of this private road, there is a small harbour called Paddy’s Hole and opposite, in a dip behind the sea defences, there are a large number of fisherman’s huts.

Saltburn-by-the-Sea:

On the Friday, we cycled south, along the coast, to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, via Marske. A route which took us via narrow alleyways past allotments and holiday homes. You could even find a “tomb with a view”:

Perched atop a cliff, Saltburn is a small and quite charming resort town which has a beautiful beach (effectively the same beach as at Redcar), and a pier. There is also a funicular railway which leads directly to the pier from the town above.

The funicular railway was constructed in 1883/4, replacing an older vertical lift. It operates via a counterbalance system with water held in a tank underneath each passenger car. It is the earliest example of a funicular in Great Britain. The fare is currently £2 per single journey, either way.

The pier was opened in 1869 and was originally longer, at 1,500ft, (460 metres), but in 1875 a huge gale washed away the pier head. Further damage occurred later and the pier would have been demolished in the 1970s but for a campaign and public enquiry. The present pier head was constructed as part of a restoration in 1990, but it is now a much shorter structure at 681ft (208 metres), less than half of its original length. It is now the only pier in Yorkshire.

That is all for now. See-u-later and TTFN.