High hopes for Saltburn cliff lift
April 2, 2002
The Victorian cliff lift at Saltburn, pictured left, has high hopes for the new season.
It re-opened to the public yesterday and hopes to beat last year's best passenger figures for more than 30 years.
The lift attracted more than 100,000 visitors for the period covering spring and summer seasons as well as weekends into October.
The lift's best-ever year was in 1954 when more than 250,000 people used it.
Redcar and Cleveland Council's assistant leisure director, Peter Lane, said: ‘Saltburn's pier and cliff lift are synonymous with the town and we are delighted both are looking splendid for the start of the holiday season.
‘The cliff lift did terrific business last year, maybe not as good as in its heyday back in the Fifties, but it is a great attraction. Long may it continue,’ he added.
The lift, which opened on June 28, 1884, is the oldest water-balanced lift in the British Isles and one of only three remaining nationwide.
The carriages can carry 12 passengers on their 90-second journeys up and down the 207-ft stretch of track, powered by two huge water tanks, the main one holding 30,000 gallons and the second containing 18,500 gallons.
February 4, 2002
A team of bomb disposal experts was called in after an unexploded device was found on Saltburn beach at the weekend.
The discovery, made by a group of children playing in the sand, is the latest in a long line of live wartime munitions found on beaches in the area in recent months.
Redcar Coastguard sealed off part of the beach near the Ship Inn between 2.45pm and 5pm before the Army Bomb Disposal Unit took the foot-long object away for safe disposal.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed in September last year that there were a number of wartime wrecks on the sea bed off Saltburn, which may have carried ammunition. Nine are known to be lying five miles off Saltburn pier.
Councillor Dave Walsh, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said yesterday that the ministry needed to step up its investigations. He said: 'It's quite clear that every time we get stormy weather or easterly winds, devices like these are coming up on the beach.'
Dave Horsley, fishermen's representative for the North-East coast, believes there are hundreds of wrecks along the coastline.
September 10, 2001
Four corroded bombs have been washed up on North-East beaches in the last three weeks. Now underwater explosives experts are investigating amid fears that a wrecked ammunitions ship may be breaking up off the coast.
An official survey three years ago plotted 97 wrecks off the coast between Easington and Newbiggin.
Royal Navy divers blew up a First World War shell two weeks ago after it was washed up on Saltburn beach.
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Dr Ashok Kumar is now pressing the Ministry of Defence for a progress report on investigations.
In the meantime people using the beaches are being urged to treat any suspicious metal objects with extreme caution.
August 22, 2001
Jinxed Saltburn Pier was evacuated yesterday after an unexploded First World War bomb was found on the beach.
The resort's famous funicular railway ground to a halt and a surfers' shop, amusement arcade and ice cream kiosk on the pier were cleared of people after a council official spotted the artillery shell on the sands.
The 1916 projectile was discovered just 50 yards away from the pier which has recently reopened after a £1.3m makeover.
Cleveland Police immediately cordoned off a 200 yard area of the sea front to await the arrival of a bomb disposal team from the nuclear submarine base at Faslane, near Glasgow. Divers blew up the shell in a controlled underwater explosion last night.
Earlier this year, and only 12 hours after the pier re-opened after being virtually rebuilt, an old fishing coble with an ill pensioner at the helm crashed into the pier trestles. Fortunately, there was no lasting damage to either pier or pensioner.
Saltburn is the last working Victorian pier on the North-East coast. It stood safe until 1924 when a German ship was blown off course and drove through the middle of it.
The pier was shortened During the Second World War and again in 1974 after a storm swept away the pier head and bandstand.
Without the recent renovation work funded with National Lottery money the pier would have collapsed into the sea.
August 30, 2001
Astonished onlookers watched in amazement yesterday as around a dozen dolphins frolicked in the sea at Saltburn, just yards from the pier.
The dolphins, likely to be the same ones seen at Seaburn earlier in the week, were first spotted off Redcar as they made their journey south.
Gary Rogers of Saltburn Surf Shop said he had never seen anything like it in his 18 years on the beachfront. The dolphins were putting on displays, leaping 10ft out of the water.
He said it was a magical day which he was never likely to forget.
Around 25 lucky surfers paddled out to get a closer view of the dolphins.
Redcar and Cleveland beach supervisor Jim Beckett said: 'The last time I saw anything like this was in Australia.'
July 11, 2001
A floral model replica of Saltburn's newly-refurbished pier will greet visitors to the town on Friday when former Culture Minister Chris Smith officially reopens the pier and judges for the town's entry into the Northumbria In Bloom competition arrive. The 17ft floral pier has been made to scale and was put together by students from Redcar and Cleveland College and trainees at Upsall Hall and Grangetown centres for people with learning disabilities.
June 29, 2001
Three boys were rescued by Redcar lifeboat last night after they were found hanging on to the legs of Saltburn Pier. The lifeboat was manoeuvred alongside the pier legs and two of the boys taken aboard. The third decided to swim to the shore but managed only about 20 metres before starting to struggle and was promptly pulled into the lifeboat.
June 5, 2001
Beach patrols are back along the East Cleveland coastline - to keep people out of the sea. Council staff are monitoring the sands between Saltburn and South Gare, Redcar, following the discovery of an unidentified substance off the coast at the weekend.
May 5, 2001
Saltburn Pier, the only Victorian pleasure pier in the North-East, was re-opened at the weekend after being virtually re-built. But just 12 hours later things took a rather bizarre turn with astonished bystanders calling the Coastguard to report a 'drunken sailor' attempting to batter it down.
That sailor was pensioner Harold Bradbury and this was meant to be his last adventure as he set sail around the coast of Britain to visit his daughter.
Undaunted by the fact that he had no sailing experience and was facing a week-long journey to the Isle of Arran, the would-be mariner had set sail from Bridlington, North Yorkshire, with high hopes.
But his adventure came to an abrupt end after eight hours and just 45 miles when his Yorkshire fishing coble, Our Freda, collided head-on with the pier
The 66-year-old was so exhausted because of the cramped conditions on board that he was barely conscious, and lowered the anchor to rest. But the 80-year-old vessel was dragged by the tide, leaving him powerless to stop the boat repeatedly colliding with the pier.
Barely able to stand, he struggled to control the boat, which he had been bought six weeks earlier for £7,000.
Astonished bystanders called the Coastguard and one onlooker said: 'He looked like Robinson Crusoe when he came in. There was this little bearded old fellow battling to try to stop it from going aground, but he had no chance.'
A team of 16 members of the Redcar Lifeboat crew worked until the early hours to prevent Our Freda refloating on the tide and causing serious damage.
Paramedics treated Mr Bradbury for shock and fatigue. He was taken to a nearby police station where he handed officers a piece of paper reading: 'I'm Harold Bradbury. Please contact this number . . . . .
Mr Bradbury's son-in-law collected him and took him back to Leeds, while Our Freda, which survived a bombing attack during the Second World War, was left safely against the sea wall at Saltburn beach.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council leader David Walsh said: 'It was an unusual way to enter East Cleveland. I'll be checking to see that Mr Bradbury's okay - he might want to come back for the pier's official opening.'
The £1.3m project to restore Saltburn Pier took a year to complete. The work was backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, European Regional Development Fund, the Friends of the Pier and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.
The project has involved removing each trestle, refurbishing them and building new piles for them.
New timber decking and a new timber sub-structure have been added, and the pier head has been replaced.
A formal reopening will be held later in the summer.
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Read more:
10-09-01
Fourth bomb found on beach
04-02-02
Yet another bomb on the beach
22-08-01
War bomb clears Saltburn pier
30-08-01
Crowds share dolphin magic
11-07-01
Floral welcome to pier
29-06-01
Youths rescued from pier
05-06-01
'Keep out' alert to swimmers
05-05-01
Fishing coble 'attacks' pier
read on
Your views
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Have your say!
Do you have any memories of days out at Saltburn? Click on the link below to write to me and share them!
Write to Sue
read on
Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Sue Kelly