Jo’s Monday walk : A Saltburn stroll

Huntcliff Nab from the cliff top

Huntcliff Nab from the cliff top

I’m back on the north east coast of England for my walk today.  Saltburn-by-the-Sea may be familiar to some of you.  Anyone remember my yarn bombing post, on the pier last Summer?  The place really has so much charm.

But it can receive the full brunt of nature sometimes, when the North Sea comes thundering in.  I was there last week and repairs to the promenade were ongoing from the latest onslaught, just a few weeks ago.  Happily the Victorian Pier has resisted the storms so far.  The wind whips at the waves, but if you drop down into the Valley Gardens it’s a different world.

So, park up on the cliff top and admire the view above.  I’ve ordered sunshine but there’s always the chance of an April shower.  A choice of several footpaths take you down through the gardens but they all end up in the same place- some more steeply than others, so I’ll let you choose.

Fancy a game of I-spy?
In the dene this chap will keep an eye on you
While you dabble in Skelton Beck
Then follow it through the valley towards the sea

At Easter there’s a bustle of excitement because ‘Prince Charles’ is released from his winter hibernation and whistles his way through the gardens.  The miniature railway has been delighting Summer visitors for as long as I can remember.

The promenade leads directly to the pier

The promenade runs beneath the cliffs and past the pier

And you can walk out to the end

You can walk out to the end of the pier, if you like

And look back, if you like

And look back

Or you can carry on walking, if it's too cool

Or if it’s too cool, carry on walking

The pier has the usual entertainments, and there’s always a bag of chips to be eaten, out of the paper, as you’re strolling.  It’s a good way to keep your hands warm.

The inevitable chips!
Before you reach the end of the promenade
And turn inland
Back to the cliff top
Where Henry Pease awaits
In sculpture form
A ‘man of energy and imagination’
With Quaker roots
And a fine cliff top view

And a fine cliff top view

Pease was a local industrialist who had considerable impact on the way the town looks.  When Saltburn was just a green and pleasant valley he had a vision of the jewel it could be and set about fund raising to make it happen. This wasn’t too difficult as his father was wealthy and influential in the development of the Stockton to Darlington Railway.

The streets were constructed on a grid pattern with many of them running towards the sea, and named after precious jewels.  The buildings were faced with a white brick, locally made, with the name Pease engraved on them.  In prime position sat the Zetland Hotel- one of the world’s first railway hotels.

Marine Dri ve follows the cliff tops with beautiful views

Marine Drive follows the cliff tops, with lovely views out to sea

Until you reach the iconic cliff lift

Until you reach the iconic cliff lift with its stained glass windows

The distinctive housing on the cliff top

And the distinctive housing on the cliff top

Town map

Map of the town and Valley Gardens

The former 'Zetland Hotel' was the world's first railway hotel

The illustrious former ‘Zetland Hotel’

Just after the Zetland you cross over the road and find yourself back at your start point.  The whole will only take you an hour or so, but there are places you might want to linger.  If you arrive by train it’s just a 5 minute stroll downhill to Valley Gardens.

Two charming Victorians loiter by the Valley Gardens

Two charming Victorians, loitering by the Valley Gardens

This would make a perfect expedition for the Easter weekend.  It might even be fine enough to take a picnic?  Happy walking, everybody!

If you have a walk you’d like to share with me, I’d be so pleased to see it.  It can be as detailed or as simple as you like.  I really don’t mind.  I just love seeing new places.  Put a link in my comments, or link a post to me, any day you like.  I’ll have another walk for you next Monday.

I’m starting my shares this week with beautiful Lewes, in Sussex.  Many thanks, Sherri :

A Lingering Look at Windows and A Walk In Lewes, Sussex

http://diaryofaninternetnobody.com/2014/04/13/picture-this-springtime-by-the-river/

Dale got so enthusiastic, he’s given me a choice of two, so here’s the other :

http://diaryofaninternetnobody.com/2013/09/08/picture-this-return-to-watersmeet-valley-of-the-rocks/

Jo’s Monday Walk: A Countryside Walk

A walk in the night

http://smallbluegreenwords.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/a-stroll-around-ludlow-castle/

100 comments

  1. Another pleasant walk! Viewing your beautiful photos, I feel like I was there walking along…. 🙂
    I’ll have my walking entry ready for you when I’m off work.

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    1. No hurry, Amy 🙂 I’m very appreciative but you don’t need to post a walk every week when you’re busy. Just come along when you can. We can be relaxed. Big hug! 🙂

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      1. I had an idea earlier for the theme, but after viewing the photos I took last weekend, I had to change my mind. I just need to make selections, which can be a long debate with myself 😀 Thank you for being so thoughtful, Jo! 🙂

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  2. You can’t beat a good cliff railway. We have one here in Devon, joining the two-part town of Lynton and Lynmouth, powered by water, amazingly engineered for it’s time.
    Great post.

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    1. Thanks a lot, Dale 🙂 I’d love to see Lynton and Lynmouth. I have an auntie who lives in Dawlish so who knows but one day… Many thanks for joining in. I’ve added your posts with Sherri’s.

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  3. Pingback: Picture this. Springtime by the river… | Diary of an Internet Nobody.

  5. You are certainly getting around a lot these Jo, you’re making me breathless! We spent a lovely summers day with my daughter and all the grand kids two summers ago. We were on a treasure hunt which started off at the park in your photos and finished at the Cliff Lift. A great day out, finished off with fish and chips 🙂

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    1. I was around Nesbit Dene with the walkers this morning, David. Haven’t downloaded the photos yet so don’t know if they’re good enough for a post. Shame to be in when it’s like this 🙂

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  6. Absolutely gorgeous! Big Man and I head back to England later this week and we’re determined to spend more time travelling around. We need ot head north! Now I’m off to check out the post on Lewes which we love – it’s only 40 minutes from Bexhill 🙂

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      1. Yes, I’ve seen it a few times. I know I shouldn’t really admit it – but it’s not really my thing. Interesting looking from the outside but I’m a lukewarm Catholic and it’s just a bit too much idolatry for me. I respect those who participate and enjoy it but have decided that I’m happoer watching it from a distance. Fascinating though 🙂

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  8. Lovely impressions all the way, Jo! It#s all new land to me.
    I really look forward to seeing more of the north this autumn. Have you walked any parts of the John Muir trail, east of Edinburgh?
    Have a good start in the new week!
    Love, Dina

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    1. Thanks a lot, Dina 🙂 No, I haven’t managed any of that ‘bit in the middle’. I’m more familiar with west coast Scotland, but not for a lot of years. Happy week to you and Klaus too!

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      1. Saadly, we have to postpone the western part of Scotland for a later trip. I’m so eager to see the Hebrides and all the other islands that this part alone could easily mount up to 4 weeks…;-)

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  9. What lovely new places you’re taking me to Jo .The marine walk looks very accessible and no doubt is going to be very popular if we have sunny Easter weekend
    Love the pier … wouldn’t mind a bit of R&R staying at the Zetland Hotel … oh I wonder what the *jewelled* roads are called …. Diamond Drive …Sapphire Slipway ..Ruby Road …

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  11. My cheeks are glowing now after this invigorating walk through beautiful Saltburn and the bag of chips kept my hands lovely and warm! What a great place to visit Jo, thanks so much for sharing it and also for linking back to my Lewes post! What a wonderful idea you have started here, Mondays wouldn’t be the same without your walks, I really look forward to them!
    The hotel is just the kind of traditional, British seaside hotel I’ve always wanted to stay at. The views are spectacular too, love your shot of the pier looking back at the beach with the way the sunlight catches the water.
    I have family ‘up north’ in Cheshire (my grandparents lived in Hale and I have many happy memories of my times spent with them as a young girl) and have been to York, Manchester and Leeds but really would love to get to know the north much better. Thanks to you, I’m doing just that and I’m loving it! 🙂

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    1. Thanks for your enthusiasm, Sherri 🙂 I have heard it’s going to be a good Summer and I’m so looking forward to some blue sky walks. I was out this morning and it was glorious.

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    2. Cheshire? ‘Up North’? Sherri, that’s practically the south west 👿
      Now York and Scarborough and where Jo lives are definitely north. Sorry, just having a mad moment. As a Tyke, it used to amuse me when friends from London thought anywhere further than Watford was ‘up north’ 😀
      Jude xx

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      2. HaHa! Well, you know what I mean Jude. To me, it is ‘up north’ – tongue in cheek when I wrote that. I’m used to the teasing in our family about it 😉
        We have been to Scarborough and Whitby (loved Whitby Abbey) and my mother is from York, we have been there too. Love it.
        Sorry for my ‘Southerness’… 😉 xx

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  14. Jo it’s an inviting post idea – will see! meanwhile learnt a lot on this walk and for a moment believed I was really there in the fresh air. Some great shots putting this place on the map

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    1. Thanks, Laura 🙂 It’s one of my favourite places around here. Especially when they do the yarn bombing! Feel free to join in any time. I’m guessing you could put a terrific post together.

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    1. I’ve noticed that too, Robin 🙂 Perhaps I should become a Quaker. Do I have to wear a funny bonnet? (there was one of those ‘look through the hole for the face’ photo opportunities down by the pier- knew I should have used it!)

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