A change in Amusements

Saltburn Pier Amusements has been sold to a Tyneside firm. J D Leisure of South Shields took over the business on Friday 16th March and it will be run as a family business by David, Matthew and Keith Taviner. The new business will be called 'Mr Tav's Family Entertainment Centre'. They hope to develop the Pier Amusements into an entertainment centre where families can be catered for in a safe and enjoyable environment. Plans include the introduction of a coffee shop serving quality bean-to-cup coffee, hot chocolates and muffins in a luxury surrounding including leather seating.
The change of ownership could mean the end of the annual American and Custom Car Rally, although it is hoped that this years rally will still take place. The organisers will know at the end of April whether or not funding from the Awards for All lottery grant will be made available to get the show on the road.

Anchors Away!

Saltburn in Bloom plans to place a ships anchor on land at the top of Saltburn Bank. Speaking at a meeting of the areas environmental committee, PC Stuart Smith, the groups new vice chairman, said, "We plan to improve the towns floral display." PC Smith said that Marske had recently been donated an anchor to display on the high street and Saltburn had asked PD Ports for one too. He asked for help from the committee towards the £3,000 cost. The committee is considering the request.

The two and a half ton anchor, in the middle of Marske High Street roundabout, was given by PD Ports at Teesport, after a request from Marske Residents Association. The Council's highways partner, Alfred McAlpine, secured the anchor in place at the weekend and it has now become a landmark for the seaside town. Exact details about the anchor's history have been difficult to trace, because it does not have a number or stamp, which could be tracked through Lloyd's Register. But the anchor, retrieved by the Ports' buoy tender vessel, Wilton, during its regular Teesbay patrol, could be at least 60 years old.

Holiday Fun at Kirkleatham Museum

Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar, is hosting a number of free, fun activities for children over the Easter holidays, including its annual Easter egg decorating competition for all ages, from toddlers to grandparents. There are four workshops to enjoy, all organised as free drop-in activities and all with two sessions on the day, from 10am-noon, 1pm-4pm.

The timetable is:

Tuesday, April 3: Egg decorating workshop - Bring a hard-boiled egg and use all the bits and pieces from the Museum's craft store cupboard to decorate it for the annual competition.

Thursday, April 5: Spring collage and Easter Bonnet workshop - We need your help to complete our huge Spring picture and make yourself a natty Easter bonnet to take home.

Tuesday, April 10: Train Trail Postcard workshop - The trail links all the sites around Teesside with connections to the birth of the railways. You can design and make your own postcards and post them off to the other venues for display in an exhibition.

Thursday, April 12: Egg decorating workshop - another chance to bring a hard-boiled egg and decorate it for our annual competition.

Friday, April 13: Decorated egg competition judging and prize-giving: Final times for entries is 2.30pm. Judging is at 3pm. Easter quizzes and puzzles to do while you wait to see if your egg is a winner.

Admission to the Museum is free. For more information, call 01642 479500.

Raise funds for the Roof

Hello everyone, I went to teach Yoga at Saltburn Community Hall, Albion Terrace, this morning (20th March 2007) to be told that thieves had stolen the lead off the roof, leading to a badly leaking roof, vandalism that will cost something in the region of £10,000 to repair.

Unfortunately although heavily insured, vandalism is not covered.

So with the help of anyone interested I am arranging a fundraising event on Sunday 15th April between 2pm-6pm, all monies raised will be given to the Roof Fund.

The event will run something like this.....

Yoga for Children
Yoga for Adults

Treatments of: Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Reiki

Coffee and Tea with lashings of scones and cakes (any budding bakers out there that would like to contribute?)

A sponsored event to follow on another date (108 rounds of Surya Namaskara..........not necessarily all in one go), I can email you a sponsor form.

This hopes to be a good healthy fun afternoon, if you would like to get involved, in any guise, please email me by clicking here.

You may like to help with....
-poster making
-poster distribution
-coffee bar support
-talking to the press/radio
-giving treatments
-making tickets
-selling tickets
-coming to this event and bringing your friends
-shouting and screaming at the top of your lungs about this event to the people in your street.

Your support is greatly needed, however small.
Thank you, love Lesley Wood, (Yoga Teacher)

134 reasons to visit Saltburn

Saltburn is getting ready for a bumper year of activities for all ages to enjoy. 2007 will celebrate two special community anniversaries, the 20th Anniversary of Saltburn in Bloom and the 60th anniversary of the Saltburn miniature railway alongside a further 132 local activities planned between April and December. The events range from the Saltburn Victorian Footballers’ Duck Derby and the Pageant of Light to a night with Barry Norman at the Community Theatre. You can download a copy of these events here. (n.b. this version requires Microsoft Publisher. We are working on a pdf version which should be available soon.)

There has always been a strong community spirit in Saltburn and a drive to realise the potential of this beautifully preserved Victorian Spa town. It is this enormous creative energy that helps keep Saltburn vibrant. A recent government report has highlighted the serious social and economic issues facing the seaside economies and as Saltburn Agora Partnership spokeswoman Stephanie French says “It is the commitment of the local community to Saltburn that helps keep this wonderful town alive”.

Saltburn is one of eight pilot communities selected by Manchester Metropolitan University and the Association of Town Centre Management as part of the Agora project, which is part funded by the European Social Fund’s Equal Programme. This project aims to reverse economic decline on the high street by ensuring town centers are run to serve the needs of their local communities.

For more information contact: Stephanie French
Agora partnership
26 Station Street
Saltburn TS12 1AE

Tel: 01287 625326
Fax: 01287 625527
email: stephanie.french@groundwork.org.uk

Summertime tea in the Valley Gardens

Plans are being prepared for the development of a new summertime teatime facility at Saltburn Valley Gardens. Redcar & Cleveland council aim to re-develop the existing tearooms on the Tea Lawn below the Woodland Centre for year-round use.It is hoped that the facility will also extend the employment and training opportunities for those adults with learning disabilities working successfully at the Upsall Hall Rural Centre, Nunthorpe where trainees help staff the Upsall Cottage cafe.

The work is due to start in May with the tea rooms open for business at the start of the schools' summer holiday as part of a £136,500 investment for the Gardens.

The Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism Councillor Dave Fitzpatrick said, "The improvements will provide a boost to tourism. We are not only making a considerable investment into upgrading the Gardens but we're offering a marvellous chance for these adults. We have been delighted at the success of the Upsall Cottage cafe and are absolutely convinced that the skills of these adults will be able to be transferred to another environment."

Other work in the Gardens will refurbish the Albert Memorial, a Grade II listed building, on the beckside below the bandstand. The 1867 structure, a memorial to Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, will be treated with anti-vandal paint and be restored to its original paintwork. Plans also include the installation of a new fountain on the beckside and new seating around the feature

Saltburn Foreshore Committee

This newly constituted committee was initially born out of the growing frustration over the lack of total management, leadership and foresight with regard to Saltburn's prime resource and traditional focal point - the seashore.
Saltburn has resort status; this means it is actively promoted as a tourist destination. An exploration of the gift shop in the Tourist Information Centre reveals how much effort goes into this endeavour. The latest, most reliable data to confirm that visitor numbers have increased are the ticket sales on the Cliff Lift and the fact that both car parks on the lower promenade will shortly be charged all year round. This committee will be asking robust questions of the local authority and will highlight problems as well as promoting events and working to actively improve the overall look, efficiency and business potential that should have been addressed, given the amount of regeneration money already spent.
The Foreshore Committee's overiding remit and the primary reason for its establishment is to act as a lobbying/pressure group in order to effectively target exisiting resources; constantly improve services; maintain infrastructure and successfully promote tourist facilities for both upper and lower promenades. To this end we will be regularly updating a website and in line with our constitutional aims will be regularly reporting our progress in achieving these goals.
the 2007 season is approaching and the seafront remains in an underdeveloped condition. In spite of resident businesses persevereing we find ourselves in basically the same position as 10 years ago. Our aim for 2007 is to bring together local people, public sector organisations and businesses in order to have a sea front that we can be proud of. There is no room for party political allegiances within these aims. It's about common sense and having a vision for improving and maintaining our wonderful sea front that will be long lasting and sustainable.

Read the full article here.

Art Feature

A 5ft sculpture, which has been inspired by seabed algae, is to be placed on Saltburn's upper promenade near the top of the Cliff Lift. It will be the final part of the £300,000 fossil gardens, which were opened last September.
Ian Moran, Community Project Officer for Redcar & Cleveland Council with the charity Groundwork South Tees, said the sculpture would be made of cast and fabricated steel and would stand on a circular plinth 1.2 meters in circumference. The sculpture has been made by Middlesbrough artist Andrew McKeowan and is called 'Organism'.
"It was inspired by microscopic organisms called diatoms, which live in the sea and are a type of single-celled algae. They are considered the most important of all plankton as they form the basis of almost all the food chains in the ocean. Diatoms remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce nearly 20% of the world's oxygen. Individually they are invisible to the naked eye, but in large concentrations they are seen as brown or golden brown patches in the ocean."
The sculpture will stand at the opposite end of the promenade to a 9ft high steel scupture of Henry Pease, the founder of Saltburn.
The gardens, which provide easy access to the Cliff Lift for wheelchairs. have been created by local community group 'Saltburn Forward' in partnership with Groundwork South Tees.

150th Celebrations

Did you know that one of the first railway hotels in the world was built in Saltburn - the Zetland - in 1863? Some journals of the time recorded it as the best railway hotel in the world.
Did you know that one of the earliest telephone conversations was made in 1877 using apparatus which connected wires laid across the Halfpenny Bridge?

A public meeting held on Friday 16th February in the Community Hall agreed to start planning for a sustained period of celebrations in 2011 to commemorate the arrival of the first steam train into Saltburn on the 17th August 1861.
Representatives from a variety of local organisations agreed to support an exhibition, related to the 'Victorian Week' celebrations of 1986, to be held in the Community Hall on Sunday 15th July. This would be a reminder of what happened in 1986 for those who took part and would give an idea of what was missed for those who were unable to do so.
Of the many ideas generated for the future, ranging from massed brass bands, choirs, fireworks at the end of the pier and temporarily closing off Station Square, it was felt that the emphasis should be put on Saltburn's railway heritage. Steam trains could be organised to bring visitors in to enjoy a well planned programme of events with the possibility of using the incoming trains to run on the Skinningrove line throughout the day.
A further open meeting was planned for the 5th June to continue discussions and welcome any additional individuals or groups who wish to be involved. Saltburn Community and Arts Association can be contacted on 01287 624997 to receive any thought or ideas.