Spadework on Learning Campus begins.

Students from Huntcliff School, and pupils from Saltburn Primary School united to celebrated the start of the schools' summer holidays - and the beginning of construction on the new £14.7 million Saltburn Learning Campus. The first of two phases should be completed by September 2008, providing a new secondary school to replace the existing Huntcliff School buildings, then in a second phase, the new primary school is expected to be complete by September, 2009. The development, which is being carried out by contractor Balfour Beatty Construction Northern Ltd, has been designed to create a modern learning campus, expanding on the existing facilities of the Children`s Centre, Leisure Centre and a Multi-Use Games Area providing lifelong learning opportunities. The Council's Cabinet Member for Education Councillor Ian Jeffrey said: "The summer holidays will be a busy period for the contractors, then the challenge will be to build the new secondary school around the existing Huntcliff while allowing the school to continue its normal operations, without adversely affecting the pupils' education. "It was a busy last day of term at Huntcliff, whose students enjoyed a fund-raising non-uniform day. Headteacher Ruth Headdon said: "Friday was a ground-breaking day in more ways than one, celebrating the achievements of the school and looking forward to the development in the future. We are already working on joint projects with the primary school. We've had a Japanese drumming workshop and Year 9 recently experienced the awe and wonder of Iceland and are now preparing a virtual tour for the school’s website. "Saltburn Primary headteacher Janet Richardson said: "I think it's an exciting opportunity for our children as well as the community as a whole. We will be watching it grow and we are already looking forward to starting to share the facilities - even though we won't be in the building just yet."

Progress can be monitored here.

Countryside Team backing 'Big Wild Read'

REDCAR & Cleveland Borough Council's Countryside Team is backing the Borough's Big Wild Read in its branch libraries over the schools' summer holidays with a series of free fun sessions, aimed at young people, aged four-13. Staff from Saltburn Valley Woodland Centre will visit the town's library on Monday, July 30 and Monday, August 13, from 2pm-3pm, for animal craft fun sessions.
Staff from Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park, Normanby make three visits to Ormesby library on Tuesday, July 31, Tuesday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 28, from 2pm-3pm.
There will be Dinosaur Fun, organised by the Forestry Commission and the Countryside staff, at Guisborough library on Monday, August 6, from 10.30am-noon. There will be a £1 charge to cover the cost of materials.

Comedy Festival Success

SUCCESS smiled on Saltburn’s first ever comedy festival.
Organisers now hope it will become an annual feature in the town, after three of the four-nights were a complete sell-out.
Performers included Markus Birdman, Jason Cook, Barbara Nice, Jason Manford and Anvil Springstien, ok who stepped in as replacement for Jo Enright, who pulled out due to illness.
Festival promoter Rob O’Connor said the event had been “great fun” with hopes to hold it annually.
He added: “The line-up and mix of styles obviously caught the imagination of a lot of people.”
Many of the performers who took part had stopped off in Saltburn on their way to the world famous Edinburgh Festival.
Rob added: “All the comics really enjoyed their time up here.”

Lifeguards ready for action.

Nine students trade in their text books for lifeguard uniforms as Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council's Beach Lifeguard Service returns to Redcar and Saltburn beaches for seven days a week patrols throughout the schools' summer holidays, starting on Monday, July 23. The students began weekend duty in May and are now prepared for daily 10am-5pm patrols until September, led by retired Police Sergeant, Jim Beckett, in his 14th season, who will also organise vehicle patrols along the sands. The Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism Councillor Sheelagh Clarke said: “All our lifeguards have retaken and successfully passed their Beach Lifeguard qualification. We want people to have fun and feel safe on our beaches and the experienced team we’ve put together will help us to do that."The lifeguards have a broader job than just watching the beaches. Last summer, the team dealt with over 80 incidents from minor first aid to inflatables swept out to sea. At Saltburn, stationed on the lower promenade, Teesside University students Chris Taylor, 21, and Craig Grainger, 21, return for their fourth seasons joined by fellow Teesside University student Gemma Cann, 24, for her first year.

Saltburn represented in parliament.

Saltburn Agora Partnership Chairwoman Diana Parker represented Saltburn at an all Party Parliamentary Committee meeting at the House of Commons on Tuesday 6th July.
The two hour meeting was attended by 6 MP’s looking for feedback on how Saltburn’s participation in the Agora pilot scheme run by Manchester Metropolitan University had progressed, and what lessons could be learnt by other small towns, both nationally and internationally.
Saltburn’s parliamentary representation came at the end of an 18 month successful pilot study to improve the local economy in Saltburn.
“Saltburn has created a strong partnership with businesses, community groups and important local stakeholders such as Cleveland Police and the Parish Council.” Says Diana “this has made our town very effective when addressing decisions that affect our future”.
The meeting involved presentations to the MP’s about the effectiveness of the pilot studies in the individual towns. The meeting gave an opportunity for the representatives from the pilot towns to express the real life concerns of high streets that need economic support to survive to MP’s formulating future strategies that will have a significant impact on our high streets.
“I asked the MP’s why the large Supermarket Chains were allowed to build such large stores on the outskirts of towns, killing off the independent retailer in the high street. In Saltburn this has been highlighted by retailers as a significant threat to business.”
In the light of recent government research into the severe decline of British coastal towns it is particularly important to see that improvements in the fortunes of seaside towns are possible.
Although the pilot study has come to an end, the Agora partnership is planning for a long and strong future to build on their success to date.

Blooming Symphony

The Northumbria In Bloom regional adjudicators, who recently visited Saltburn for the summer judging of the floral competition, were greeted with a symphony of sound and colour as the choir from Saltburn Junior School were invited along to sing to them.
Green fingers are now firmly crossed, as residents will have to wait until September for the outcome of the visit. Saltburn in Bloom co-ordinator Jackie Taylor commented on the fact that it was a good day and the weather was kind.
She added: “The judges went all around the town, taking in the allotments, the new planting at Albion Terrace and the picnic area at Marine Parade.
“We have around 350 hanging baskets around the town, bought through fundraising and sponsorship.”
She added: “We want to thank everyone in the town for their efforts and also Redcar and Cleveland Council and Saltburn, Marske and New Marske parish council.”
National judges from Britain in Bloom are due to visit Saltburn in August.

Fossil identified

Experts have been busy carefully examining a fossil discovered at the base of Huntcliff and now, after closer inspection, have identified it as an ichthyosaur. Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins. Based on fossil evidence, they first appeared 230m years ago and died out about 90m years ago, with their heyday during the Jurassic Period. It’s now hoped to further explore the slate bed on which the fossil was found, with the likelihood that the ichthyosaur’s fossilised head lies beneath the surface. It’s also hoped to get a museum interested in removing and preserving it. The identification was made by members of UKRIGS - UK Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Sites. UKRIGS member Denis Goldring said: “You can get an idea of how big it is from the diameter of individual vertebrae. These look as if they are 3-4ins in thickness, which equates to something like 15ft-20ft in total length from nose to the end of its tail.”

Flock of Sheep

The well grassed lawns of Saltburn's Emmanuel Church have recently been grazed daily by two of the most unusual members of the church's 'flock'. Lambs Bertie and Shaun belong to Paul Tidy and partner Andrea Cooke, who live near the town centre church. The lambs were rescued by the couple and were kept in the house for the first few weeks while they were bottle fed. Living opposite the church, which has a large grassed area, the couple asked if the sheep could graze there. Saltburn vicar, the Reverend Guy Donegan-Cross, said he was happy for the lambs to stay. “They give the town a more villagey feel and it’s amazing how many people have noticed them. They are doing a good job keeping the grass down!” It also means that the church wardens have an environmentally friendly way of keeping the grass short. Animal health officers and the police are happy that the two month old sheep - both Dutch Texels - are well cared for.