Tea Rooms re-open

THE train leaving Saltburn's Valley Gardens at 9.40am on Tuesday, June 17 took passengers to the official opening of the Tea Rooms. The Council's Mayor, Councillor Mike Findley, led guests from the steam train, run by the Saltburn Miniature Railway Society, to the refurbished facility, which will also provide a unique training scheme. Under the watchful eye of catering supervisor Joyce Hitchen, the tea rooms will be staffed by people currently attending Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council's Learning Disability Day Service. This voluntary work will not only provide them with additional training but also enable them to be supported into paid employment in the catering field in future.The Council's Cabinet Member for Health and Social Well Being Councillor Helen McLuckie said: "This is a tremendous opportunity to enable people with a disability to consolidate the skills they have acquired working in Upsall Hall farm kitchen and to move into paid employment. We anticipate that the catering service in the tea rooms could be developed as a small social enterprise and is part of the Council's plans to develop more paid work opportunities for people with disabilities across the Borough."

The cafe has undergone a real facelift, with a joint £100,000 investment by the Council and the regional development agency, One NorthEast that provides modern catering facilities, a completely refurbished cafe area and a new extension with an accessible toilet. Now, for the first time, thanks to the building being fully insulated, the Tea Rooms can offer year-round opening. The plan is to open the cafe weekdays from 10am-3pm, offering teas, coffees, scones and cakes, plus ice cream, with an aim to be open Saturdays by July and seven days a week later in the year. Council Leader Councillor George Dunning, also the Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs, said: "We are delighted with the completed Tea Rooms and I'm sure it's going to make a visit to the Valley Gardens an even more enjoyable experience."

Food Festival

Food, drink, shopping and fun for all the family make Saltburn the place to be on Saturday 28th June. The Tees Valley Food Festivals’ main food and shopping site will be in front of Somerfield supermarket, Saltburn between 10.00 am and 4.00pm.

The stalls will be showcasing fine local food, artisan crafts and drink. Several stall holders will be cooking foods to eat hot off the stall, as well as stalls offering organic meats, plants and herbs galore, creative house ware, beautiful jewellery, and local brewers – Pinchinthorpe Hall and of course one of our most popular stalls, Skinningrove wines with their fabulous English country wines - to try before you buy!

For inspiration (and a little relaxation) Northumbrian Larder and Food First are providing a demonstration Kitchen Theatre in the market arena. Chefs will be demonstrating cooking techniques and giving you their top tips all day long. Kicking off at 10.00am we have butchery and BBQ cooking/ a quick course on filleting fish /Traditional English cooking with a twist/Thai and Laos fragrant salads and soups. Finishing the day will be food writer and local deli owner Sheila Beswick cooking with shellfish and simple suppers.

If you have children follow the balloons to the Marquees at the bottom of Diamond Street. Waiting here will be The Community Animators in the story tent and Melanie Postill in the Arts and Crafts Tent. There will be plenty of hands on activities to get involved with or you can just chill out in the story tent and let your imagination run wild.

In addition to the festival Saltburn itself proudly boasts its great array of independent shops selling everything from fishing rods to surfboards, Barbour jackets to diamond rings. Plenty of cafes, restaurants and pubs are on hand to fuel your soul and help make your day a relaxing one.

Food First is the new social enterprise which held its first Saltburn market this year. It is supported by about 20 East Cleveland and North Yorkshire based retailers, producers, gardeners and cooks. They aim to encourage and promote the benefits of locally grown food, and show that the North East can join in with the rest of the country when it comes to celebrating what’s grown locally.

Their first Easter Food Market withstood gales that cancelled other food events across the country and so now they say that nothing can stop them – although they are hoping for bright sunshine and blue skies!

The Food Festival will see a mix of game products including wild boar, venison and rabbit. Organic meat will be big on the market with Low Lease Farm pork producers and Emma Padmores’ organic beef and lamb. Ledston Game will be making dozens of game and wild boar sausages and burgers ready for early barbeques.

To help the celebrations along organic wines from Skinningrove and locally brewed beer from Pinchinthorpe will be available for sale alongside vegetables, free range chicken, hand-made chocolate, pickled pink preserves, locally baked museli, hot- water- pastry pies with fifteen different fillings, natural and home-made skincare products, and plants and seeds for gardeners all aim to tempt local shoppers. In addition Real Meals will be cooking up treats to eat – Paella, spicy meatballs, vegetarian curries and a handful of salads, Ledston estate will be BBQ’ing there game sausages and burgers and Low Lease Organic Farm will be roasting organic pork joints ready for lovely pork sandwiches.

The market has been co-ordinated by Lorna Jackson from Food First. Lorna said: “We’re looking forward to a really good turn out, the festival has been supported by Tees Valley Tourist Board, Redcar and Clevelands Legi team and Northern Rail. So with all the lovely food, music from local bands , games for families, and a kitchen theatre there will be loads on offer for everyone. We’ve had speciality markets in Saltburn before, at Christmas and during the folk festival, so everyone who’s been to those knows how much Saltburn comes alive and just how good the atmosphere is.”

So, whether you’re a gourmet cook or just simply enjoy the atmosphere of markets, Saltburn will have something special to offer.

Wildlife Garden takes root.

Ladies from Saltburn Women’s Institute lent a hand to improve the environment by planting several native orchard trees in Saltburn Allotments Association’s new wildlife garden.
The activity was part of the Action Earth campaign, organised by Community Service Volunteers - the UK’s largest volunteering and training organisation, pictured Maureen Potter, Ann Cowie and Judith Strong of Satburn WI Sue Featherstone from Saltburn Allotments Association.
Action Earth aims to get people taking part in practical environmental projects which help improve the quality of life for now, and for future generations.
And luckily for all concerned, the sun shone down on Saltburn as the trees went in at the allotments off Hazelgrove Road.
Participant Maureen Potter said: “The wildlife garden is a lovely idea and the Action Earth campaign enables local people to become involved in improving their environment.”

Cut off by the Tide

Lifeboats were launched in darkness last night to save a family who waited more than six hours before raising the alarm. The frightened family became increasingly cut off by the incoming tide at 4pm at the foot of Huntcliff, Saltburn, but they did not raise the alarm until darkness fell, making a frantic 999 mobile phone call to police.
Police officers, the force helicopter and both Redcar RNLI’s lifeboats were called at about 10.40pm to assist.
Guided by the helicopter’s searchlight, the lifeboat was run in towards the water’s edge and two crew members put ashore, who helped the family into life jackets. The family, who were of Polish origin and from Darlington, were then taken to Saltburn beach, where an ambulance was standing by.
Dave Cocks, Redcar RNLI’s deputy launching authority, said: “We’re a bit puzzled why they waited so long before calling for help. They were rescued from is a notorious cut-off point. We would urge people to make careful note of the time of high tide before attempting to walk round the bottom of Huntcliff. They were lucky they were able to get a mobile phone signal so close to the cliffs, otherwise their predicament could have been much worse. They were suffering from mild hypothermia. If they had waited until daylight, they may well have been severely affected by the cold.”
Mr Cocks explained that as a general rule of thumb, people will be cut off at Huntcliff at least two hours before high tide and two hours after, and sometimes even longer.

Methodist Church repair work begins.

Work to restore Saltburn Methodist Church’s distinctive eight-sided tower and spire is now underway. Built in 1905 at a cost of £6,600 an inspection of the landmark building in 2005 revealed serious brickwork and metal corrosion.
The 85 church members immediately set themselves the task of raising money to carry out work on the spire, as well as pointing and guttering repairs.
The lowest tender for the repair work came in recently at £167,000 and as all but a few thousand pounds is in place the work has finally begun. Most of the funding is coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Impetus Landfill Trust and the Methodist Church’s property fund.
During the work, which is due to take about five months, the public can continue to use the main door in Diamond Street for access to the church.
Thought was originally given to removing the spire, but the building is listed by English Heritage as being of specific historic and architectural interest. Instead the top third of the tower and spire will be removed and rebuilt, largely with refurbished stone.