Jubilations: Knits a Royal Knockout.

Saltburn's mysterious guerilla knitters have struck again!



Last night the railings along the top promenade adjacent to the Cliff Tramway became the yarn bombers latest target and have been festooned with a celebratory 'Jubilee' theme.



The woollen graffiti artists have left a trail of handcrafted red, white and blue bunting, the Queen’s crown on a red pillow, and two guardsmen in full uniform.

There is also a pot of tea and teacups bearing Queen Elizabeth’s insignia, a scene from her coronation in 1952 and the word Congratulations.

Her majesty can be viewed riding on horseback for the trooping of the colour and walking in headscarf and wellingtons with the royal corgis.



Look more closely and you will also find a tribute to Queen Victoria and her own Diamond Jubilee.



The Pier stitch up has also inspired other mysterious knitting groups to create celebratory Jubilee yarn bombing in Northalleton and Barnard Castle.





Saltburn's Knitted Diamond Jubilee Yarn Bombing video from the BBC. A 'tongue in cheek' report with some local 'cameo' roles:

BBC video. Saltburn Jubilee Knitting

Bouled over...

Aided by a grant from the Tees Valley Community Foundation Saltburn Bowls Club have brought a continental flavour to their activities.

In a project costing more than £2000 the Club have injected a touch of European culture by creating petanque pitches and are now looking for individuals to come along and play the game - commonly known as French boules.


Club treasurer, Bob Binns said, “We want to let people know it’s here. It’s an addictive game and it’s great fun. People need to be a member of the club to play but it’s not very expensive.”
Saltburn Bowls Club hope to eventually join a petanque league and host their own fixtures.

Anybody interested in having a go at the game can call Bob on 07986 199138.

Jubilee Celebrations

Three street parties will be among festivities being held in Saltburn to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee on Monday, 4th June.
They are in Irvine Ave, Marske Mill Lane and Eden Street, all of which will be blocked off to cars during the parties.

Marske Mill Lane will be closed to traffic along its length between Victoria Terrace and Victoria Road from 11.30-3pm while Eden Street will be closed between 1- 7pm.
One of the organisers said the council’s contractor wanted residents to pay £265 for signs, but subsequently agreed to them providing their own signs.

Saltburn 500 Club is holding an outdoor table-top sale, including face-painting and Punch and Judy in the town centre. A special band concert will be held in the bandstand (Community hall if wet) from 2.30pm.
Cream teas and the showing of a DVD about Saltburn will also be held in the community hall.

The Methodist Church has invited members of church groups to an indoor street party, including family fun, in their hall.

Saltburn Women’s Institute is holding a lunch for members and guests in the Emmanuel Hall on Friday, 1st June.

And on Tuesday, 5th June Saltburn Churches Together is holding a service of thanksgiving at 9.30am in Emmanuel Church. Afterwards refreshments will be served in the hall while people watch the Queen’s jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral on the big screen at 10.30am. All welcome.

The following weekend, Friday-Sunday 8th-10th June the WI holds a wedding dress and flower festival in Emmanuel Church 10am-4pm. It will feature 24 wedding dresses covering the years from 1947 when the Queen and Prince Philip got married.

Has Banksy been to Saltburn... ?

A crazy piece of wall art has appeared on the lower promenade with more than a nodding reference to the mysterious Olympic yarn bombing currently displayed on the pier.

While the graffiti may not be a Banksy it is an amazing piece of street art.


image (c) Eric Green

Who is Banksy?

Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.

His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.

A comprehensive collection displaying over 600 photos of his work can be found here.

09/06/2012 Update

We can now reveal that the piece is by street artist Karl Striker who currently has an exhibition at Arts Bank gallery in Saltburn. His work can be seen here

We are also pleased to see that the piece has been protected rather than removed.

Coastguards Wade in to Rescue Surfer

A teenage surfer was rescued from the water at Saltburn yesterday afternoon after the Skinningrove Coastguard Rescue Team donned water rescue equipment and recovered her to the shore.

The coastguard rescue team were in the area after responding to another incident on the cliffs nearby when they were made aware of a female who had got into difficulty and was unable to make it back to the beach. At the same time, several 999 calls were made to the operations room at Humber Coastguard to report the incident, including one from the concerned father of the 17-year-old girl. Humber Coastguard requested the launch of the Redcar RNLI lifeboat to assist. Meanwhile, Skinningrove Coastguard donned water rescue equipment and waded into the breakers with a spare lifejacket to recover the surfer. The teenage surfer was brought ashore exhausted and reunited with her family.

Drew Mahood, Watch Manager, Humber Coastguard said, "The father of the teenage surfer did absolutely the right thing by dialling 999 and raising the alarm when his daughter got into difficulty. The choppy seas and large swell meant it was only safe for the trained coastguard rescue team to enter the water with specialist equipment to recover the girl, and luckily they were able to bring her safely ashore within ten minutes of the original call."

Buzzy Bees!

Sunshine brings Shoppers out in force to Saltburn Farmers’ Market

Saturday sunshine brought shoppers out in force again at the weekend, as a ‘buzzy’ Saltburn Farmers’ Market celebrated National Honey Week. (Saturday 12 May).





Honey was the theme of the day, with shoppers also enjoying the Market’s popular mix of fresh locally produced fruit & veg, meat & game, cheese, wine, plants & herbs, cakes, fudge, pottery, wool and artworks.

Lorna Jackson of Farmers’ Market organisers Food First said: “It’s been another amazing day at Saltburn. We’ve been busy right through the day, with over 40 young people and their families enjoying our Bizzy Bees Treasure Hunt this morning.



“Again, a lot of our stallholders have sold out by lunchtime, and we’d like to thank everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable day.

“It’s always great to see so many regular and brand new customers who share our passion for good local food, and we can’t wait for our next Market here on Saturday 9 June.”

• Saltburn Farmers’ Market: Saturday 9 June. Over 25 stalls include a mix of fresh seasonal locally produced fruit & veg, meat & game, cheese, wine, plants & herbs, cakes, fudge, pottery, wool and artworks. Just outside Sainsbury’s, near Saltburn Railway Station, starts at 9am.

• Further Market’s take place on the second Saturday of the month; July 14, September 8, October 13, November 10 and December 8.

Images and text courtesy of Rob O'Connor

Background information on Saltburn Farmers’ Market:

• Organised by Food First, a social enterprise of over 20 locally based food producers and retailers, Saltburn Farmers’ Market aims to promote the social, economic and environmental benefits of locally produced food.

• The first Saltburn Farmers’ Market survived blizzard conditions in Easter 2008, and has now become one of the most popular Farmers’ Markets in the North East – twice being named as Redcar & Cleveland’s ‘Best Social Enterprise.’ (2009 & 2011).

For further information on Saltburn Farmers’ Market, or to arrange interviews with Market Organiser Lorna Jackson, please call or text Rob O’Connor on 0779 0585 396. email: rob@tenpasteight.co.uk

Briefings from Councillor Stuart Smith

£150K improvements put Saltburn on the Right Track

A £150,000 scheme designed to improve services for train passengers has signalled the start of a new era at Saltburn's railway station.
Waiting shelters, extra CCTV cameras, improved signage and a ticket machine are among the new facilities now in place.
And these will be followed by an enhanced public address system and a new electronic information display screen later in the year.
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council has completed the work after securing funding from Tees Valley Unlimited.
The improvement package is part of the first phase of the Tees Valley Metro project, for which £4.9m was allocated by the Government in 2010 to deliver improvements to the rail network across the area.

40mph Zone, Marske Road, Saltburn

The new 40mph speed restriction will be coming in to force within the next couple of weeks along Marske Road.
Work will be undertaken by Carillion and the commencement of the zone will be close to the stone bungalow past the riding stables ending at the current 30mph prior to Marton Gill.

Payphone/ATM kiosk, Station Square, Saltburn

Councillor Smith has been informed that the Payphone/ATM kiosk in Station Square, is to be replaced with a standard telephone kiosk week commencing 21st May.

Neighbourhood Watch Crime Update

The following incidents have occurred in Saltburn since 2nd May 2012

Irvin Avenue: sometime between 15:00 and 15:30 on May 2nd an unknown intruder forced entry into a property via a window and removed a quantity of cash.

Saltburn Junior School (old Marske Mill Lane base): between 13:00 and 14:08 on 5th May intruders forced entry into the disused building and using silver spray paint sprayed interior walls with graffiti. The offenders defecated in a toilet and left faeces on interior door handles.

Lower Promenade: on 7th May a Sat Nav system and binoculars were stolen from an unattended motor vehicle.

Marske Mill Lane: overnight 8/9th May an unknown person removed approximately 30 foot of fencing from land near to the viaduct.

Watch scheme alert: Please be aware of a possible NHS scam. A North Yorkshire Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator received a telephone call from a female with an Indian accent and number withheld claiming to be speaking on behalf of the NHS and requesting to clarify the recipients private details. The co-ordinator did not divulge any details and has since been in contact with the local surgery and the local PCT, neither of whom are aware of such an NHS request and are passing the report further up the chain. Please advise neighbours particularly the elderly and vulnerable not to pass personal details over the phone.