Hope for Saltburn's Albert Memorial

A neglected Victorian gem - Saltburn’s Albert Memorial in the valley gardens - could be refurbished if an attempt to raise money for the project is successful.




Councillor Philip Thomson, of Saltburn, is seeking funds so the much-vandalised listed building can be saved from further neglect (it lies just under the bandstand).

“It was moved in 1864 from Barnard Castle railway station to Saltburn to form a memorial in memory of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, after he died in 1861,” he told Saltburn and District Retired Men’s Forum on 23rd April.

“Improvements would include the woodlands nearby, which contain a lot of wild flowers. There would also be an information board.”




Councillor Thomson was speaking of the legacy of Saltburn’s celebrations to mark the town’s 150th anniversary last year.

Ongoing activities and issues mentioned included a DVD of the celebrations, which David Jinks is now completing, town crier Sharon Wilson is willing to help local events with “oyez, oyez” announcements, and the printing of five greetings cards featuring the five mosaic panels on Sainsbury’s wall, near the car park, was underway.

He said £600 still needed to be raised to pay the £9,600 cost of artists making the murals, which hundreds of people contributed to by placing tiles on them to prepare historical images of Saltburn. Donations can be left in a jar on the library reception desk.

A vintage car ally organised by fish-and-chip restaurant owner Glenn Pearson on the lower promenade would be repeated under the title The Italian Job on Sunday 1st July.

The idea of a town archive was still in the melting pot.

He said the minesweeper HMS Saltburn, built during World War 1 and scrapped after WW2, had been the first ship to be fitted with Type 79X radar.

A forum member said the Marine Hotel on the Upper Prom, had drawings of the vessel by Frank Cook along with other paintings of other ships on display.

Another member recalled that Boys’ Brigade camps were held at Windy Hill, overlooking Hazelgrove, in 1910 and attracted 2,000 boys when the town’s population was only 800. Also large scout camps were held.

Councillor Thomson said it was sad that events like major outings no longer happened. “These memories will die with us. Maybe someone would make recordings of memories before it’s too late?”

He said Henry Pease, Saltburn’s founder, lived at 7 Britannia Terrace, now flats on Marine Parade.