The Unveiling of the Alpha Place Memorial

Unveiling the Alpha Place Memorial on Saturday, 11th August 2012
Meet at the Anchor Garden at the top of Saltburn Bank at 12 noon for a gentle perambulation with historic comments along Marine Parade. Join Saltburn historians, Cath & Tony Lynn MBE on a guided walk exploring the history of Saltburn's Top Promenade. Hear about the history of The Zetland Hotel, The Spa, Teddy's Nook and other less well known buildings. Come and join us as Cath & Tony seperate fact from fiction while informing & entertaining you with the rich delights of Saltburn's history. Ask questions en-route if you are interested in a particular building and please feel free to dress up (optional) if you wish from any era of Saltburn's history (prizes for best dressed will be given at the unveiling). We hope to see you there!

The unveiling of the Alpha Place Memorial on Sainsbury’s car park will take place at 1.00 pm. by Callum Duff, Cath Lynn and Tony Lynn - a formal unveiling of a permanent memorial to the birth of Saltburn on the site of the town's first houses, Alpha Place. The memorial will feature an information plaque detailing the history of the site and we hope it will become a focal point for those wishing to discover more about Saltburn's unique history. We will also be joined by Marske Brass Band who will debut their arrangement of 'The Saltburn-By-The-Sea Galop', written in 1876 and unheard publicly since 1880. We hope that you can join us as we try to re-connect with Saltburn's forgotten history.

The Saltburn Garden Party is a live music event taking place at 2:30pm and has been organised as part of the Alpha Place Memorial Celebrations. The datestone of Alpha Place was salvaged when the row of cottages was demolished in 1901. It was incorporated into the building of Marine Court in 1961, Saltburn's 100th year. The residents have kindly allowed us to use their communal front garden to host this unique event featuring local rock band 'ALPHA PLACE' who will perform next to the datestone, re-inforcing the importance of Alpha Place in the history of Saltburn. We hope you enjoy this event but please remember to treat the residents and their property with the respect it deserves. Admission free. CallumDuff

The image shows the original cover of the printed edition of the Saltburn Galop, kindly lent for the occasion by the Kennedy Family.




Herr Franz Groenings was the owner of music shops in Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Saltburn-by-the-Sea in the 1870s. He was also the principal of the Cleveland Academy of Music, Modern languages etc in Middlesbrough.

Herr Groenings principal links to Saltburn were through his conducting of bands playing in the Pleasure Grounds and on the Pier. In 1870 adverts carried in the local newspaper The Evening Gazette stated "Saltburn-by-the-Sea until further notice an excellent Band of Music (under the direction of Mr F Groenings of Middlesbrough) will perform in the pleasure grounds of the Saltburn Improvement Company on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.”

On 27th June 1870 Mr Groenings conducted the Saltburn Brass Band at the tapping of two new furnaces at Lloyds and Co’s Linthorpe Ironworks; it is recorded that the Band played the National Anthem after the loyal toast following a remarkable luncheon held in the Joiners shop at the works. The band continued playing throughout the afternoon until 6.00 pm.

In April 1877 he was appointed as organist at the Church of Emmanuel.

Franz Groenings business world collapsed in 1879. His business was liquidated and all his stock and assets were sold by auction. This was not the end of Franz Groenings on the music scene. In 1890 he was reported to be at West Brighton Pier as conductor, at Princes Theatre Glasgow in 1884, Blackpool Winter Gardens in 1892, and judging Hawes Band and Choral Contest at Hardraw Force in 1886.

Other newspaper reports refer to court appearances both as a defendant and plaintiff. One notable case referred to a shop lifter who stole a Letts diary from the shop of Mr Franz Groenings Music dealer, the thief was committed to jail for one month with hard labour in November 1877. As a defendant in 1890 he appeared in court contesting the French copyright laws, causing an outburst of readers’ letters to the editors of various newspapers.
Cath and Tony Lynn