Swashbuckle axed!

Summer fun is lined up and Redcar & Cleveland borough council are supporting several events in Saltburn this summer, but Saltburn Swashbuckle, the pirate themed day of fun and activities on the beach and promenade, is being axed. Councillor Dave Fitzpatrick, member for culture leisure and tourism, said that after five years 'The Swashbuckle' had enjoyed a good run but it was time for a change. He added that the council's programme for this summer would provide lots of event entertainment which would be popular with both residents and visitors. In Saltburn itself the council will be supporting the 21st Gala weekend organised by the Victorian Football Society in July and the annual American Classic Car Show on the lower promenade in September. The Bandstand summer afternoon concert events would also be given funding from the council's events team. One of the main events in Saltburn this summer will be the 9th folk festival in August, featuring musicians, singers, dancers and plenty of street entertainment.

Paraglider airlifted from cliff

A man had to be airlifted to hospital with spinal injuries after crashing his glider into Saltburn cliffs.The 52-year-old crashed half way up the cliffs and paramedics had to climb 40ft up a steep cliffside slope covered in thorn bushes to reach him. The Humber Coastguard was alerted on Monday afternoon and an RAF helicopter, police and the fire service all assisted in the rescue.The man, who was conscious, was taken to Middlesbrough's James Cook Hospital. Dave Owen, from Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service, led the operation. He said: "We climbed over a fence and made our way up the steep slope to where the patient was. He was in a stable condition, conscious and talking. "We put him onto a spinal board but because of his position on the cliff face we had to call an RAF helicopter in to airlift him off the cliff face to hospital."

500 club Garden Grant

Thornaby-based Impetus Waste Management is providing funds for Saltburn's 500 club to carry out a project designed to provide a picnic area on Marine Parade. The grant of almost £9,000, made available through landfill tax credits, will pay to fence off the grassed area at the bottom of Diamond Street. The fence will keep stray dogs off the grass and leave it clean and safe for families and children to enjoy.
Jackie Taylor MBE expressed gratitude for the help of everyone who had worked towards the achievement as well as to Impetus Waste Management and to Alfred McAlpine who are fitting the fence. She said that the project would benefit everyone who visited the garden area.

Talk of the Town Award

Saltburns' excellent and informative local magazine, Talk of the Town, has won the category of 'Best Community Magazine' in the Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency's annual award ceremony. The award was presented to the editor, Ian Tyas, who has been running the magazine for the past 4 years. The ceremony took place on Friday 9th June at Redcar Racecourse. The award was presented by the Mayor, Councillor Mary Ovens, who said that 'Talk of the Town' was the "..real voice of the people in Saltburn." Ian Tyas said he was delighted to win the award, after missing out on it in previous years.
The magazine is distributed freely to local residents and has a current circulation of 4,300. It has developed and grown a lot bigger since it's 16 page first issue. June's magazine, the 60th edition of 'Talk of the Town', has a record 52 pages.

Seaview

After five years of standing empty the seafront building near the pier has been leased. It is set to become a restaurant under the ownership of local resident Glen Pearson who has signed a 15 year lease on the building, which has been a centre of controversy since it was built by the Saltburn Improvement Company (SIC). There is no definite date for the opening of the restaurant but the first phase of the project will be the opening of an ice-cream servery. Plans are in place for the ground floor area to seat 36 people with room for 30 more outside. The outside area will feature an awning, heating elements and planters while the upstairs will be a balcony area seating 50 people and a lounge for 28 people. The key feature here will include the magnificent views, especially with the pier's lighting scheme. The aim is for a modern style restaurant where chefs will cook 'unpretentious' meals using local produce like Whitby fish and classical British food. Mr Pearson has been negotiating with the SIC and Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council for four years and is now looking forward to opening 'The Seaview'.

Saltburn Mosaic

Pupils of Huntcliff School have created a tiled mosaic the theme of which relates to the vision of the town's founder when he first visited the area which he would develop into 'Saltburn' in 1860. The mosaic, featuring Henry Pease walking his dog, is now on view in the school's library. It is one of several projects carried out by pupils through the school's new specialist status in humanities (English, Geography and History). The Year 8 students were familiar with the history of the town after talks given by local historian Tony Lynn. Students from the school are now working with artist Andy McKeown on a fossil area for the new garden project at the top of Saltburn's Cliff Lift.

Clean Sweep

Saltburn's seafront has once again been given a facelift with local volunteers sweeping the beach clean. Looking after Saltburn's beach is a constant battle against whatever the tide throws up, as well as "normal" litter problems from beach users. The community has long been concerned about rubbish in certain areas of the town and local individuals and organisations frequently organise a 'Litter Picking' event to do something about it.

Despite blustery weather 18 volunteers picked 18 bags of rubbish off the beach on Saturday 13th May - and 11% of it was sewage related. "This is the usual percentage collected during our two-hour quarterly sweeps and most of it was sanitary items," said new co-ordinator Chris Terry. "Before Northumbrian Water built the sewage treatment works at Marske 11 years ago, conditions were dreadful. Now it is a lot better, but not perfect. This is one of the main reasons why we do the Beachwatch litter-pick - monitoring Northumbrian Water."
Previous weekends saw the Valley Garden's Spring Clean as well as a small group of volunteer Diamond Street residents doing a litter sweep of the cliff face. The litter on the cliff banks was mostly plastic debris - almost all of it the result of problems related to the methods of collection in line with the council's recycling policy.