Saltburn By The Sea
Another day out by the sea, from Houghton le Spring to Robin Hood's Bay, via the North-Yorkshire coastal route. No car journey from Tyne & Wear to the quiet olde
worlde fishing village of Robin Hood's Bay would be the same by taking the 'Route One' path, missing out the towns and views that lie in between. This stretch of coastline has a lot to offer the tourist, if he or she is prepared to go looking for it, so you'd be cheating yourself if you didn't make the effort. I say this because of the picturesque towns and villages that lie along the coast, just waiting to be picked off, one after another. Forty Four miles into the journey we find ourselves at our first stop-off, at Saltburn By The Sea, a town that has retained much of its charm as a Victorian seaside resort. Saltburn has the oldest water-balanced cliff tramway that is still in operation, linking the town with the pier 120 feet below. You can park the car at sea level where the old fishing village straddles Skelton Beck. The Ship Inn remains as a focal point, steeped in smuggling folklore, but there wasn't time to prop up the bar today, opting for Fish n' Chips at lunchtime instead. The takeaway next to the pier car park comes well recommended - trust me.
Another day out by the sea, from Houghton le Spring to Robin Hood's Bay, via the North-Yorkshire coastal route. No car journey from Tyne & Wear to the quiet olde
worlde fishing village of Robin Hood's Bay would be the same by taking the 'Route One' path, missing out the towns and views that lie in between. This stretch of coastline has a lot to offer the tourist, if he or she is prepared to go looking for it, so you'd be cheating yourself if you didn't make the effort. I say this because of the picturesque towns and villages that lie along the coast, just waiting to be picked off, one after another. Forty Four miles into the journey we find ourselves at our first stop-off, at Saltburn By The Sea, a town that has retained much of its charm as a Victorian seaside resort. Saltburn has the oldest water-balanced cliff tramway that is still in operation, linking the town with the pier 120 feet below. You can park the car at sea level where the old fishing village straddles Skelton Beck. The Ship Inn remains as a focal point, steeped in smuggling folklore, but there wasn't time to prop up the bar today, opting for Fish n' Chips at lunchtime instead. The takeaway next to the pier car park comes well recommended - trust me.
The fully operational Water Tram Lift 
and Pier are without doubt the most eye-catching attractions at Saltburn, which is why I decided to photograph them during our one hour pit stop. The weather was fine, although a tad on the windy/chilly side, and the fluffy clouds had me reaching into the 'Tool Box' for my Circular Polariser - a must for these conditions. My first shot shows Saltburn Pier, stretching out towards the North Sea, propping up many a visitor that decided to tread its boards. A stretch of pier railings was adorned with knitted figures to commemorate thesforthcoming Olympic Games in London, although mystery surrounds the origins of this artwork and who was responsible for attaching it to the pier. Rumour spread recently that it was attached to the railings during the early hours when no-one was around to witness it. Dozens of knitted characters, featuring athletes from various disciplines, such as Cycling, Running, Rowing, Fencing and Swimming, covered at least 40 feet of the pier railings - hours of work and effort, from an unknown creator! A small section of it is shown in my second photograph.
After lunch we headed, rather gingerly, up the steps towards the top of the Water Lift tracks. From here there was an excellent view across the bay of Saltburn, including the Beach, Pier and Water Lift, right ahead of us. A brief history of the Water lift...
The two 10 person cars are each fitted with a
1,000 imperial gallons (4,500 L) water tank, and run on parallel standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) funicular railway tracks. Double steel wire ropes are attached to both cars, controlled by a brakeman in the upper station. The car at the top has its water tank filled until its mass exceeds the mass of the car at the bottom. It then travels down the incline, counter-balanced by the mass of the other car, which travels to the top, with the brakeman controlling safety and the speed of travel. When the car reaches the bottom, its water is released thus reducing the mass of the lower car, and pumped back up to the top of the cliff. It is believed that the Cliff Lift opened on Saturday 28 June 1884, but there was a period of inconsistent operation at the start. The opening of the Cliff Lift allowed the pier company to undertake an extension to that structure. The original cars, capable of seating 10-12 passengers, had stained-glass windows. But when the Cliff Lift was refurbished in 1955, the car bodies were replaced without these. When the wholly new aluminium cars were introduced in 1979, modelled on the original design, stained-glass windows were reinstated. Owned since post-World War II by the local council, Marks' design was so good that, beyond maintenance and refurbishment, little has changed since 1884. In 1924 an electrically operated water pump was installed, and in 1998 the main winding wheel was replaced for the first time, together with the installation of a new hydraulic braking system.
The best view across the sands were up top next to the Water lift,
as it led the eye straight into the composition, taking me through the frame that was interesting from front to back. Positioning the moving Tram in the composition was pretty straightforward - I thought the shot would balance better with the car at a certain point on the track as I fired the shutter. It worked well, as did another effort with the stationery car at the top, preparing its descent to the promenade below. Many a lazy bugger used the tram lift, opting to dodge the steps, taking the preferred soft option. Mind you, if it wasn't for the lazy folk there would have been no tram movement and ultimately no photographs of it in operation - so maybe I should take back those criticisms and thank myself lucky. Maybe I've just had too much my own way, he he, Fish n' Chips weshed doon wi Coca-Cola - not to be sniffed at. Returning to the car we found we were blocked in by an Ambulance, for a good 30 minutes. Lights flashing, and judging the way the Ambulance was bouncing up and down it seemed someone inside was most definitely in a bad way. Eventually it drove off - lights off and no sirens - not a good sign.
and Pier are without doubt the most eye-catching attractions at Saltburn, which is why I decided to photograph them during our one hour pit stop. The weather was fine, although a tad on the windy/chilly side, and the fluffy clouds had me reaching into the 'Tool Box' for my Circular Polariser - a must for these conditions. My first shot shows Saltburn Pier, stretching out towards the North Sea, propping up many a visitor that decided to tread its boards. A stretch of pier railings was adorned with knitted figures to commemorate thesforthcoming Olympic Games in London, although mystery surrounds the origins of this artwork and who was responsible for attaching it to the pier. Rumour spread recently that it was attached to the railings during the early hours when no-one was around to witness it. Dozens of knitted characters, featuring athletes from various disciplines, such as Cycling, Running, Rowing, Fencing and Swimming, covered at least 40 feet of the pier railings - hours of work and effort, from an unknown creator! A small section of it is shown in my second photograph.After lunch we headed, rather gingerly, up the steps towards the top of the Water Lift tracks. From here there was an excellent view across the bay of Saltburn, including the Beach, Pier and Water Lift, right ahead of us. A brief history of the Water lift...
The two 10 person cars are each fitted with a
1,000 imperial gallons (4,500 L) water tank, and run on parallel standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) funicular railway tracks. Double steel wire ropes are attached to both cars, controlled by a brakeman in the upper station. The car at the top has its water tank filled until its mass exceeds the mass of the car at the bottom. It then travels down the incline, counter-balanced by the mass of the other car, which travels to the top, with the brakeman controlling safety and the speed of travel. When the car reaches the bottom, its water is released thus reducing the mass of the lower car, and pumped back up to the top of the cliff. It is believed that the Cliff Lift opened on Saturday 28 June 1884, but there was a period of inconsistent operation at the start. The opening of the Cliff Lift allowed the pier company to undertake an extension to that structure. The original cars, capable of seating 10-12 passengers, had stained-glass windows. But when the Cliff Lift was refurbished in 1955, the car bodies were replaced without these. When the wholly new aluminium cars were introduced in 1979, modelled on the original design, stained-glass windows were reinstated. Owned since post-World War II by the local council, Marks' design was so good that, beyond maintenance and refurbishment, little has changed since 1884. In 1924 an electrically operated water pump was installed, and in 1998 the main winding wheel was replaced for the first time, together with the installation of a new hydraulic braking system.The best view across the sands were up top next to the Water lift,
as it led the eye straight into the composition, taking me through the frame that was interesting from front to back. Positioning the moving Tram in the composition was pretty straightforward - I thought the shot would balance better with the car at a certain point on the track as I fired the shutter. It worked well, as did another effort with the stationery car at the top, preparing its descent to the promenade below. Many a lazy bugger used the tram lift, opting to dodge the steps, taking the preferred soft option. Mind you, if it wasn't for the lazy folk there would have been no tram movement and ultimately no photographs of it in operation - so maybe I should take back those criticisms and thank myself lucky. Maybe I've just had too much my own way, he he, Fish n' Chips weshed doon wi Coca-Cola - not to be sniffed at. Returning to the car we found we were blocked in by an Ambulance, for a good 30 minutes. Lights flashing, and judging the way the Ambulance was bouncing up and down it seemed someone inside was most definitely in a bad way. Eventually it drove off - lights off and no sirens - not a good sign.
We then headed down the coast to our next anchorage, Staithes - A 9 mile journey to another idyllic fishing village on the North-Yorkshire Coast. Coming next...
Cheers, Ash
