Christmas in England 2006

DAY 6: Wednesday 27 Dec

Kilburn Horse and Rievaulx Abbey

Wednesday, and we headed north towards Middlesbrough to look for some Goodliffe family locations. First we stopped at the forested area of Sutton Bank on the A170, then took the minor road south to find the Kilburn White Horse, cut into the limestone hillside. This is a modern horse, cut in 1925 by a local school teacher and his class. It has since been kept in order by locals.

From Kilburn we detoured to Rievaulx Abbey, the ruins of a massive Cistercian monastery. We were too early for the visitor centre (it opens at 10am) but from a distance we gained a good impression of the size of the building, now maintained by English Heritage.

The Kilburn White Horse.	The horse from the tail end.	The Story of the horse.
Looking south towards York.	Rievaulx Abbey	Rievaulx Abbey.

Middlesbrough

Now for some family history. Arnold's oldest daughter Mary Ann Goodliffe, married William Eaton in 1860. In the 1891 census the family was living at "Broomland", Roman Rd, Middlesbrough. We found Roman Road easily enough, but none of the buildings are labelled as Broomland. There is a reference to the Kirby Campus of Middlesbrough being on the "Broomland" Site.

Houses in Roman Road, Middlesbrough, close to "Broomland"
	The Roman Rd road sign and the Kirby Campus.	The Kirby campus - derelict, but probably the Broomland site.

Captain James Cook Birthplace

Not far from the Roman Road in Middlesbrough is Stewart Park run by Middlesbrough City Council. In the park is the site of Captain Cook's birthplace. The original cottage was lost but there is a granite urn marking the spot, and close by a very well designed museum about Capt Cook. The museum is hard to find, and not well signposted, but if you drive into Stewart park you will find it.

The James Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough

Redcar and the beach resort

In the 1901 census, Mary Ann and William Eaton were living at 71 Queen St, Coatham, Redcar. This is on the coast, and as Arnold describes it in his memoirs (visiting Redcar and Saltburn-by-the-Sea which is a few miles to the south of Redcar) we decided to visit the area to see what an east coast beach resort was like. The middle of Winter is not the time to visit if you wish to see a beach at its best, but I doubt that Redcar ever really has a best time. It is overshadowed to the north by the industrial area of Middlesbrough, but the town does make some attempts to attract the tourists, with the usual sideshows and attractions. They are very low-key in comparison to Blackpool, which is probably Redcar's charm.

The beach at Redcar, looking north	Redcar, looking south	Redcar, apartments near the beach
The Redcar apartments late in the day	Queen St, Coatham, Redcar.	71 Queen St, where Mary Ann and William Eaton lived in 1901.

Upleatham and the smallest church in England

From Redcar we drove the few miles south to Saltburn, then turned inland towards our Travel Inn hotel for the night. On the way, we detoured to the small village of Upleatham and what the map described as the "smallest church in England". The church is beside the B1268 just below the village, and indeed is very small, with the main room being only 5.5m by 4.5m on a side.

The smallest church in England, at Upleatham

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Last updated: 30/06/2017