Walk 1 : Staithes

Difficulty:

Moderate

Themes:

• Historical Routes
• Working Now & Then

Distance:

6 miles (9.6 km)

Description:

Mining Old and New:
This is a varied walk through farmland and woodland, returning along the coast path. The route gives an insight into the early and current mining industries of this corner of the North York Moors National Park.

Start/Finish:
Staithes (Grid Reference 782185)

OS Map:
Explorer OL 27

Bus Services:
Regular service between Whitby, Loftus and Middlesbrough
For details Tel Traveline - 0870 608 2 608

Car Parking:
Bank Top Car Park. Staithes (Pay & Display)
No parking in lower village

Toilets:
Bank Top Car Park & Harbourside Staithes

Refreshments:
Pub at Dalehouse
Several pubs, cafes and shops at Staithes

Walk Details:
From the car park walk back to the main road (A174) As you turn left, [A] notice the unusual house opposite which looks back towards Staithes. This was built in 1915 as a hospital for miners working in the Grinkle Ironstone Mines, it was little used as the mines closed down not many years later. By the last house on the right, turn right to follow the field path past Seaton Hall and down into the valley.

Hidden in the trees close by is the entrance [B] (now blocked and on private land) to the rail tunnel through which ironstone was carried from Grinkle Mine to Port Mulgrave.

Turn right along the track. This was part of the trackbed of the railway which originally crossed the road and Roxby Beck on a bridge at Dalehouse, the embankments of which can still be seen amongst the trees [C]

Follow the road towards Scaling (Ridge Lane) and soon after the ford turn right along a track signed 'Public Footpath'.

The tunnel on the left was part of the railway system. You are now approaching the site of the Grinkle Ironstone Mine. [D] This mine was operational between 1875 and 1930 and produced thousands of tons of ironstone most of which was transported along the railway you have been following. On reaching Port Mulgrave the stone was tipped into waiting ships for transport to Jarrow for processing.

During the later years of the mine's operation, ore was moved underground to the adjacent Loftus Mine and then, after the construction of the Whitby - Loftus railway, ore was hoisted up an aerial runway to be loaded at a siding close to the site of the present potash mine.

Leave the broad track you have been following and turn right to follow a path up into the woods and across the railway line. [E] Take care when crossing the track. This was part of the main line between Whitby and Loftus which opened in 1883 and closed in 1958. Beyond Loftus a railway linked to Redcar and Middlesbrough and this was retained after the closure of the Whitby line in order to service the Skinningrove Iron and Steel Works. An extension was later reinstated to service the potash mine at Boulby.

Turn right, drop down into the wood. Here [F] you will pass an old fan house used in the ventilation of the ironstone mines. Follow the path uphill to cross the A174. Looking back from here there is a good view of the potash mine. This is the only potash mine in the country and, at 1500 metres (nearly 5000 feet) is the deepest mine in Europe. Opened in 1973 workings now extends over a huge area underground and out to 7km (over 4 miles) under the North Sea.

Follow the path uphill and join the Cleveland Way National Trail above Boulby, [G] the highest sea cliff on the east coast of England. Below you is a huge disused alum quarry, one of many in the northern part of the North York Moors. Alum was a very important commodity in the textile and tanning industries and between the years 1600 and the 1870s millions of tons of shale was excavated to extract the alum salts - a long and complicated process involving burning and steeping the shale, boiling up the liquor, adding human urine (!) and then transporting the product by sea.

Turn left to follow the National Trail to return to Staithes. Mining and quarrying have been important local industries over hundreds of years, all, with the exception of the potash mine have closed and left a fascinating legacy for us to enjoy. What price a potash chimney in years to come?