Working Class Hero, David C Wray: Cleveland Hills to the headland at Hartlepool

This post starts with a jaunt above and around Carlton in Cleveland, then a well earned stop off for some lunch in Stokesley, and finishes off with a wander around the headland at Hartlepool at the northern most end of the county....all on the same day Saturday 13th October 2012.

This is the view from the hills above Carlton in Cleveland, amazing panoramic view of industrial Teesside and beyond to Hartlepool. Wind turbines are becoming as common as industrial cooling towers across the Teesside landscape.

This is the view on the way down to Carlton, across to Rosemary Topping in the far distance.

In the Autumn sunshine Saint Botolphs Church Carlton in Cleveand.

The Church Lych Gate

The old fire hydrant on the cemetery wall

Lych gate notice board

Eleven o'clock soon be lunch time!

Lych gate foundation stone April 29th 1912

Church entrance hall

History of Saint Botolphs church.

This St. Botolph's Church, completed in 1897, is believed to be the most northerly of all his churches and was designed by the nationally famous architect, Temple Moore. It is built in Gothic style with local sandstone and cost £2,336.The large stained glass east window is by Henry Payne, of Birmingham as are two memorial windows added after the 1st World War.In the Churchyard is the stump of a stone cross commemorating a visit of St Botolph in 675.By the 1870’s the old church at Carlton was in a terrible state and was often flooded when the pond at the rear overflowed. A mid-century chronicler, Ord, described the church as a beautiful, quaint building and a delight to worship in. The Rev. George Sanger came to Carlton and came to a church in desperate need of repair, and was faced with the challenge of building a new church, a task he took to heart, and a new church was built.In 1882, the night before the dedication, the church burnt down and subsequently Sanger left. His successor Canon Kyle arrived to find a ruined church. He raised the necessary funding and built the present Church and in 1908, having raised a further £800, a peal of 8 bells was installed. He later became a Canon of York Minster, died in 1943 and is interred in the churchyard.

Interesting history..... here a a few more images taken before leaving Carlton to head off a couple of miles to the market town of Stokesley

And thats it, we are off to feed our faces.....

A quick visit to Stokesley, to pick up a tin of Brasso, a box of No 8 wood screws, and a well earned bag of cod and chips!

Tindall's DIY Stokesley

The Church House Stokesley

The 'chippy' in Stokesley town centre.

Stokesley was first granted a charter to hold fairs in 1223 by Henry III. The Pack Horse Bridge, crossing the River Leven from the riverside walk, dates from the 17th century. Renowned for its large range of building types, the latter construction within Stokesley of sundry fine Georgian architecture is thought to have contributed much to its later character. Other prominent historical features around the town include the Mill Wheel, thought to represent the site of a mill recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The famous survey, by William the Conqueror, also contained the first written record of "a church and priest" in Stokesley. Its equivalent today, The Church of St Peter and St Paul, is located just off the market Plain and has woodwork carved by the Mouseman of Kilburn.

After a 50 minute drive I'm back home in Hartlepool...... the headland to be exact.

The Heugh Lighthouse, Hartlepool Headland

There have been three lighthouses on the cliff top at Hartlepool. The first stood from 1846 – 1915 and was probably the first successful gas-lit lighthouse in the world. It was taken down during the First World War because it stood in the way of the guns at Heugh Battery. It was replaced by a temporary light on the nearby Town Moor, which was used until 1927 when the current lighthouse

The headland light house

Looking south from the Heugh

Returning to the subject of wind farms again, the 'jack-up' barge in the middle distance is working on the new wind farm currently being built off-shore in the Tees bay. In the far distance are the Cleveland Hills where we started off from this morning.

Who hung the monkey!

Hanging the Monkey

Hartlepool is famous for allegedly executing a monkey during the Napoleonic Wars. According to legend, fishermen from Hartlepool watched a French warship founder off the coast, and the only survivor was a monkey, which was dressed in French military uniform, presumably to amuse the officers on the ship. The fishermen assumed that this must be what Frenchmen looked like, and after a brief trial, summarily executed the monkey.

Although a popular story, it seems unlikely to be true. Historians have also pointed to the prior existence of a Scottish folk song called "And the Boddamers hung the Monkey-O". It describes how a monkey survived a shipwreck off the village of Boddam near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. Because the villagers could only claim salvage rights if there were no survivors from the wreck, they allegedly hanged the monkey. There is also an English folk song detailing the later event called, appropriately enough, "The Hartlepool Monkey". In the English version the monkey is hanged as a French spy.

Fish sands and the town wall, location of the 'hanging'

Some more views in and around the Headland

The Heugh break water with south Cleveland in the far distance

Closed this time, but well worth a visit, Verrill's Fish and Chip shop

Wave watching! look out or you will at best get a good soaking

Heugh Battery was one of three erected in 1860 to protect the fast growing port of Hartlepool. Heugh and Lighthouse Battery were placed close by the lighthouse and armed with four and two 68pr smoothbore guns respectively. The third battery, Fairy Cove mounted three of the same weapons and was slightly further to the north at the end of the town moor.

Light house and cannon
19th Century Cannon
Situated in Hartlepool’s Headland keeping a watchful eye looking out to sea is the Sebastopol Cannon near the Heugh Battery. This cannon was captured from the Russian Army at the battle of Sebastopol during the Crimean War (1854-56). In October 1857, the then Secretary of State, Lord Panmure, offered the cannon to Hartlepool Borough Council who gratefully accepted it. The cannon was transported from London on the steam ship ‘Margaret’ at a total cost of £2.19s.3d., and, after a year’s delay, arrived at Hartlepool in September, 1858.