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'Redcar' is the principal town of the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, England. Historically initially in the North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1968 the town became part of the county borough of Teesside, which was absorbed by the non-metropolitan county of Cleveland in 1974. It is now within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, and is within the region of North East England. The main roads through the town are the A1085 and the A174.

Contents

History

Zetland Lifeboat

Redcar and Coatham Piers

Economy

Industry and Trade

Tourism, Leisure and Amenities

Education

Politics

Filming Location

Nightlife

Notable Buildings

Public Transport

Notable People

Sport

Football

Speedway

Miscellany

History

The name is thought to come from the fact that it was on marshy land close to the rocks (Reed-Scar). Redcar originated as a fishing town in the 1300s, trading with the larger adjacent market town of Coatham. Until the mid 19th Century it was a sub-parish of the local village of Marske-by-the-Sea (mentioned in the Domesday book).
In 1846 work was complete on the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway, created to attract local tourism and trade, but like much of the Middlesbrough region, Redcar's real population expansion began with the discovery in 1850 of iron ore in the Eston area of the Cleveland Hills. With the construction of Redcar Racecourse in 1875, Redcar prospered as a seaside town drawing tourists to its eight miles of sands that lead on to Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
Today Redcar is made up of numerous areas, including Coatham, Warrenby, Dormanstown, Lakes Estate, Redcar East, The Ings, Ings Farm, Mickledales and Westfield.

Zetland Lifeboat

Main articles: Zetland Lifeboat

Redcar is the home of the world's oldest surviving lifeboat, the ''Zetland'', housed in a sea front museum operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Redcar and Coatham Piers

Plans for Redcar Pier were drawn up in 1866, but work was not started until 1871 by which time building a pier at Coatham had been suggested. Misfortune struck both piers very early in their lives. Coatham Pier was wrecked before it could be completed when two sailing ships were driven through it in a storm. It had to be shortened because of the cost of repairs and was re-opened with two kiosks, an entrance with a roller-skating rink and a band stand. In October 1898 the barque ''Birger'' almost completely wrecked the pier and afterwards the pier was allowed to disintegrate. A glass house for concerts was added to the remains of the pier. This was replaced by the New Pavilion theatre in 1928 which became the Regent cinema in the early 1960s. An anchor from the Birger can be seen on the sea front pavement opposite the Zetland lifeboat museum.
Disaster struck Redcar Pier in the 1880s and 1890s when a series of ships broke through it. In October 1880 the brig ''Luna'' did £1000 worth of damage and in 1855 SS ''Cochrane'' demolished the landing stage. In 1897 the schooner ''Amarant'' went through the pier and in the following year the pier head burnt down. In 1907 a pavilion ballroom was built on the pier behind the entrance kiosks and in 1928 the pavilion was extended. The pavilion continued in use after the Second World War despite the deliberate breaching (sectioning) of the pier (to prevent it being used by enemy invasion forces) and structural weakening caused by a nearby mine explosion. Damage to the pier by subsequent storms finally led to its demolition in 1981.

Economy

Industry and Trade

The town's main employer was the nearby steelworks at Warrenby founded by Dorman Long in 1917 and the ICI Wilton chemical works of the post-war era. The steel produced at Dorman Long was used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Auckland Harbour Bridge and many others. Today steel is made further west at Tata Steel's Lackenby BOS plant from iron produced at their Redcar blast furnace, the largest in Europe located just north west of Redcar.
The main pedestrianised shopping area is based on and around High Street and runs parallel to the sea front Esplanade.
There is a small inshore fishing fleet in Redcar catching lobster, crab and fish, and offering fishing trips to tourists. As high tide at Redcar now comes up to the sea wall, fishing cobles are permitted to park up with their trailers on a broad section of sea front pavement.

Tourism, Leisure and Amenities

Being a seaside resort Redcar's main employer has been tourism. Since the building of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 Redcar became a regular destination for the Victorian tourist. Every year people from North Yorkshire, Leeds and Scotland would come to Redcar for their holidays.
From the 1920s to 1970s Redcar had its donkey rides, trampolining on the beach, and ice cream. The ice cream was sold by Pacitto's, Rea's (part of Chris Rea family, song writer) and Kings (no longer there but fondly remembered) who also made and sold Redcar Rock. Pacitto's are still in Redcar on the sea front selling ice cream with red sauce and their signature cone, the lemon top (dairy ice cream in a cone, with a blob of lemon sorbet on top of it).
The sand beach at Redcar stretches eight miles approximately south east and north west. In the north west the beach runs past Coatham to South Gare breakwater at the mouth of the river Tees. To the south east the sand beach is bordered by the Stray from Redcar's Zetland Park to Marske-by-the-Sea and then continues on to Saltburn. The Stray is a three kilometre long public open strip of coastal grassland situated between the beach and the A1085 characterized by a series of howles (small chines) leading from the grassland to the beach.
Redcar has had several parks built for tourism. These parks are Titty-Bottle Park, Coatham Enclosure, Locke Park, Zetland Park, Lily Park, and Amusement Park with its roller coaster. These parks employed hundreds of local people and are now operated by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. Today Titty Bottle Park no longer exists as such and in its place on the triangular plot of land is a red and blue, brick built toilet block and tourist information centre, (see right of 'Redcar sea front' photograph). On the opposite side of the sea front road from Titty Bottle Park was an illuminated bandstand but today the site is occupied by Leo's (see left of 'Redcar sea front' photograph). Amusement arcades have been at Redcar since the building of the Redcar Pier in 1873, and today the arcades are still very much part of Redcar sea front life.
When filming the adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel Atonement, Redcar experienced a sharp (approximate) 70% increase in the number of tourists who visited the town's promenade to see the film being shot. Redcar is also tipped to experience additional tourist numbers, thanks to Atonements release into the cinemas and the films expected popularity. This story has been highlighted in national and regional news.

Education

The town's sixth form college is Redcar & Cleveland College . The town's secondary schools are: Redcar Community College (formerly West Redcar School), Rye Hills School and Sacred Heart RC Secondary School. There's also a number of primary schools in Redcar

Politics

Politically, Redcar has tended to lean towards the Labour Party allowing the town to fall under the category of an ultra-safe seat, any change in Redcar's political views would generate a considerable amount of government interest for the area. From 1987 to 2001, the local MP was the late Mo Mowlam, and since 2001 the local MP has been Vera Baird.

Filming Location

In 2006, Redcar was used as a location for the film adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel Atonement. The Coatham Hotel, Regent Cinema, a section of Newcomen Terrace and part of the beach were dressed as 1940s Dunkirk. Filming took place across three days in August 2006, with local men, playing the soldiers.[1][2][3]

Nightlife

As a seaside town, Redcar has long boasted a number of bars and nightclubs, and quite recently (as of 2006) three new venues have appeared on the High Street; the upmarket Blue Lounge and Martha's Vineyard and the South African-themed Barracuda, along with more traditional bars such as the Clarendon and The Hop and Grape, these three new bars offer the townsfolk and visitors more choice than ever.
The seafront is home to some of Redcar's more established haunts, including Sharkey's (the blue and white building in the photo on the right), Silks, and Leo's (visible on the left of the photo, but currently closed) which is situated on the beach edge. Other favourites include Aruba (formerly Kudos/The Piper), The Deck (formerly Top Deck), and Angels a decidedly more "adult" venue.

Notable Buildings

There are some twenty three listed buildings in Redcar.

★ At the west end of High Street is a grade II listed clock tower[4], a memorial to King Edward VII who was a regular visitor to Redcar.

★ On the seafront stands the grand Victorian edifice of the former Coatham Hotel.[5][6] The ballroom of the hotel was the home to the Redcar Jazz Club a popular venue for the up-and-coming bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

★ On the sea front is the grade II listed Zetland Lifeboat Museum operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) housing the Zetland Lifeboat, the world's oldest surviving lifeboat.

★ In the east of Redcar is a sound mirror. This is a grade II listed building built during the First World War as part of a regional defence system to detect approaching aircraft (Zeppelins mainly) and give early warning.[7]

Public Transport

Redcar has three railway stations, on the Tees Valley Line and served by Northern Rail. From west to east they are: British Steel Redcar railway station, with a very limited service for British Steel workers; Redcar Central railway station serving the town centre and Redcar East railway station about a mile to the south east which serves the residential area (unofficially) named after the station. There has been speculation locally about the development of a new station serving the expanding residential area known as The Ings, which would supposedly be situated between Redcar East railway station and Longbeck railway station in Marske-by-the-Sea, but so far no firm plans have been agreed.
On weekdays, trains run approximately every half hour in each direction, towards Saltburn eastbound and Middlesbrough, Darlington and Bishop Auckland westbound. There are also a number of through trains to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Trains are less frequent on evenings and weekends.
Redcar is served primarily by Arriva North East buses, connecting Redcar with surrounding towns and villages such as Middlesbrough, Guisborough, Eston, Marske-by-the-Sea, New Marske and Saltburn.

Notable People

★ Alan Goodrum - Redcar's most successful poker player with tournament and cash game earnings over $300,000 US including the 2006 New Zealand Open.

★ David Wheater Middlesbrough FC central defender.

★ Rex Hunt Governor of the Falkland Islands during the 1982 invasion by Argentina.

★ Singer David Coverdale lived there as a youth and worked in the Gentry clothes shop on Station Road.[8]

★ The late Minister for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, represented Redcar in the House of Commons.

★ Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson, originally from Wales, has lived in Redcar with her husband and daughter for the last few years.

★ Chris Norman founder member and former lead singer of Smokie was born in Redcar.

★ Nathaniel Hawthorne the well-known American novelist, came to Redcar on 26 July 1859 in search of peace and quiet, while he worked on the manuscript of ''The Marble Faun''. Hawthorne's house stands at the junction of High Street and King Street. This was formerly known as the Hawthorne Cafe.

★ Gertrude Bell colonial administrator and colleague of Lawrence of Arabia spent her youthful years at Red Barns, now the Red Barnes (sic) hotel in adjoining Coatham.

★ Alfred Edward Graham (1882 - 1945), most active of Redcar's photographers, whose surviving negatives were fortunately acquired by Redcar Urban District Council's Library and Museum Committee and are now held by Langbaurgh Museum Service.

★ Lord Dundas (later Lord Zetland) and Lord Lowther played a major part in the development of Redcar.

★ Film and television actresses June Laverick and Wendy Hall, and actor/director/producer Robert Porter were all born in Redcar.[9]

Sport

Football

The nearest major football team is Middlesbrough FC, which is currently in the English Premiership.

Speedway

Redcar Bears speedway team race in the British Premier League. They were formed in 2006.

Miscellany

★ The Pangea North and CANTAT-3 submarine telecommunication cables both come ashore at Redcar.