Eston

It was around 1850 that Eston's development as a mining town started. You can still see miner's cottages in parts of the town although these have been altered.

Eston's mining history was the subject of A Century in Stone which was a film by Craig Hornby. It describes how mines were responsible for making Teeside the Iron and Steel capital of the world, having produced the steel that built the Sydney Harbour Bridge .

Eston Square has a war memorial as its centrepiece The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This shows the statue of a soldier on top of a plinth. The plinth lists the names of local people who died during the world wars.

Guisborough

Guisborough is a market town within the borough of Redcar and Cleveland . The town is listed in the Domesday Book as Guisborough Priory and dates back to the 12th century.

Saint Nicholas's church was built from stone taken from the priory. Guisborough Hall, the ancestral home of Lord Guisborough is now a hotel and conference venue. The museum contains a collection of photographs of Guisborough's past.

There was extensive residential development during the 1960s and 1970s which was brought about by the expansion of the chemical industry at Wilton and the steel industry at Redcar .

Guisborough's market is held every, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Originally selling livestock, the market has now developed into selling fruit, vegetables and clothing.

Hartlepool

Hartlepool is situated on the North East Coast of Britain and is approximately 24 miles south of Newcastle . Because of its close proximity to the North Sea, Hartlepool was made a target of war twice in its recorded history.

The town was redeveloped during the end of the 20 th Century and today over half of the buildings in Hartlepool were built during this period.

The shipyard was closed in 1962, being replaced by a beautiful fish quay and marina. It remains an important port and provides a popular place for visitors.

The Quay is home to the Wingford Castle Paddle Steamer as well as HMS Trincomalee, the oldest British warship still afloat.

Marske-by-the-Sea

Marske- by- the- Sea was the home of the Pennyman Family who raised an army of volunteers to defeat Cromwell on their beaches. It is described in the Domesday Book as Terrae Vastae which means waste lands.

Charles Dickens visited Marske-by-the-Sea to see the unusual turrets at Marske Hall.

The oldest remaining building in Marske-by-the-Sea is Winkie's Castle which was founded by local cobbler Jack Anderson in 1975. It was bequeathed to Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council upon his death in 2001.

The Tythe Barn was used as one of the very first DIY shops in the depression. It contained sowing machines at one end and cobblers tools at the other.

The Ship Inn was built in Tudor style in 1932 using oak beams taken from the Battleships Collingwood and Southampton

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough didn't start to grow until 1829 being originally a farm of around 25 people. A group of Quaker businessmen bought the farm and developed the Port of Darlington . A Town was then planned on this site in order to supply labour to the new port.

Transportation of coal was the chief industry until iron was discovered in 1850, thereby gradually replacing the transportation of coal. By the end of the century the town was producing 33% of the nation's total output of iron.

Middlesbrough changed its hand into light industry when the heavy industry started to decline in 20th Century.

In 1911 the Transporter Bridge was built. This was used to transport cars and passengers across the River Tees to Hartlepool in a cable car. In 1934 the Newport Bridge was built. This was the first vertical lift bridge in England.

Nowadays Middlesbrough is well known for its Football Club, being one of the most popular football clubs in the northeast of England.

The Captain Cook Birthplace Museum is also located here, where you can discover his story of exploration.

The Cleveland Show is also an annual event which is held in Middlesbrough.

Nunthorpe

Nunthorpe is a civil parish of the Town of Middlesbrough . You can travel there via the Nunthorpe and Gypsy Lane Railway Stations, both of which are on the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough to Whitby . The railway line borders the boroughs of Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland . The main road through Nunthorpe is Guisborough Road .

The original village grew up around Nunthorpe Hall, which was built in the 1620's. The present building is mostly Victorian.

Nunthorpe has a football club complete with squash and tennis courts. There is also a cricket club. You can also see the Cleveland Hills from here.

Redcar

Redcar is a North Sea seaside resort which is close to Middlesbrough .

There is a Maritime Museum within a historic building which contains The Zetland the oldest surviving lifeboat in the world (1802).

Redcar is also famous for its Racecourse which offers horse racing from April to November. The racecourse is also a full time conference and events centre.

Nearby at Ormesby is the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum and Ormesby Hall. Ormesby Hall has been lived in by the Pennyman family for more than 300 years and contains wonderful portraits and décor such as stunning carved wood and plaster work.

Located here also are the only National Trust model railway layouts on permanent display.

Saltburn-bytheSea

The town of Saltburn by Sea is located on the North East Coast, south of Redcar . It was once an up market resort for Victorians and in fact many Victorian features of the town remain.

The wonderful Italian Gardens are linked to the shore by a miniature railway and a cliff lift which originally opened in 1884. It is Britain 's oldest operating water-balanced cliff lift.

The Saltburn coastline is part of the 36 miles of Heritage Coast . It climbs high above smugglers' secret caves and continues towards Whitby . Some of the finest fossil formations in Britain are found on the rock face and it also provides shelter for native and migrant birds.

Saltburn has a wealth of historical interest and the area provides many local attractions and events.

Stockton-On-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees was once well known for its ship building and iron work and is also famous for receiving the first passenger steam train which arrived from Darlington on 27 th September 1825. The first rail for the track was laid in 1822.

The area's local history is on display at the Green Dragon Museum.

Amongst many attractions that Stockton-On-Tees has to offer, it is host to an International Festival with events running over a number of days.

Thornaby-on-Tees

The town of Thornaby contains both old and new housing alongside each other, the New Town Centre having been built in the 1860's thereby replacing the old shopping area in the streets around the town hall.

There are signs of Thornaby being a much older or even prehistoric settlement as traces of prehistoric man have been found there. The earliest of these was a stone axe which was eight inches long and dates back to the Mesolithic Period (around 3000 BC). In 1926 a dug out canoe which is said to date from around 1600 1400 BC was found in the mud under eight feet of water opposite Thornaby High Wood and an arrow head of the Neolithic period was found in a garden on the village green.

The Auxiliary air force 608 bomber squadron was formed at Thornaby on 17 th March 1930 following the opening of the aerodrome in 1930. The aerodrome finally closed in 1958 as the land was sold for redevelopment in 1963.

Early records show that the Thornaby Fire Brigade was originally known as the South Stockton Fire Brigade whose fire station was in Chapel Street where a horse drawn manual pump was kept. In 1974 when the new fire station was built, Thornaby Fire Station became part of the Cleveland County Fire Brigade.

Yarm

Yarm is a small river town in the borough of Stockton-On-Tees in North East England which lies on the banks of the River Tees.

Yarm was the highest port on the Tees where merchant vessels travelled up the tidal river to Yarm from the North Sea to unload their cargoes.

The name of the town is thought to be derived from the old Norse word Yarum which is an enclosure to catch fish. Yarm was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and was originally a chapelry in the Kirklevington parish.

Bishop Skirlaw of Durham built a stone bridge across the Tees in 1400 which is still standing. The iron replacement which was built in 1805 fell down in 1806.

In a poll taken for the BBC's Breakfast program on 19 th January 2007, Yarm's High Street was voted the Best High Street due to its stunning visual appearance and many Georgian-style old buildings fronting the high street and its cobbled parking areas.

Yarm has had a number of famous visitors over the years including Diana, Princess of Wales and her son Prince Harry, John Major and rock band Oasis.