Kirkleatham & Wilton ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 4 miles Time to Complete Walk 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes 

Starting from the Kirkleatham Walled Garden, this sleepy village outside Redcar has so much to offer. As well as the gardens there is a museum and dont miss the Owl Centre - a must visit for ornithologists or for a family day out. The Walled garden is best to be visited spring/summer. The walk makes it way through the village of Yearby and then through woods to Wilton and back to Kirkleatham. 

General Safety Tips: Be careful approaching the woods after Yearby as you need to stay on the verge facing the oncoming traffic. The woods can get muddy- wear boots and take a walking stick. Coming out of Wilton be careful crossing the road near the underpass and stay vigiliant for traffic.

                                   The Kirkleatham and Wilton walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough, follow the A174 through Eston. Go over the first roundabout and the second roundabout. Just after the second roundabout turn left into the Kirkleatham Walled Garden car park which is free and closes at 4pm.

Maps of the Kirkleatham & Wilton Walk 

The Walk

From the car park, head back to the entrance you drove into and cross over the road carefully. Turn left into the road heading to Yearby keeping to the pavement.

Keeping to the pavement walk through Yearby and when the pavement ends cross over the road and head onto the grass verge.

Shortly you will come to a turning into the woods through a gate on your right. Go through the gate into the woods. 

Follow the track through the woods keeping as close as possible to the the field fence as much as possible.

At a fork in the track turn right 

Head past a pond on your left. 

At another fork keep ahead slightly to the right

To your right you will see the old ICI Wilton works come into view. Keep ahead on the track with the fence on your right. 

Keep walking through the woods over a fallen tree next to a gate.

Shortly,  keep you eyes open for a path descending to your right. Follow this down between two wire fences.

Follow the path as it winds to the left and over a stile into the village of Wilton.

 Turn right and follow the pavement through Wilton and down to the A174 

 Cross the road turning left onto the pavement.

Keep ahead and then cross over the road and walk under the underpass.

Turn right and head over the road and onto a cycle track beside the A174

Keep to the pavement and head back to the roundabout.

At the roundabout turn left and cross over the road and onto the pavement on your left.

Turn right into Kirkleatham by crossing over the road and onto the pavement into Kirkleatham village.

Follow the pavement passing the Kirkleatham Museum on your left and then head past the walled garden and back to the car park. Pop into the Walled Garden cafe for a bit to eat!

Kirkleatham

Kirkleatham is an area of Redcar in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately 4

+1⁄2 miles (7 kilometres) north-northwest of Guisborough, and three miles (five kilometres) south of Redcar centre. It was listed in the Domesday Book.

The area has a collection of buildings that formed the Turner Estate, named after the Turner family who lived in the area from 1661. It has one of the best collections of Georgian-style buildings in England.

The name of the village comes from the old Norse kirk (church) and hlíð (slopes). Literally, "churchslopes." It is thought there has been a church on the site since the 9th century CE, as a location where the body of Saint Cuthbert rested while carried monks before it was taken to Durham. The parish church is named Saint Cuthberts from that connection. The parish records begin in 1559.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday book "It had a recorded population of 9.1 households in 1086, putting it in the smallest 40% of settlements recorded in Domesday, and is listed under 4 owners in Domesday Book." It had (apparently) been laid to waste during The Harrying of the north. The northern magnates the Percy family held the most of the land in Kirkleatham from 1086 to 1608.

In 1232 the advowson of Kirkleatham parish was at the centre of a dispute that saw local knight Sir Robert de Thweng style himself "Will Wither" and take arms against Italian eccelsiatics which saw him raid their properties and redistribute their wealth to the poor.

Kirkleatham was acquired by the Turner family around 1624 and is the birthplace of Sir William Turner who was Lord Mayor of London in 1669. He gave most of his fortune to found the Sir William Turner's Hospital in June 1676. In present day, it is an independent almshouse. Turner bequeathed a substantial amount of money to his great nephew, Cholmley Turner, a member of parliament for Yorkshire, 1727–1741, to establish a Free School, built in 1709, that now serves as the local museum. His estate established for the care of 40 people: ten old men, ten old women, ten boys, and ten girls. The office of governor or governess falls upon the owner of the estate. Management of the estate was the responsibility of a chaplain, a master, and a mistress.

Cholmley Turner added other Grade I listed buildings, the most notable being the Turner Mausoleum, in memory of his son, and adjoining the Church of St Cuthbert. It is a Grade I listed building on Kirkleatham Lane. The mausoleum was built in 1739–40 by James Gibbs, and restored with added internal cladding in 1839. Entered from the church, it is of Baroque style and of an octagonal plan with south and south-west sides that adjoin the church. It is a single storey with a basement burial chamber. The exterior is heavily rusticated, with an unusually large area vermiculated. It contains the inscription, "This mausoleum was erected 1740 to the memory of Marwood William Turner Esquire the best of sons." Cholmley Turner also retained the architect James Gibbs for building of the chapel at the almshouses.

Cholmley Turner's nephew Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet, of Kirkleatham, MP for York from 1768 to 1783, continued building upon the estate. His achievement included remodelling Kirkleatham Hall, as well as providing for the further development of the hospital, school, and a library. He also built the adjoining village of Yearby.

In 1894 Kirkleatham became an urban district, but was annexed by Redcar in 1899, after just five years as an independent authority. In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 403. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with Guisborough.

In 1918, Kirkleatham was the location of a mooring-out station (a secondary base) for airships protecting the east coast based out of RNAS Howden. The site was only used during the latter half of 1918 and was closed permanently after the Armistice.

Middlesbrough ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 4.5 miles Time to Complete Walk 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes 

Discover the port of Middlesbrough on this walk that takes you from the Riverside football stadium passing the iconic Transporter Bridge and then to Teessaurus Park with its impressive dinosaur sculptures. A great walk and a very educating walk around this brilliant town.

General Safety Tips: Take care sing the roads and approaching roundabouts. Keep to the pedestrian part of the paths keeping the cycle route clear

The Middlesbrough Walk 

Getting There

Head towards the Riverside Stadium passing it and pass the amazing Tenemos structure. Dont worry as the walk doubles back to these points of marvel at the beginning of the walk. Parking can be found in a small car park to the left which is the Dock Street car park and the charge is £3.20 for 4 hours.

Maps of the Middlesbrough Walk 

The Walk

From the car park turn left and then right and head back to the Riverside Stadium passing the jaw-dropping Tenemos art structure.

Head to the Riverside Stadium and its impressive statue of George Hardwick who played as defender for the football club.

 

Retrace your steps passing the car par and heading towards the Transporter Bridge - an iconic bridge that is the pride of Middlesbrough.

 

Keep ahead at the roundabout.

Pass the Port of Middlesbrough building on your right.

 

The next stop is the amazing Teessaurus Park with its unique collection of steel dinosaurs.

Return to the path and keep ahead.

When you come to a roundabout, keep ahead crossing a road and then head up a footpath which passes a railway bridge.

Head down the path and then right over a railway bridge.

Head down the road and into an industrial estate.

Cross over the road once you see a bridge to your right. Head under the bridge.

Head past the Zetland multi-storey car park on your right.

Head down the road with the railway station to your left. For a quick diversion head straight over the road and to the statue of H W F Bolkow in Exchange Square.

Turn back and head up to the railway station which at present is only accessible via a side entrance up some stairs.

In the station head down into the tunnel and emerge on the other side and turn right.

Cross over the road and head towards Middlesbrough College.

Head towards the left before the college and towards the Bell Tower. On reaching the Bell Tower the return to the car park is a short distance to the left. 

Riverside Stadium

The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although provisional planning permission is in place to expand to 42,000 if required.

The stadium was built to replace Ayresome Park after the Taylor Report, which required all top division football stadiums to be all-seater. After the report was delivered in January 1990, Middlesbrough needed an all-seater stadium by August 1994, and were unable to expand Ayresome Park outwards owing to its location in a residential area, and expanding the stadium upwards would have limited the club to a capacity of around 20,000 seats – the club wanted a considerably larger capacity. The decision was taken by club officials to build a new stadium; Teesside Development Corporation offered them the Middlehaven site by the River Tees for development.

The new 30,000 seater stadium was constructed by Taylor Woodrow Construction for £16 million, taking approximately nine months to complete after work began in the autumn of 1994. The name of the stadium was chosen by the club's fans, following a vote during the final game at Ayresome Park. The other choices available were Middlehaven Stadium, Erimus Stadium and Teesside Stadium. When first opened, the name was amended to Cellnet Riverside Stadium (and then BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium) as part of a £3 million sponsorship deal with Cellnet, but this deal ended after the 2001–02 season.

Tenemos

Temonos is a giant sculpture by internationally renowned and acclaimed sculptor Anish Kapoor, and one of the world’s leading structural engineers Cecil Balmond. It is situated on the bank of the river Tees, between the Transporter Bridge and the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough. As tall as Nelson’s column and as long as a football pitch (50 metres high by 110 metres long), it is one of the largest public sculptures ever made and has become a striking and familiar feature of the local skyline. It was unveiled in 2010.

The sculpture was specially commissioned as part of a regeneration initiative for the Tees Valley, to help communicate a sense of pride and ambition in the region. Engaging such world-famous artists sent out a strong, positive message about the value of the area and its people. This is also reflected in the sculpture’s name, Temenos – a Greek word for a special, sacred piece of ground. Anish Kapoor is known for his abstract – often giant – installations and sculptures. Balmond is best known for his innovative work creating buildings and structures which, at times, appear to defy gravity. Together, their work explores and plays with traditional shapes and scale.

Temenos is an excellent example of this. It consists of thousands of metres of wire mesh, suspended and gently twisting between two giant steel rings. The artistic vision came from Kapoor, who created the original conceptual model using a pair of tights stretched between two rings. Balmond made sure the sculpture would literally stand up and withstand the elements, while also conveying the grace and fragility of Kapoor’s concept and design.

While Temenos was commissioned as part of a future-facing initiative for the Tees Valley, the artists were careful to also reflect and celebrate the region’s extraordinary history. The materials and sheer scale and strength of the sculpture look to the past, reflecting Teesside’s heritage as an industrial powerhouse. The sculpture’s construction also reflects local heritage both in terms of heavy industry and precision engineering. Locally sourced materials were used and local people employed where possible.

The sculpture’s form, however, looks to the future. It changes depending on how it is viewed – whether from below, nearby, far away or by looking straight down the middle to the Transporter Bridge at the other end. Some have described it as a giant butterfly net’. To others, it reminds them of the net shapes in computer-generated 3D designs, which morph and change when viewed from different angles.

Transporter Bridge

The Tees Transporter Bridge, also referred to as the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge or locally as The Transporter, is a bridge over the River Tees in northern England. The northern side is in Port Clarence (County Durham) and the southern side is in the Middlehaven (North Yorkshire), the latter an area of Middlesbrough. It is grade II* listed and the longest existing transporter in the world. and its winch house and piers are grade II listed.

It is the furthest downstream bridge crossing over the river. It is classed as the A178 road, the road between Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. As of 2022 the bridge is not operational. When working, it carries a travelling 'car', or 'gondola', suspended below the fixed structure, across the river in 90 seconds. The gondola can carry 200 people, 9 cars, or 6 cars and one minibus.

Teessaurus Park

Teessaurus Park is a 10 acre urban grassland recreational area and sculpture park opened in 1979 in the Riverside Park light industrial estate, Middlesbrough, on the southern bank of the River Tees. It was built on a former slag heap in what was the Ironmasters district and represents, without any irony, the iron and steel industry that used to exist on the site and in the area. The park has its own small car park and has become something of a nature reserve. The route of the Teesdale Way passes through the park. The park was started as a result of entering an Art to Landscape competition organised by The Sunday Times and the Arts Council. Middlesbrough Council had commissioned a life size painted steel sculpture of a triceratops called Teessaurus from Genevieve Glatt that was fabricated by Harts of Stockton at a total cost of £16,000 and installed on a mound at the northern end of the park. The park was opened with this sculpture in 1979 and two infant triceratops were added later. From 1987 onwards, a life-size brachiosaurus, brontosaurus, mammoth, stegosaurus and tyrannosaurus sculptures were added at the sides of the park. These sculptures were built by workers on the government Youth and Employment Training Scheme at Amarc Training and Safety