William Scoresby Jr and Snr, Crows Nest Sculpture, Whitby

Posted on February 23, 2010 by chris.twigg

Scoresby and son were arctic explorer who mapped much of the east coast of Greenland and took the Resolution to within 510 miles of the North Pole in 1806. Scoresby Snr invented the barrel crows nest, a reproduction of which is in the Whitby Museum. Scoresby Jr is known for his work developing ships compasses. They are depicted in a crows nest by Kevin Storch.

Moored nearby is the Grand Turk a modern replica of the frigate HMS Blandford built in 1741, it has appeared on TV in the Hornblower series

Sandsend Alum House

Posted on February 23, 2010 by chris.twigg

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All that remains of Sandsend Alum House is one wall which is now the entrance and exit to a car park which was built in the 1960s when the sea wall damaged.

It is believed to have operated between 1733 and 1860 although building were still standing on the site in more recent time

Stainton Whinstone Quarry

Posted on February 19, 2010 by chris.twigg

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A BGS photo from 1975 shows the quarry faces still visibleÂ and a general mess.

The quarry now is virtually unrecognisable as its has been landscaped and converted into parkland.

One possible remnantÂ is a cairn of stones erected by the entrance, to my non-geologist eyes the majority looks like sandstone, but I think the larger grey block could be whinstone.

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(Possibly not the) Worlds First Passenger Railway Tunnel – Grosmont

Posted on February 11, 2010 by chris.twigg

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This tunnel which is now a footpath to the NYMR engine sheds was originally built around 1834 by George Stephenson as part of the Whitby to Pickering Railway. Grosmont at the time was just known as “Tunnel”

The original carriages were horse drawn, but the the line was developed by George Hudsons’ York and North Midland Railway between 1845 and 1849, the large double track tunnel built just over a decade later shows the pace of development at that time.

Grosmont Ironworks

Posted on February 8, 2010 by chris.twigg

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In what it now a car park are the remains of Grosmont Ironworks built in 1862 and demolished in 1892. Despite now being a rural setting the immediate area contains numerous ironstone mines.

The most promenant feature is a large brick structure which is believed to be part of the system which carried raw materials to the top of the three blast furnaces. Apologies for the dark photos but it was getting late and I only had a basic camera.