Tucked away on the coast of North Yorkshire lies a picturesque seaside town which perfectly captures the charm of a traditional Victorian seaside resort. Founded in the 1860s by the Quaker entrepreneur Henry Pease, Saltburn-by-the-Sea was purposefully built to allow city dwellers to escape industrial smog and enjoy the health benefits of fresh sea air.
Unlike many modern UK coastal resorts that turned to flashing neon and arcades to attract their crowds, Saltburn has fiercely preserved its 19th-century character. The extent of its history is particularly impressive, boasting not just the oldest operating water-balanced funicular in the UK, but also the last remaining pleasure pier in all of Yorkshire. It is also home to a sprawling sand-and-shingle beach, which has become one of the premier surfing destinations in the North East, drawing surfers year-round.
Saltburn is found in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in North Yorkshire and lies 12 miles southeast of Hartlepool.
Henry Pease designed the historic residential centre of the town on a strict grid layout, ensuring that nearly every block had an unobstructed view of the sea. The area features a distinct collection of roads known as the “Jewel Streets,” each named after a gemstone, including Diamond Street, Ruby Street and Emerald Street.
As the town’s founding families were teetotal Quakers, commercial pubs were strictly banned within Saltburn for over a century, and the town’s very first standalone pub did not open until 1982.
One of Saltburn’s top attractions is the Saltburn Cliff Tramway, which opened in 1884 and is the oldest operating water-balanced funicular railway in the UK. It operates on a parallel track using only gravity, where the car at the top fills its tank with water until it becomes heavier than the lower car, pulling the latter up the steep 120-foot cliff face.
Saltburn is also renowned for its pier, which opened in May 1869 and extends 681 feet into the North Sea and is the last remaining Victorian pleasure pier in Yorkshire, the largest historic county and England, also affectionately known as “God’s Own Country”.
The beach at Saltburn is an expansive sand-and-shingle coastline framed by rugged cliffs, including the huge nearby headland of Hunt Cliff at the eastern end. At high tide, the water pushes up against the sea wall and the rocky shingle bank, while low tide reveals miles of flat, golden sand. Hunt Cliff rises 365 feet above sea level and is a significant nesting site for seabirds and forms part of the Cleveland Way National Trail.
A wide paved lower promenade runs parallel to the beach, offering a flat walking route populated by seating, colorful beach huts and local businesses including The Seaview Restaurant, the coffee shop and ice cream parlour, Surf’s Up and the Toggie Oggie Cornish Pasty Company.
Despite global curiosity following the release of the 2023 psychological drama film Saltburn, the movie was actually filmed at an estate in Northamptonshire and used the town’s name only.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
