Mulgrave Castle is a large country house, home to the Marquis of Normanby. The core of the building was built before 1753 and two wings were added in the 1780s. It was completed between 1805 and 1816 with the addition of towers, turrets and further battlements and a projecting entrance hall. The gardens are occasionally opened for charity. Michael Grey tells us: ”My grandparents, Thomas William Brownbridge (Handyman) and Ruby Mona Richmond (Domestic) were in service at the New Castle during the late 1930′s to 1940′s.” We have had a request from Valerie Ramsay: ”I am trying to find out information about Daisy May Jackson and Fredrick William Garbut who were in service at Mulgrave Castle from 1914 to 1922. As I am trying to put some thing together for my Mum.”Please contact the ECIA if anyone can assist with this research.
Image (from a postcard dating from c.1905) courtesy of Beryl Morris; information from ’Inside the North York Moors’ by Harry Mead, thanks to Michael Grey and Valerie Ramsay for the updates.
The old castle of Mulgrave was constructed early in the 13th century, was besieged in the Civil War and dismantled by order of Parliament in the 1600s. It can be reached through the woods, via a footpath from Sandsend which is open at weekends and on Wednesdays, except in May. This view from a Tom Watson (of Lythe) postcard.
About a mile long this tunnel (which carries the line through the ridge along which Grinkle Lane travels) I was told; and yes we used to go and play in it when the trains were running and scare ourselves silly. Dave tells us: “Actually the tunnel is some 993 yards long.” Ann Jackson tells the Archive: “My Great Grandad James Jackson worked on the Easington a Tunnel. He worked for the Midland Railway Co. As a stone mason. He moved to Easington from the Dales where he worked on the Ribblehead Viaduct also for the same company.” Whilst Christopher Colbeck advises: “I came to live in Loftus in 1958. Along with mates from the Loftus Rec [Micklow Lane] we had on several occasions walked/stumbled through the tunnel to the far end which gave us access to Twizziegill where in previous times the had been mine workings. There were old brick buildings [I think they were stables]. What made the tunnel a bit daunting was not the length but the fact that tunnel had a curve which meant that there was no ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ to be seen until we had walked a considerable distance. At that time the rails and sleepers were all in place. There were recesses let in the sides of the tunnel which we could step into; which I presumed provided a safe space for workmen when trains were running regularly. There was two vertical air/light shafts in the roof but years of steam trains had reduced the walls to a matt black surface which gave no reflected light and rendered a torch fairly useless.”
Thanks to Dave, Ann Jackson and Christopher Colbeck for the updates.
This stormy view of Runswick Bay is an ”Oilette” regd. postcard. Unfortunately I can’t make out the name of the publishers because it has been written over, but they were ”Publishers to their majesties The King and Queen.” It was posted on March 20th, 1905.
In this painting of the lifeboat at Runswick Bay by W. Gibson we can see the new lifeboat house that was built in 1910, on the beach.
On October 29th, 1910, a new lifeboat was sent to Runswick. She was a 35ft self-righter and was named the ’Hester Rothschild’ and served at Runswick until 1933, being involved in 31 services and saving 114 lives.
Image courtesy of Beryl Morris, information from ”The Story of The Staithes and Runswick Lifeboats” by Jeff Morris.
This more intimate view of Runswick and some of the villagers comes from a postcard posted on 5th August, 1919, to wish ”Many Happy Returns” to a Mrs. Morris at East Loftus.
In 1682 the whole village, except one house, dropped into the sea. I don’t know if this was it. Fortunately the villagers were roused and managed to evacuate their homes before they slid into the sea.
Image courtesy of Beryl Morris, published by George Trueman, Whitby.
Here come the questions again, why was it decorated and when was it?
Julie Riddiough wondered: “Is the lifeboat called the Burton on Trent and presented to Redcar for service, the boat served from 1867 to 1884. I actually have a postcard of this boat, possibly celebrating the retirement of the boat. This image could well be related to such an event.” Fred Brunskill came to the Archive’s aid with: ”This photograph is of the ‘Brothers’ which was an RNLI Self Righter and served from 1884 until 1907, being responsible for saving 71 lives.This photograph was taken on lifeboat day August 1892 – eight years after the Burton on Trent left Redcar.”
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday; thanks to Julie Riddiough and Fred Brunskill for the updates.
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