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Coastal View & Moor News Issue 19


Saltburn... a year to remember A


Saltburn has just ended its 150th anniversary year. Long-time resident Michael Morrissey reports on what over 50 events did for the town’s community and commercial hearts.


picturesque £10,000 memento remains in Saltburn town centre to mark the town’s 150th anniversary last year.


Town crier Sharon Wilson was surprised to see herself depicted in the fourth mosaic panel after Anne Bedell, in (red coat) unveiled it last November.


Artists Helen Gaunt and Derek Mosey are also pictured.


The five mosaic panels on the supermarket wall form an attractive “welcome” to the railway platforms and supermarket car park. Now there’s a race against time to complete payments for the panels, which show the town’s history.


Probably the most striking is panel No. 4 on the walkway at the side of Sainsbury’s. This shows town crier Sharon Wilson in the town centre.


Be frocked and ringing her hand bell, she did a shocked double- take when she saw a likeness of herself on the huge mural as it was unveiled.


Liz Chadwick, dressed as an `end of the pier show’ pierrot, rattles a collectionh box in front of Saltburn’s latest mosaic panel. The permanent feature is proving popular among residents and visitors, but £3,000 is needed to pay the £9,600 cost.


“My immediate thought was: `My Goodness this is going to be there forever! `” she said later. “Everyone both residents and visitors loves the five murals. They are cheery and bright. They show the story of Saltburn from the arrival of the first steam train in 1861, our pier with a Victorian mum and her son walking along it


through to the town centre buildings – and me.


Sharon, who hopes to continue her volunteer role in future, said: “My likeness looks better than me!”


About the year of celebrations, the mum- of-two teenagers, said: “It’s been good.” Others both from community and business standpoints agree. Veronia Boland, a Saltburn Community and Arts Association committee member, was upbeat: “It’s gone really well. A lot of people have been involved.” Councillor Stuart Smith, a former community policeman in the town, said the events had strengthened a strong spirit of community already existing in the commuter-and-holiday town of 6,000 people.


Activities ranged from a beer festival to beach Spectacular drawing an estimated 10,000 people to the town in the summer, five formal heritage lectures and a town party involving 400 family members to mark Prince William’s wedding. All these events were new to the annual calendar. Several organisations like the folk festival and WI added “150 events” to their annual contribution.


The business association was revived during the year and its 30 members now are “working together and communicating more,” said secretary Di Parker.


Cafes have had a boost, said Bob Mitchell, 31, of the Profile lounge. He and his wife Becky plan an arts fair in association with MIMA, the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in August 2012. Lee Ingleby, who has run an estate agency in the area for 30 years, said: “The whole town has been lifted by the celebrations and publicity. Property-wise we are bucking the trend.


“Saltburn has improved over the past five years and this is attracting a lot of potential house-buyers from the south and other parts of the country.


“All the publicity over the 150th anniversary has put Saltburn firmly on the map. We have no empty shops. “House sales at the top end of the market are particularly strong. A Durham City businessman recently bought a group of semi-detached houses and flats to rent. He’s after growth of 5-7 per cent.”


Glenn Pearson, fish-and-chip shop owner, who organised the Spectacular, is aiming to secure sponsorship from large local firms, for a repeat in 2012.


“I’ve formed a Saltburn events’ committee dedicated to putting on large-scale events. This will allow me to seek large funding because of the considerable expense of putting on the Spectacular. “Next year’s show will be based on the film The Italian Job. It’s taking a year to


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