Tees Valley – Discover One of the North East’s Secret Treasures

TEES VALLEY INTRODUCTION
Take time to discover one of the North East’s secret treasures – the attractions of the Tees Valley, an area bounded to the south by the North York Moors National Park and the City of York, by the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the south-west, by the magnificent Durham Dales to the west, by the North Sea Coastline to the east and by Northumbria to the north. You will be well rewarded, for this area is easily accessible, yet offers such a variety of things to see and do that you will want to return again and again.

The friendly towns, villages and communities of this valley are linked by the River Tees, known as a powerful force for industry, but also a river of many moods, from sparkling lively streams to meandering majesty as it heads towards the sea.

HISTORY & HERITAGE
You will find a rich heritage of maritime, industrial and railway history – but the roots of our communities stretch back to Saxon and Roman times. Captain Cook is a native son, developing his love for the sea on our shoreline, and through the genius of George Stephenson, the first passenger train took to the rails on the Tees Valley soil. Both men are celebrated by museums, visitor centres, heritage centres and trails; ‘living experience’ exhibitions that make the past come alive. John Walker, inventor of the friction match, was born and lived in Stockton-on-Tees and the town was also the birthplace of the great furniture designer Thomas Sheraton.

The sea and the river played an important role in the history of the area, and fishing, shipbuilding, and local industries are interwoven with the progress of the Tees and the proximity of the North Sea. Railways played a major part in expanding our towns in the 19th century, and Stockton and Darlington in particular are world-famous railway towns.

CUSTOMS & CULTURE
The Anglo-Saxons settled the area extensively, all the ‘-ham’ and ‘-ton’ place-names (Darlington, Stockton, Billingham) showing where they had a strong presence. The Vikings also settled in this area, their presence being seen in place-name endings such as ‘-by’, with several settlements such as Ormesby and Thornaby continuing to this day.

To the Normans, the River Tees was effectively the border with Scotland and throughout the Middle Ages the area was both important and turbulent. The castles, the fortified churches, the place names, the remains and relics are strewn thickly throughout the Tees Valley.

As the unsettled Middle Ages receded, agriculture increased in importance. The river was tidal to just above Yarm, so Yarm became the significant port for the export of agricultural produce, lead and salt. But by 1800, Stockton-on-Tees, 12 miles downstream with wider and deeper water plus being nearer the sea, had taken over.

LANDSCAPES & LANDFORMS
For over 30 miles, the North Sea and the Tees Valley Region of the five boroughs go hand in hand. In that not enormously long stretch, you will find whatever the seaside means to you. Fishing villages, cliffs – the highest on the east coast – soaring for 700 feet. In addition there are the Tees Lowlands and Estuary, with miles of genuinely lush countryside backed by the North Sea in all its variety of moods and tempers.

The splendour of the coast to the east is matched by the splendour of the countryside to the west and south. Here there are beautiful scenery in the form of beautiful traditional English countryside – the sort you thought had vanished without trace. Hedges, trees, ponds, quiet roads, beautiful small towns like Yarm and Guisborough sitting below the spectacular hills of the North York Moors National Park.

CUSTOMS & CULTURES
Stockton even took over from Hartlepool as a port, and became a recognised point of Customes control. Stockton was also an important shipyard, and fishing ran right from Hartlepool through Redcar, Saltburn, Staithes to Sandsend. (With so much marine background, no wonder the Tees Valley was the home of the famous explorer, Captain James Cook).

In the 19th century, the industrial resolution put a high value on Durham coal and Cleveland ironstone – needing only some way of moving it. It came with the opening of the world’s first public railway in 1825 – the famous Stockton and Darlington Railway. Five years later , the new town of Middlesbrough went up. Five years after that, the first cargoes moved out through a reconstructed, revitalised Hartlepool, and the great industrial days began. Coal, iron and steel supported the engineering skills that built engines, ships and bridges. Tees Valley became a major driver of Britain’s Victorian industrial primacy.

Meanwhile, agriculture was big business – and still is, with two thirds of the area under plough. Agriculture began to demand chemical fertilisers, in turn the area became a major producer of salt, in 1926, ICI was established, and the Tees Valley had a whole new world-class business.

Specialist and service industries, light industry and electronic assembly have capitalised on the unique legacy of industrial facilities, and regeneration is obvious everywhere.