Redcar and Cleveland

Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority on the North Sea coast in North East England, made up of towns, villages and former industrial sites. The district includes Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Guisborough, Loftus and Marske-by-the-Sea, with a long stretch of sandy coastline and working harbours at points along the shore. Ironstone mining and later steelmaking shaped many communities inland, while coastal settlements developed promenades, piers and fishing facilities that link sea and town. Local transport routes follow the coastline and cross the Cleveland Hills onto upland moorland.

The landscape moves quickly from beach to escarpment: the Cleveland Hills rise to Roseberry Topping and Guisborough Forest sits on the scarp’s lower slopes. Saltburn-by-the-Sea retains a pair of Victorian engineering pieces that still carry visitors—Saltburn Pier, opened in 1869, and the Saltburn Cliff Lift, a water-balance funicular from 1884 that continues to operate. Town centres contain parish churches, market streets and the remains of industrial infrastructure that record the area’s economic history.