Skinningrove

Skinningrove is a village in the civil parish of Loftus, in the Redcar and Cleveland district, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its name is of Old Norse etymology and is thought to mean skinners' grove or pit.

History

The village had an agricultural and fishing economy until the opening of local ironstone workings in 1848 initiated an industrialisation boom. A railway was built by 1865, and iron smelting began in 1874. A jetty on the coast built in 1880 allowed seagoing vessels to carry heavy cargoes from the area. Mining continued until 1958 and primary iron production until the 1970s.

Skinningrove was formerly a township in the parish of Brotton, in 1866 Skinningrove became a separate civil parish. In 1951 the parish had a population of 2011.

Oarfish

On 17 February 2003, a rarely seen oarfish was caught by angler Val Fletcher, using a fishing rod baited with squid. The fish was 11 ft 4 in (3.3 m) long and weighed 140 lb (63.5 kg). Graham Hill, the science officer at the Deep, an aquarium in Hull, said that he had never heard of another oarfish being caught off the coast of Britain. The Natural History Museum in London said that it would have been interested in preserving the fish in its permanent collection; however the fish had been 'cut up into steaks' before any scientists could examine it.

Landmarks

The Land of Iron (formerly the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum and the Tom Leonard Mining Museum) describes the village's mining heritage, providing a unique underground experience and an insight into how 6.2 million tons of ironstone was extracted from Skinningrove. The village has a large natural sand beach used for recreational fishing and a beck, which occasionally floods, notably in 2000. It also has the Riverside Building Community Centre which is on the site of a former school. There is a Methodist chapel which has services on a Sunday at 18:00. There is also a cafe, a community centre and general dealers and post office. The Cleveland Way National Trail passes through the village.

Culture and events

From 1982 to 2019 Skinningrove hosted a bonfire and fireworks display which attracted hundreds of people from around North Yorkshire. Each year the bonfire was based on a different theme. The bonfire was axed for good from 2023 due to the 2022 stock market decline. The Cleveland Way runs through the village.

Photographer Chris Killip created an unpublished photo series about the town's residents in the early 1980s, about which the American filmmaker Michael Almereyda produced a short film. The film won Best Non-Fiction Short at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

See also

• Skinningrove railway station

References

External links

• Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum
• Skinningrove Bonfire
• Skinningrove at Curlie.