Redcar

The Zetland is the world's oldest surviving lifeboat. It was built by Henry Greathead of South Shields and is housed in a sea-front museum run by a group of volunteers.[7] The lifeboat was first stationed at Redcar in 1802.[8][9]

Plans for a pier were drawn up in 1866, but lay dormant until prompted by the announcement of plans to build a pier at Coatham in 1871.[5][10] Misfortune struck both piers soon after they were built.

Regent Cinema, at the location of Coatham Pier

Coatham Pier was wrecked before it was completed when two sailing ships were driven through it in a storm. It had to be shortened because of the cost of repairs and was re-opened with an entrance with two kiosks and a roller-skating rink on the Redcar side, and a bandstand halfway along its length. In October 1898 the pier was almost wrecked when the barque Birger struck it and the pier was thereafter allowed to disintegrate. A glass house for concerts was added to its remaining section and in 1928 was replaced by the New Pavilion theatre which became the Regent Cinema in the early 1960s. Comedian and entertainer Larry Grayson coined his catchphrase "Shut that Door!" while performing there, since the stage door was open to the cold North Sea breeze.[11] An anchor from the Birger can be seen on the sea front pavement opposite the Zetland Lifeboat Museum.

Disaster struck Redcar Pier in the 1880s and 1890s when a series of ships broke through it. In October 1880 the brig Luna caused £1,000 worth of damage. On New Year's Eve 1885 SS Cochrane demolished the landing stage.[5] In 1897 the schooner Amarant went through the pier and in the following year the pier head and bandstand burned down.[5] In 1907 a pavilion ballroom was built on the pier behind the entrance kiosks and in 1928 it was extended.[10] The pier was deliberately breached (sectioned) in 1940 to prevent its use by enemy invasion forces.[10] As a result of sectioning, damage by a mine explosion and deterioration it was never reconnected and instead allowed to become even more dilapidated.[12] The pavilion continued in use after the war but storm damage led to it being declared unsafe and it was demolished in 1980–1981.[2][5]

The town's main employers in the post-war era were the nearby Teesside Steelworks at Warrenby, founded by Dorman Long in 1917, and the ICI Wilton chemical works. The steel produced at Dorman Long was used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Tyne Bridge, Auckland Harbour Bridge and many others. Both the Warrenby and Lackenby sites became part of Tata Steel when Corus was taken over in 2007, but continued to trade under the Corus name until at least February 2008. SSI bought the plant from Tata Steel in February 2011, for £320 million.

After a two-year hiatus following the mothballing of the plant in February 2010, steel was once again being made at Redcar. The Thai owners of the former Corus Plant at Lackenby, Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), re-ignited the blast furnace, one of the largest in Europe, on 15 April 2012.[13]

On 18 September 2015, production was paused due to the decline in steel prices.[14] On 28 September 2015, the plant was "mothballed" amid poor steel trading conditions across the world and a drop in steel prices.[15] On 2 October, the owner of the site, SSI UK, entered liquidation. On 12 October 2015 the administrator announced that there was no realistic prospect of finding a buyer and the ovens would be extinguished.

The town comprises four wards: Coatham, Newcomen, West Dyke and Zetland. In addition, the suburbs of Dormanstown and Kirkleatham are two wards.[16] On 5 May 2011 Redcar elected its councillors to Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council.[17] There was a by-election on 18 November 2011 for two vacant seats in the Zetland ward, held onto by the Liberal Democrats,[18] and on 19 January 2012 there was a by-election for a vacant seat in Newcomen ward subsequently gained by Labour from the Liberal Democrats.[19] In May 2017, Redcar, along with the rest of the newly formed Tees Valley Combined Authority, voted for their first mayor of the area, with the Conservative candidate, Ben Houchen, winning.

On the seafront is the Grade II listed Zetland Lifeboat Museum[20] housing the Zetland Lifeboat and the recently closed Palace Arts Gallery. The main library is in the Redcar Heart building in the centre of the town and there is a long standing Redcar Literary Institute, which was founded in 1896. The Hub art gallery and business start up centre is also on the sea front.

Redcar is home to the Tuned In! Centre, which opened in 2011 and overlooks the sea front. The multi purpose venue hosts live music as well as creative workshops for young people. The annual event Clubland on the Beach, which showcases dance acts attracting visitors from across the country, has been held at Majuba Road in Redcar for the past three years.

Atonement

A location from the film Atonement

In 2006, Redcar was used as a location for the film adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel Atonement. The Coatham Hotel, Regent Cinema, a section of Newcomen Terrace and part of the beach were dressed as 1940s Dunkirk. Filming took place across three days in August 2006, with local men playing the soldiers.[21][22]

The Secret Millionaire

In 2010, Redcar was featured on the Channel 4 television programme The Secret Millionaire. David Jamilly a humanitarian, philanthropist and self-made millionaire, visited the Redcar community and gave £25,000 to Zoë's Place for a sensory room, £25,000 to Redcar Amateur Boxing Club to start an Olympic fund, and £25,000 to Sid's Place for special counselling.

There was a subsequent visit on 14 May to a screening at Redcar's cinema, attended by the mayor and mayoress along with all the charities and people involved. The feature of the documentary involved the closure of the nearby Corus steelworks as well as the charities. On 9 December 2011, Jamilly opened the new Redcar Education Development centre in Park Avenue, Redcar. The centre provides day care for adults with learning difficulties. He also opened the Redcar Primary Care Hospital on 9 December 2011 and the new Sid's Place on 15 December 2011.

The Mighty Redcar

The town was filmed for the 2018 BBC television documentary The Mighty Redcar. The four-part series followed young people from Redcar and surrounding towns as they completed their studies and looked for work.[23]

Former Coatham Hotel, Newcomen Terrace

The Victorian, former Coatham Hotel stands on the sea front.[24][25] The ballroom of the hotel was home to the Redcar Jazz Club, a venue for the up-and-coming bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The town has had several parks built for tourism: Coatham Enclosure, Locke Park, Zetland Park, Lily Park, an Amusement Park with a roller coaster, and a small sea front park known locally as Titty Bottle Park. The Amusement Park near the railway closed decades ago, and Titty Bottle Park was absorbed ito the redeveloped sea front around Redcar Beacon.

Redcar Beacon

Construction of the Redcar Beacon started in 2011.[26] In 2013 it was nominated for the Building Design Carbuncle Cup for worst new building. It came third in the whole of the UK.[27] In December 2015, the Beacon was damaged by winds from Storm Desmond, with several large pieces of panelling falling onto the beach below. It was also damaged in winter 2016, where a panel from the top fell off in a storm.[28]

There are about twenty three listed buildings in Redcar.[29] At the west end of High Street is a Grade II listed clock tower,[30] a memorial to King Edward VII who was a regular visitor to Redcar. The tower has now been refurbished.

To the east of Redcar is the listed Church of St Peter, designed by Ignatius Bonomi and built 1822–28.[31]

In the south-east of Redcar is an aircraft listening post built in 1916 during the First World War as part of a regional defence system to detect approaching aircraft, principally Zeppelins, and give early warning. It is an example of an acoustic mirror, of which other examples can be found along the east coast of Britain. The mirror was used up until the invention of radar and although it was built on open fields today a modern housing estate now surrounds it. Only the concrete sound mirror remains and is now a Grade II listed building.[32][33]