Welcome to Tees Valley

The impressive coastline gives the first indication of the strong maritime heritage in Tees Valley. Starting your tour of the area with a visit to Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience which is based around the marina with the two museums being “housed” in a reconstruction of a Napoleonic seaport, complete with shops and costumed staff. This doesn’t make sense as it talks about two museums but doesn’t actually say what they are – so will need re-worded or taken out.   It is also home to the oldest warship afloat in the UK - HMS Trincomalee built in Bombay in 1817, but mind your heads as sailors must have been small in those days, will confirm that heritage!  Complete your visit to the town with a tour of the historic headland with its 14th century wall, restored Heugh Gun Battery and new town square.

The Tall Ships Race comes here in 2010 - a great opportunity for another group trip to Tees Valley!  Think it would work best if we link direct to their website.

This was the home of Captain Cook so a visit to the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum set in the attractive Stewart Park in Middlesbrough is very worthwhile. Step into Cooks’ shoes and those of the sailors who went with him and relive their epic trips to distant lands. The Museum also has a busy special events schedule. There is a replica of Cook’s ship HM Bark Endeavour in Stockton.

You might not really be aware of Tees Valley’s association with the arts but if you visit mima, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art situated in the open heart of the town together with water feature and Bottle of Notes sculpture you will be truly impressed. It features a superb collection of British Surrealism, fine art, jewellery design and ceramics.

Take some time to see the famous Transporter Bridge or perhaps experience a river cruise up to Yarm’s award-winning High Street with a scheduled docking at Preston Hall en route. Another rewarding trip is to Darlington viewing on the way the Brick Train - appearing to emerge from a tunnel complete with its own “sculpted” smoke. Darlington is a town full of fine architecture, Quaker heritage, superb markets and shopping experiences, railway heritage and even more special events - Tees Valley seems to have a year long calendar of them! The “Covered” and Victorian Markets are both essential viewing. In terms of railway heritage, Darlington, together with Stockton, is known throughout the world as the birthplace of rail travel and a visit to the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum - now called Head of Steam - is a must in order to see Stephenson’s Locomotion No1.

Continue along the coastline to Redcar and Saltburn - the last, a Victorian railway resort, home to the oldest remaining operational water balanced lift in the country and to the Smugglers Heritage Centre where swashbuckling tales of adventure and intrigue are brought to life by period characters, complemented by the sounds and the smells of this illicit trade of 200 years ago. Inland spend some time at the National Trust’s Ormesby Hall with its six acres of gardens and then visit Guisborough and its ruined priory founded in 1119.

Tees Valley is much more than maritime heritage, there’s the arts and culture, special events (including the Tall Ships in 2010), architecture and railway heritage and even that doesn’t do Tees Valley full justice.