The Great Out There

The expansive and wild beauty of the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales provides the UK with some of its most iconic countryside, and there are few who have visited who don’t hold it dear to their hearts.

It’s all here for the taking right on Middlesbrough’s doorstep. The North York Moors National Park is less than 40 minutes’ drive, with the Yorkshire Dales Park around an hour away.

The beauty of the Tees Valley area is hard to resist, with rolling hills, miles of beach, acres of parkland, wonderful wildlife sites and several areas of special scientific interest, including Hartlepool’s Submerged Forest and Redcar’s Lovell Hill Pools.

There is plenty to explore within the Tees Valley, including Hartlepool, which is dominated by its impressive coastline featuring the rugged landscape of the Headland – a magnesian limestone promontory offering a mix of teeming rock pools and pocket beaches.

At nearby Seaton Carew the beach extends for more than two miles from just beneath Hartlepool Marina all the way to the mouth of the River Tees. Further along the coast lies Saltburn, a town that has retained much of its original charm as a Victorian seaside resort.

The 120ft pier and promenade can be accessed by the oldest operational water-balanced cliff tramway in Britain. The wide-open beach attracts more than one million visitors each year with easy links to coastal walks and the North York Moors National Park. Saltburn is unique in the local area as the only beach with good surfing – and a reputation for friendly local boarders adds to the attraction.