Various surveys have been undertaken - most recently to record WW2 sea defences and anything that still remains along the Whitby, Redcar & Middlesbrough Union Railway that closed in 1958.

Pillbox on Runswick Beach

Pillbox on top of the cliffs above Sailing Club

Entrance to Kettleness Tunnel

Underpass near Kettleness Tunnel

One of the bridges between Runswick & Kettleness - still in excellent condition

Groups members have been working with Kevin Cale from Community Archaeology on mini projects with Lythe, Hinderwell and Staithes primary schools. This has included a heritage walk around Hinderwell and Port Mulgrave and various classroom activities.

Classroom "Dig"

Kevin and schoolchildren on Hinderwell Beacon

St. Hilda's Churchyard, Hinderwell

Group members have had the opportunity to learn lots of new things - how to undertake interviews for oral history, where to research local history on the internet and in local museums and records offices. Web design, family history and social media I.T. courses have also been very well attended.

We've been fieldwalking, and found some very interesting bits of pottery, some dating back to the 1600's.

We also found some very interesting shells in the field near Cliff Farm Staithes.
This could be a prehistoric shell middin.  One of the shells is not
native to this part of the world, so further investigation may be required.

The supposed site of Seton church was marked on a mid 19thC map, along with the claim that three stone coffins and human remains were also found there. Folklore suggests that one of the coffins is still being used as a field trough. Group members cleared the undergrowth surrounding the trough, but there were no markings on it to show that it was Anglo Saxon. A second trough discovered quite close, was considered to be too small to be a coffin.

Metal detecting on the Seton Church field only revealed finds relating to agriculture and the old railway. We also survey a field in Newton Mulgrave - lovely day out, stunning views but didn't find any gold coins or treasure!

Couple of finds from Seton Church field

We've had a go at augering to take soil samples to a depth of 1m to see if there was any evidence of a building in the Seton Church field, and also a possible Roman Road. The results were inconclusive.