LET'S HEAD FOR THE MICROS

The first stop is at Stainton, not far to the east of Maltby, where we concluded the last post. The Stainton Inn is where we sample our first beer. 

To the north is the railway station at Thornaby and very close was the yard of Hart Coaches, with some Metropolitain 'deckers.

The Newport to Shildon electrified line of the North Eastern Railway passed Thornaby station. No 6 is seen on a freight.

At more or less the same spot, a class 37 heads for Tees Yard.

A DMU calls at Thornaby station.

31174 and 31145 pass by in 1988.

Most services at Thornaby are run by Northern.

In the middle of the Tees Yard complex is Thornaby TMD.

There have been several open days at Thornaby depot, these shown here being in the 1990s.

Now we approach the town of Middlesbrough, calling in at Doctor Phil's micropub in Linthorpe. Sadly, it seems to have closed in 2022 - what a shame!

Many moons ago, we could have caught a Middlesbrough Corporation tram from Linthorpe.....

.....which would have deposited us on Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough town centre.

Another Middlesbrough tram, a decorated one, in the depot.

Middlesbrough Corporation's buses wore a smart blue colour scheme (Les Flint).

A visit in 1968 found that preparations were being made for the merger with Stockton and the Teesside Railless Traction organisations and a bland livery was being applied.

From the merger Cleveland Transit emerged.

Some vehicles gained an orange colour scheme.

A rather unusual bus in the Cleveland Transit fleet rests in Middlesbrough bus station.

Cleveland Transit later sold out to Stagecoach.

We'll leave the buses behind for the minute annd take a well earned break in some of the town's micropubs. First up, the excellent Infant Hercules.

The Twisted Lip is also worth a visit.

There are several other micropubs in Middlesbrough, but we'll call it a day for now. More of the town to follow in the net post.