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.

A RETURN TO YORKSHRE

 Having now left Darlington behind, we turn south to Croft-on-Tees. The railway station here, on the ECML, was named Croft Spa by the North Eastern Raiway. LNER 757 speeds through in 1928.

Not far to the east is Hurworth, home to a decent pub, the Bay Horse.

Eryholme station was also on the East Coast Main Line. Here it is, circa 1905.

LNER 2403 City of Durham is seen at Eryholme with an up express in 1929.

Continuing eastwards, we soon arrive at Dinsdale, when United 1501 was photographed in 1987. It was a demonstrator for GAC and later passed to CIE in Ireland.

Another demonstrator operating for United, this time from Optare, in Middleton St George.

Not far away, what is now Teesside Airport. Back in 1965 two rare aeroplanes were photographed there. First, a Mooney M.20C Mark 21.

There was also a flying lawn mower!

To the south of the nearby town of Yarm is the Crown at Kirklevington.

In the southern outskirts of Yarm is the Golden Jubilee, a Samuel Smith's house.

Yarm railway station, recently reopened, is high above the town (Creative Commons License).

The railway passes over Yarm town centre by this viaduct. Yarm itself is on the Yorkshire side of the Tees  (Creative Commons License).

Yarm High Street and its town hall  (Creative Commons License).

A Leven Valley (now out of business) bus in the High Street in 2012.

There's a few pubs in Yarm town centre. First, the Ketton Ox. It once hosted illegal cock fighting and had a morgue upstairs.

The Black Bull is worth seeking out, not that it's hard to find.

Another historic inn, the George & Dragon.

Just over the Tees is the 17th Century pub in Egglescliffe, the Pot & Glass.

Not to be confused wth the above, Eaglescliffe is the site of an important railway station. In 1923, it was a busy place.

Today, Northern Rail serves Eaglescliffe, while TransPennine Express passes by.

Heading east, we come to High Leven, where we find the Fox Covert.

And just to the east of that is Maltby (not to be confused with the one in South Yorkshire). It's the home of a pub called the Chadwicks Inn and is seen here as the Pathfinders.

OK, that's it for now, next time we'll be in industrial South Teesside. 

Just a reminder that the route can be followed here.

BUSES, THEN BEER (DARLINGTON)

THe most noteworthy landmark in Darlington is the clock tower over the market.

 Here's St Cuthbert's church (Creative Commons License).

Darlington Corporation once ran trams.

Trolleybuses replaced trams.

A fleet of Daimler and Guy motorbuses replaced the trolleybuses. One of the latter, no. 86, is seen in the town centre.

One of the more unusual vehicle types purchased by Darlington Transport was a batch of Ward Dalesman saloons.

The main depot of United Automobile Services was in Darlington. The building also served as a bus station. Leyland Leopard/Willowbrook coach 6225 emerges from the gloom.

In later years, United buses just terminated on Darlington's streets.

Associated with United was Tees & District. A Leyland Lynx 2 is seen in Darlington.

Arriva took over Tees and United.

Meanwhile, Stagecoach had displaced the buses of Darlington Transport.

Barton coaches, from Nottingham, were frequent visitors to Darlington, having bought out Hall Bros.

Your Bus was a short-lived competitive operator.

Dales & District runs services out into the hills to the west.

In the Market Place is the Pennyweight, a Vaux house back in 1989.

The Britannia is a fine Cameron's pub.

The Glittering Star is a traditional boozer, owned by Samuel Smiths.

Number Twenty 2 is a lovely free house on the edge of the town centre.

The Quakerhouse is worthy finding for its range of real ales.

Darlington has two Wetherspoons, the Tanners Hall and the William Stead.

We now take our leave of Darlington town centre and head out east to Darlington Transport's depot, where we find a row of Roe bodied Daimlers.

In the yard, a Seddon, no. 66..

The next post will see us crossing the border into Yorkshire.