The Middlesbrough & Guisborough Railway (M&G) was a railway line serving the towns of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

as well as areas of the Eston Hills in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

from 1853 to 1964 when the Guisborough terminus closed. More than half the line's original length is still in use as part of the

Esk Valley Line The Esk Valley Line is a railway line located in the north of England, covering a total distance of approximately , running from Middlesbrough to Whitby. The line follows the course of the River Esk for much of its eastern half. The Esk Vall ...

from Middlesbrough to

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

History

Beginning

The M&G was backed by

Joseph Pease Joseph Pease may refer to: * Joseph Pease (railway pioneer) (1799–1872), railway owner, first Quaker elected Member of Parliament ** Sir Joseph Pease, 1st Baronet (1828–1903), MP 1865–1903, full name Joseph Whitwell Pease, son of Joseph Pea ...

and his family, one of the major local iron ore mine owners. It was one of two railway schemes (along with the Cleveland Railway) competing for the mining business in the area. The scheme was promoted by the

Stockton & Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...

(S&DR), which worked the line and absorbed it in 1858. The line was opened in 1853 to an iron ore mine at Codhill, and passenger services started a year later, stopping in the villages of

Ormesby Ormesby is a village and area split between the unitary authority areas of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. Demographics The Ormesby ward, including Overfields and Ormesby Hall, ...

Nunthorpe Nunthorpe is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, North Riding. It is near to the villa ...

and Pinchinthorpe, before terminating at Guisborough. A private station also existed for the sole use of the Pease family at Hutton Gate for the nearby Hutton Hall. Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway map 1902

Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway map 1902

The Cleveland Railway's original Act was for a line east of Guisborough, but it also developed a rival line across private land branching from further along the S&DR than the M&G, and after permission from the government, its line extended to Guisborough, meaning the town was served by two railway lines. Despite the line's close proximity to the Picton-Battersby Line, it was not until 1865 that the Nunthorpe-Battersby Link was built to connect the two lines.

Part of NER

During 1863-5 both M&G and the Cleveland Railway were absorbed by

NER The Ner is a river in central Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Ru ...

and the old Cleveland line was abandoned south of Ormesby. NER then connected the line east of Guisborough to the M&G line before Guisborough, meaning trains had to reverse out of the terminal before continuing along the line to Loftus. It remained this way until its closure in 1960. A new station was built at Pinchinthorpe and in 1904 Hutton Gate was purchased for public use. The remaining stretch of the Cleveland line was connected to the Middlesbrough-Redcar line and was run as a goods service until 1966. Pinchinthorpe station closed in 1951, with Hutton Gate and Guisborough closing when the branch line service from Middlesbrough ended in 1964.

Present day

The line from Nunthorpe Junction to Guisborough closed in 1964 leaving the section from Middlesbrough open to Battersby. This still remains in use as part of the

, represented by the non-faded part of the diagram.

station was renamed to Marton to take advantage of the

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

connection, and Gypsy Lane was opened. In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).

Gallery

Image:North yorkshire moors railway map.gif, Map of route and surrounding railways

References

{{Railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber Closed railway lines in North East England Railway companies established in 1852 Railway lines opened in 1853 Railway companies disestablished in 1858 1852 establishments in England British companies disestablished in 1858 British companies established in 1852