Redcar

At the popular seaside resort of Redcar, where fishing cobles still land on the beach to sell their daily catches, you can experience the thrilling finishes at Redcar Racecourse, relax on award-winning beaches or pick up bargains along the traffic-free High Street.

Redcar’s sweeping, sandy beaches have won the Seaside Award eight years running and stretch for eight miles, south east and north west. In 2006, Redcar beach played host to filming for a major movie blockbuster, when the beach was transformed into 1940s Dunkirk for the Oscar award-winning Atonement.

In the north west the beach runs past Coatham to the South Gare breakwater at the mouth of the River Tees. To the south east the sand beach is bordered by the Stray from Redcar’s Zetland Park to Marske by the sea, and then continues on to Saltburn.

Originating as a fishing town in the 1300s, Redcar is thought to take its name from the once marshy land close to the rocks (Reed – Scar).

Today fishing is still very popular along the coast and for many a source of income. Redcar offers a range of angling locations from flat, sandy beaches to heavy rocky gullies. Codling, whiting, coalfish, flounder and bass are the main catches but you can also find crab and lobster.

Redcar’s coastline is used by many water sports enthusiasts. Windsurfing, sailing and diving are very popular pastimes.

Redcar’s Majuba beach area is sailable in almost any wind direction. Majuba faces north/northeast and receives cross-shore conditions, giving good flat water blasting.

South Gare is a lagoon in the mouth of the Tees which provides a safer sailing venue if the onshore swell at Redcar is too high.

Redcar is bursting with maritime history and influences from the sea. The oldest surviving lifeboat in the world is displayed in the Zetland Lifeboat Museum found on Redcar’s esplanade. Built in 1802, The Zetland has saved over 500 lives.

Nearby the Redcar lifeboat station has the distinction of being one of the oldest of all lifeboat stations maintained around the coasts of the British Isles.

A short distance from the town is historic Kirkleatham, home to the Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum and the Sir William Turner Almshouses. Collections and displays representing local domestic and working life, including fishing, sea rescue, ironstone mining, iron and steel making, transport and much more are all housed in this fine old hall. The museum is also home to many temporary exhibitions.

On the edge of the town is Redcar Racecourse, which dates back over 125 years. If you are looking for a day packed with sheer excitement and spectacle, supported by first class facilities, look no further. A day at Redcar Racecourse is one that you will remember for a long time.