Pike Howe

Opened in 1882 by the North Eastern Railway on its line from Picton to Whitby via Battersby, this station is now on the Middlesbrough-Whitby line. View east towards Castleton Moor and Whitby.

This fired brick bridge marker at Commondale , can only be seen by leaning over the West Rail , and looking on the stone buttress .

The quiet village of Commondale, once a hive of industrial activity. Best known is the brickworks of the Cleveland Fire Brick and Pottery Company which occupied the small dale behind old school and St Peter’s Church built with its distinctive red bricks. This was started in 1860 by John Slater Pratt, a printer from Stokesley, who is reported to have spent £30,000 on land adjacent to the proposed Cleveland Railway. He eventually sold the business to J. Crossley & Son of Middlesbrough, which became the largest brick manufacturer in Cleveland and South Durham. Production ceased in 1947 and the site is now the Raven Gill Campsite for the Scouts. Commondale is also lesser-known with a brief trial with ironstone mining. But that would be an industry that might have been. In 1864 Pratt (yes, the same Pratt who had the brickworks) financed a borehole which hit a 4 feet thick ironstone at a depth of 150 feet. The year before Cleveland Iron Company had secured leases on land below Skelderskew Farm (top left in the photo) and Foul Green Farm (bottom left). A borehole at Foul Green, sunk in 1864, hit ironstone seams and samples sent away for testing. The next we hear is in June 1865 when a case is heard at the Queen’s Bench between the Cleveland Iron Company and a Mr Stephenson who was presumably a shareholder. Stephenson claimed he had visited the site and had met the superintendent of the works, John Slater Pratt (him again). Stephenson said that he had seen no works only a hole in the ground and sued the Cleveland Iron Company for fraud. The court found in favour of Stephenson and an official liquidator was appointed. Work continued under the liquidator for a couple of months while additional funding was sought but eventually work stopped. In March 1866, an auction was held in Whitby but the reserve price was not met. Incidentally one of the bids was from Pratt for £5,500. The following year the liquidator authorised work to begin on sinking the shaft and re-advertised the works on several occasions. Eventually, an offer of £1,000 from a Mr Roberts from London was accepted. It seems that within a couple of years Roberts wound up the site selling off separately the individual equipment, and 32 cottages (“erected for the use of the Cleveland Ironstone Company’s workmen“). In the same month, the remaining lease (“belonging to the late Mr Pratt“) was also sold. The Foul Green shaft was on the raised earth platform that can be seen immediately behind the farm on the right of the photo. This John Slater Pratt sounds quite a character. Born 1807, died 1867. I described him as a mere “printer” but I now discover in fact, he was “a major producer of cheap novels and non-fiction books” with his own London office. A Stokesley lad who did well. Source: Cleveland Ironstone – A memorial to John Owen, published by the Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society and North York Moors National Park Authority 1998. From my photo-diary for 25th February 2020 see Link

Looking SE.

Looking across to Foul Green from the road south of Commondale.

This is the only approach to the station at Commondale, down a path at the side of a field and starting next to someone's garage. There's no road access, car park or adjacent bus stop, so be prepared to walk.

The single short platform at Commondale Station on the Middlesbrough to Whitby line. There's no ticket office, left luggage dept, station buffet, toilets, or even a branch of WHSmith, just a simple little brick shelter with an open front.

The Whitby to Middlesbrough line heading west out of Commondale station.

Looking SE across Westerdale from John Breckon Road.

This little known 'cross' has been used as a gatepost.

Parish Boundary Marker 12 metres northwest of New Road north of Carr House. On the boundary of Westerdale and Danby parishes. Inscribed D and W on opposite faces. Milestone Society National ID: YN_WESDAN26pb