Today’s post comes swift and direct, plucked from the heights of the Ingleby Incline, that rapid ascent from the Cleveland plain to the moor’s crest in just over a mile. Unveiled in 1861 and closed in 1929, this line’s purpose was to transport Rosedale Ironstone to the steel mills of Ferryhill in County Durham.
Down below, the vast bowl known fondly as Midnight Corner, a name earned, they say, because sunlight seldom graces it in winter. Oddly enough, Midnight Farm lies a mile or two distant, likely receiving some in the sun’s rays.
Initially, I believed Siberia was the name of the temporary camp accommodating the navvies toiling on the Ingleby Manor ironstone mine railway and later, the Ingleby Incline. It was located in the field nearest that farm right of centre.
However, I have read another tale — the name Siberia was adopted by the railway staff living in the four cottages that were once standing atop the incline1Ingleby Greenhow Heritage Trail Leaflet. Kirby, Great Broughton & lngleby Greenhow Local History Group. ww.kgbighistory.org.uk. Both tales spin on the tempestuous weather that frequent the locations, it seems. Perhaps the railway folk found the name so enchanting that they carried it forth from the navvy camp, long disassembled by that time.
- 1Ingleby Greenhow Heritage Trail Leaflet. Kirby, Great Broughton & lngleby Greenhow Local History Group. ww.kgbighistory.org.uk
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