Redcar and Cleveland Council, which started life as Redcar Borough Council back in 1922, will celebrate its centenary next week, November 9, with the public invited to attend a 1920’s themed display taking place in the reception area at Kirkleatham Museum.
The display, made up of items from the Peter Sotheran archive, the museums archive and the Mayor’s Parlour, will feature old photographs of the first ever Council meeting as well as items from the museum’s archives from the 1920’s for the public to handle and view up close. The items will be on display until the end of the month.
The very first meeting of Redcar Borough Council took place on the 9 November 1922 following the creation of the Borough of Redcar earlier in the year. Due to a high demand for tickets the meeting was moved from the council building to the Palace cinema. Approximately 2,000 people attended, and hundreds gathered outside to watch the arrival of the members and officials.
A period of rapid progress took place over the next ten years with the trunk road opening in 1922, the first group of council houses completed on Westfield Avenue in Redcar and new cottages built for the ‘working classes’ in 1923, Borough and Zetland park were created and opened in 1924, more housing developments were delivered including 251 homes in Dormanstown in 1924, the first public sewer system was completed in 1926 and following the general strike in 1926 local unemployed men were employed to create the lake and other features in Locke Park as well as the Coatham enclosure and open air swimming pool, both were opened in 1930. In 1931 Redcar was the first authority in England to build homes for older people – the Arthur Dorman memorial homes were the first, followed by similar developments on Laburnum Road, McLean Road and Severn Road.
The Mayor of Redcar and Cleveland, Cllr Stuart Smith, said:
“The centenary is a great way to celebrate what makes Redcar and Cleveland such a special place to live, enjoy and do business and an opportunity to build even stronger links across our communities over the next 100 years.
“There has been significant development in the area over the last 100 years and there are ambitious plans for the future.
“For anyone interested in finding out more about our rich heritage I would encourage them to pay a visit to Kirkleatham Museum next week.”