Skelton Beck
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Having passed through several new housing developments around Skelton it is pleasant to drop down into the valley of Skelton Beck. The valley is one of several which drain the north eastern edges of the North York Moors and the Eston Hills. Cut rapidly through the newly deposited glacial boulder clay at the end of the Great Ice Age some 10,000 year ago, the steep sided valleys have escaped the farming or building developments that have crowded the more accessible slopes.
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Nature has clothed these banks since the end of the last ice age although man has periodically removed the natural vegetation for fuel and building timber. Some planting has taken place during recent centuries and most of the present woodland is now managed for recreation and nature conservation. A wide variety of insect life is found in the wood and this in turn attracts numerous species of bird. The stream is an ideal habitat for the dipper which may be seen actually walking under the water as it searches for insect larvae. The Jurassic sandstones and shales which form the bed and banks of the stream are part of a RIGS site – a Regionally Important Geological Site.
Cross Skelton Beck by the footbridge and immediately on your left can be seen a deep ditch which parallels the path for some 
distance. This was the mill race which supplied the water to power a corn mill further down the valley. A short deviation just beyond the viaduct brings you to the remains of Marske Mill which was excavated on 1987. A series of corn mills have occupied this site since 1649 but, as with numerous others mills in the district, business began to decline in the early years of the 20 th century as more efficient steam powered mills came into operation. Marske Mill finally ceased operation in 1933 and the remaining buildings were demolished in 1971
The huge railway viaduct under which the Cleveland Way passes carried the line from Whitby to Saltburn and on to Middlesbrough. Opened originally to transport ironstone from nearby mines the line was later used to provide passenger services. 783 feet long and 150 feet high with eleven arches this dramatic brick built structure has been in place for well over 100 years. Although the Whitby – Saltburn railway closed to passenger traffic in 1965, the northern section of the route was retained to service the Skinningrove steelworks. When production started at the new potash mine near Staithes in 1973 a further section of line was reinstated to service the mine and to transport potash to Teesport and is still in use today.