| The changing face of Marton
Then in 1902 - Marton was one of the first villages to suffer the urban sprawl of Teesside. Once a quiet backwater with a traditional village pub - it had a post office and a small general store, a small village school, a church and a church hall.
The black and white picture above was taken at the turn of the century and the distinctive row of terraced houses are still there, and the building in the centre is now a butcher’s shop. The trees in the background near the church still stretch their canopies over that part of the village.
Other wise Marton Village appears unchanged. It is only when the camera is turned to the left that Marton’s problem becomes apparent. The Parkway slip roads feed onto the A172 which passes through the village causing traffic chaos at peak times. Large housing estates either side of Gypsy Lane and Gunnergate Lane add to the road congestion as does commuter traffic to and from Great Ayton and Stokesley.
A new school was built near the shopping centre at Gypsy Lane and the old village school is now a nursery.
This article originally appeared in the June 1999 issue of Now
& Then Magazine
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