History of Middlesbrough weighbridge to be preserved

Staff at Rose Funerals on Cumberland Road in Middlesbrough have begun restoring an original coal yard weighbridge hidden beneath their grounds – a relic of the days when the site was a busy depot supplying homes and businesses across Teesside with coal.

The weighbridge, which once measured the wagons coming and going from the yard, has sat largely unnoticed as the area has changed around it.

Now, instead of covering it up, the funeral home plans to bring it back into view as a permanent feature.

Old coal yard weighbridge, now on the Rose Funerals site on Cumberland Road, Middlesbrough. (Image: Rose Funerals Memories)

The news has prompted locals to share their own memories of the coal yard on social media.

One Facebook user commented: “My mam lived next door to the coal yard when she was a child, she used to tell us lots of tales about her and her siblings playing in the coal yard.”

Another said: “I remember playing in there on a night and the watchman with his dog.”

Once the restoration is complete, the weighbridge will be preserved with information plaques telling the story of the depot and its role in keeping the town heated and powered.

Rose Funerals says it wants to honour both the memories of the families it serves today and the history of the place it calls home, by making sure this piece of Middlesbrough’s story is not lost.

Updates on the restoration will be shared as work progresses, with staff saying they “can’t wait” to reveal the finished result to local people who may never have realised they were walking over history.