Inhabited since the 7th century, Loftus is a lively market town on the edge of North York Moors National Park. Ancient beads, pottery and knives from a rare bed burial were discovered here in the early 2000s and are on display at the Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum.
Things to do in Loftus
Loftus makes an ideal base for visiting the “Land of Iron”, which is located on the site of an ironstone mine that opened in 1865. It tells the story of ironstone mining in North Yorkshire, which dates back to Roman times, and its large-scale development during the Industrial Revolution. Also known as the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, it boasts England’s largest collection of artefacts related to ironstone mining.
From Loftus, you can easily explore the hiking trails that wind through North York Moors National Park, with highlights including the Roseberry Topping, Forge Valley Woods and Robin Hood’s Bay. You can soak up the legendary views from Sutton Bank, explore historic Castle Howard or discover the area’s cultural heritage at the Ryedale Folk Museum. Connecting Pickering and Whitby is the spectacular North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
Sprawling north of Loftus is the Hummersea Nature Reserve, an important tract of coastal habitat managed by the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. Its wet springs and heavy-clay soil support more than 1,000 plant species, as well as a huge diversity of birdlife. In addition to willow warblers and sparrow hawks, rock pipits and starlings have been recorded here.
Getting around Loftus
Loftus is around 30 minutes’ drive from Middlesbrough and 45 minutes from Teesside International Airport, which has flights to destinations across Europe. The much larger Newcastle International Airport is 1.5 hours away. Regular buses connect to Loftus and the town is small enough to explore on foot.