Grinkle Mine, was an ironstone mine working the main Cleveland Seam near to Roxby in North Yorkshire, England. Initially, the ironstone was mined specifically for the furnaces at the Palmer Shipbuilders in Jarrow on the River Tyne, but later, the mine became independent of Palmers. To enable the output from the mine to be exported, a 3-mile (4.8 km) narrow-gauge tramway was constructed that ran across three viaducts and through two tunnels to the harbour of Port Mulgrave, where ships would take the ore directly to Tyneside.
In 1852, Charles Mark Palmer entered into a business venture with his brother, George, to build ships at Jarrow (Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company), on the south bank of the River Tyne in County Durham. As the company installed their own blast furnaces at the shipyard, iron ore needed to be sourced, and a licence was obtained to mine for ironstone in the vicinity of Easington and Boulby on the Yorkshire coast, which had not been mined for iron before this time, but small scale quarrying of ironstone had taken place before in coastal regions. Initially, ore was mined around the Port Mulgrave area which necessitated the building of a port there. Iron was dug from the cliffs, and loaded directly into ships in the port underneath the workings, at first on a wooden jetty, which was later replaced by a stone one.
Since 1864, the Palmers had been buying up land in the area of Staithes when it became available. They purchased the Grinkle Estate, the Seaton Estate and other pockets of land in what was known as the Rosedale area. In 1875, the company moved into a new mine, named Grinkle after the estate it was located on, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Port Mulgrave, and 9.5 miles (15.3 km) north of Whitby. This new venture included building a 3-mile (4.8 km) long tramway connecting the mine to the existing loading facility at Port Mulgrave, as at the time, the nearest railhead was at Redcar some 13 miles (21 km) to the north. The mine had a shaft located at the northern side of the railway sidings, and a drift entrance on the southern side. After the conversion of the mine from steam to electricity, a Sirocco Fan and associated buildings were installed on the site which added improved efficiency in venting gases and introducing air from above ground. The mine worked the main Cleveland Seam of ironstone, although the Port Mulgrave quarrying operations worked the Dogger Seam.
In order to maintain a level operating base for the surface buildings, Easington Beck was diverted through a tunnel and into a culvert. Even so, the new venture was rooted in a narrow valley with many streams and small valleys to cross. Between 1875 and 1899, the mine was owned by Palmers's Shipbuilding & Iron Co., but by July 1899, it was in the ownership of the Grinkle Mining Co. Ltd.[7] This company first floated the idea of a different method of exporting the ore mined, as bad weather at sea affected the shipping of the ore from Port Mulgrave. If the weather was too rough to sail, then this would affect the amount that could be mined as the harbourside at Port Mulgrave had limited storage. However, as the new company was not tied to Palmer's anymore, they could sell their ironstone direct to the furnaces on Teesside.[13] In the 1890s, production was hampered by a downturn in demand for ships, which led to shorter working shifts at the mine. In 1893, the mine was only working for one week in every two. Although the new company did still supply Palmer's with iron ore, they sought out new markets as the output from the mine in 1899 was on average 3,000 short tons (2,700 t) per week, which was being stockpiled as they were unable to sell it all. This led to another reduction of a four-day working week.
Between 1900 and 1914, some ore was transported underground to the Loftus Mine, and then used at Skinningrove Steelworks. This allowed the miners to resume full time working and the contract to supply the Pease and Partners steelworks at Skinningrove, meant that the underground transfer was a simpler method of transporting the ore. However, this practice ceased on the outbreak of the First World War. Additionally, with the possible threat of wartime action at Port Mulgrave, first a rope-worked, then later, an electric incline was installed in 1917, connecting the mine directly with the nearby Whitby to Loftus railway line, which was just to the north. The mine stopped working in 1921, and apart from brief interludes of mining in 1927 and 1929, it had all but stopped supplying Palmers and their blast furnaces at Jarrow ceased production in May 1930, which meant a ceasing of mining at Grinkle. The site was completely abandoned in June 1934,[19] with an official notice stating that the company had been dissolved appearing in the London Gazette in October 1936.