It was Tom Leonard's dream to open a museum to preserve, display and interpret this important part of local history to visitors. As a result of this he started collecting tools and memorabilia associated with the mining industry of Cleveland as the mines in the area closed.

For a number of years the collection was on display in the Gun Room at Gisborough Hall. However, a chance conversation between Tom Leonard and his old friend Tom Robinson (who owned the land where the old Loftus Mine was sited) brought the collection to its current location, the mine where ironstone was first mined in Cleveland. It took some five years work by a team of interested people to clear and prepare the Loftus Mine site, which had stood derelict since the last tubs of ore had been removed in September 1958.

Picture: Tom Leonard in Gun Room at Gisborough Hall, ever the reporter with his notebook in his jacket pocket.

Sadly Tom Leonard died shortly before the Museum opened in Skinningrove in 1983. However, the Museum has gathered strength since then, due in great part to the efforts of many volunteers and Trustees who have gradually developed the Museum.

These efforts resulted in the re-opening of the North Drift, and the re-creation of an authentic experience of what actually happened in a mine. The Experience was opened in 1995, and it won the national Gulbenkian Award for Most Outstanding Achievement with Limited Resources.

The museum re-opened after an extended closure in Winter 1999-2000 following a project that dramatically improved the visitor facilities on site and helped to conserve the Museum buildings. It was funded by ERDF, One NorthEast and Redcar & Cleveland Council.