08 Jan 2012     New Year Outing

The weather was perfect for a lovely walk at Runswick Bay. The beach was not quite our very own, as we strolled to the far end of the sand and back again. Cool weather, a clear sky, bright sun and hardly any wind had brought a few others out to clear away the last of the holiday cobwebs. A few Herring Gulls flew across the bay, an Oystercatcher called from the rocky point and a couple of Redshank moved along ahead of us.

A welcome bowl of homemade soup by an open fire in a nearby hotel soon had us warm and refreshed again after our invigorating stroll on the sands.

22 Dec 2011     Midwinter Past

With yesterday’s shortest day of the year safely past, today we crossed Sleights Moor towards the coast. The sun shone from a clear blue sky, the air was calm and the temperature an unseasonally mild 11 degrees Centigrade. From the depths of the heather occasional Red Grouse called at us to ‘Go bak, go bak, go bak’ but we enjoyed their calls and carried on regardless.

At the top of Blue Bank, where the road startes to drop steeply to Sleights and the Esk Valley, Whitby becames visible some four miles distant.  The bright sun caught the ruins of Whitby Abbey and picked it out from the red roofed houses around the harbour at the foot of the 199 Steps. What a magnificent sight it always is - and no wonder Whitby was christened ‘the Haven under the Hill’.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Prosperous 2012 - and a visit to our wonderful Haven under the Hill.

 13 Dec 2011     Romany of the BBC

My first turkey dinner of the year was with a local community group and I found myself next to a local farmer, now retired. He remembered that as a 10-year old boy on his father’s farm near Whitby, he helped to carry Romany from his caravan in the farm woods to a waiting ambulance. After a few days in Whitby hospital his presence was soon common knowledge in the area. So many well-wishers visited him and asked for his autograph that he started to charge 3 old pence a time, to raise funds for the hospital. That was how it was done in the 1950s!

Romany? He was one of the first naturalists to broadcast on the BBC and his radio nature trails on Childrens’ Hour, as well as his many wildlife books, inspired a whole generation including David Attenborough and David Bellamy. My dining companion is a member of The Romany Society (President Terry Waite) which still meets every year, sometimes in Whitby, to celebrate Romany’s groundbreaking work.

 

03 Dec 2011     Victorians at ‘Bay

We had a lovely day at Robin Hood’s Bay, admiring the many Victorians who strolled around the streets, sang carols, opened their homes and houses, exhibited their arts and crafts, led guided walks and generally made their village even more interesting than usual. This was all part of the 18th annual Victorian Weekend at Robin Hood’s Bay today, which was even better than ever.

We also visited the Old Church of St Stephen (rebuilt 1870) at nearby Fylingdales. Now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust, it is open most weekends and well worth a visit to see the triple pulpit (where the vicar would be ‘12 feet above contradiction’) and the original Maidens’ Garlands (on a Hazel hoop, as once described in Hamlet’s death of Ophelia). More…

 

17 Nov 2011     Fallen Giant Resurrected

A 2 metre high stone in the North York Moors National Park is standing tall again thanks to help from Tees Archaeology. Centuries of cultivation around the scheduled monument had reduced the level of the surrounding ground, causing it to topple over. The standing stone is known as Wade’s Stone after the giant who, according to local legend, lived in the area. 
 
Wade and his wife Bell were said to live in a castle in Lythe and kept cattle on the moors. Wade’s Causeway, which crosses Wheeldale Moor in the National Park, was built by the giant so that Bell could milk her cows and the iconic Hole of Horcum was apparently formed during an argument between the two, when Wade scooped up a handful of earth to throw at Bell, creating Blakey Topping – a nearby hill – in the process.
 
Standing stones are prehistoric ritual or ceremonial monuments with dates ranging from the late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age (c.3000 to 800 BC). They may have been markers relating to land ownership, for route-ways, graves or meeting points. The stone was re-erected with funding from the North York Moors National Park Authority’s Monument Management Scheme, a partnership between the Authority and English Heritage to reduce the ‘At Risk’ status of Scheduled Monuments and improve their management. Nearly a third of all the scheduled monuments for the entire Yorkshire & Humber region can be found in the North York Moors National Park.

Graham Lee, the National Park Authority’s Senior Archaeological Conservation Officer, said: “The standing stones and crosses dotted across the North York Moors are part of the area’s charm. They make our ancestors seem almost tangible and are probably some of the most photographed objects in the National Park. The sheer size of some of these stones adds to the mystery of how they got here and what they were for – it’s therefore not surprising that local legends have sprung up around many of them.”
 
There is no public access to Wade’s Stone but it can be easily viewed from the A174 near East Barnby Outdoor Education Centre. 

08 Nov 2011     Single Goth Weekend next year

The organisers  of the double Goth Weekends have agreed to hold everything on one weekend next autumn. The Hallowe’en weekend will encompass all the Goth events next autumn, which will avoid any possible confusion.

 02 Nov 2011     Double Goth Weekends

This autumn the organisers of the Goth weekend have created two events, on consecutive weekends. The Hallowe’en weekend as before - and now also the following weekend.

Many Goths visiting Whitby extend the weekend by staying a few extra days before or after, to enjoy the area. Now perhaps there is the possibility of some Goths staying for both weekends and the week inbetween, turning a weekend festival into a possible 10-day festival? Which means lots more opportunity for the rest of us Goth-watchers to enjoy the spectacle!

The unusually mild and sunny weather continues, a far cry from the thunderstorms and lightning usually associated with the Goth movement.

22 October 2011    No place like home

Canada was wonderful and we really enjoyed our holiday there, but it is so nice to be back home again in dear old Whitby.

Our connecting flight was delayed by some far distant problems with Greek air traffic control. We were slightly jet lagged on arrival, drove for thousands of kilometres on the other side of the road, coped with confusing road signs with French subtitles, saw some lovely scenery - and some awful urban sprawl. We enjoyed some very odd food (eg freshly baked broccoli quiche for breakfast), endured a sleepless 40 hours in transit on the way home again and, in total, spent almost a day in dear old Heathrow. And then we each developed nasty colds, which lasted longer than the holiday itself. Ah yes, the joys of foreign travel!

But today, almost fully recovered, we made a point of enjoying a proper Whitby Day, making a point of doing all the things that we lucky residents sometimes take for granted. We started with a full English breakfast and then strolled along Whitby’s narrow streets, lined with lots of interesting litle shops. We visited all our favourite viewpoints, enjoyed a walk on the West Pier for a look back at this lovely historic port we call home. Some proper Whitby fish and chips to complete the day and then we made our way home again.

Canada? Fabulous. Whitby? Even better!

26 September 2011   Blooming Best Small Resort

Whitby scooped the title of Best Floral Town in the Small Coastal Category of this year’s Britain in Bloom competition. The prestigious Gold Medal was awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society at a ceremony in St Andrews, Scotland yesterday.

All credit to the local volunteers of the Whitby in Bloom group who have worked tirelessly for several years, planting thousands of bulbs, trees and plants around the town.

Susan Davies, Chair of Whitby in Bloom, commented on what the town had to offer: “Everything that we do within our ‘In Bloom’ activities is in keeping with our heritage and culture; from embracing the town’s whaling background, its ecclesiastical origins, through to the ‘mad hatter’s’ tea parties, marking the town’s association with Lewis Carroll, and even a Gothic Weekend. We have a lot of people in Whitby who work hard to keep our town and environment as beautiful as possible. The last time we entered Britain in Bloom in 2006, we were given a Silver Award, and year on year we have strived to improve on that result.”

Many visitors much admire the ‘river of crocuses’ which blooms in the Spring on the main approach road to the town.  But it was the summer displays which so impressed the Britain in Bloom judges when they toured the town in mid-August this year - despite their visit coinciding with an ill-timed torrential downpour!

 

20 September 2011     Weaving the Light

Photographer Phil Cornelius has stood on all seven continents and his travel images have sold to book and magazine publishers around the world, yet he says the light and drama of the North York Moors and coast never cease to amaze him.

Phil has lived on the edge of the North York Moors National Park since the mid 1980s and his latest exhibition ‘Weaving the Light’, showcases his love for the landscape on his doorstep in both black and white and full colour prints. “It takes a long time to build a relationship with an area as diverse as the North York Moors,” he says. “It’s a wild, fascinating place with a unique atmosphere reflected in mist and ever-changing light. I try hard to distil something of this remote, ethereal quality into my images.”

Alongside Phil’s work will be an exhibition by the Textile Art Pool, a group of northern artists whose work includes embroidery, patchwork, quilting and felting.

Both exhibitions take place at the ‘Inspired by… Gallery’ in The Moors Centre near Danby and run from 22 September to 4 October. The gallery is located at The Moors National Park Centre and is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Entry is free.

05 September 2011     Summer weather

What an unusual year it has been so far.

Following the most severe winter for many decades we then had lovely summer weather in April, a couple of months earlier than usual. The very dry spring continued but then degenerated into a cool, dull and damp summer, with a rather disappointing August weatherwise. The only consolation was that this poor summer weather also affected the rest of the UK.

Whatever the weather, we weathered the weather together and in August the 171st Annual Whitby Regatta was its usual great success, as was Whitby Folk Week, the UK’s 6th biggest Folk Week. Who knows, we may yet get a lovely autumn…

26 August 2011     Whitby is a premier Must See

The British Isles include many wonderful and less known places to visit, in addition to all the most popular ones. In a recent Top 50 ‘undiscovered’ places compiled by a major hotel chain, Whitby features not once but twice: Whitby Museum is a little gem within Pannett Park, and displays a wonderful collection of local fossils, jet jewellery and, of course, the gruesome Hand of Glory. Another, if less expected local site, is the Early Warning Station at RAF Fylingdales on the moortop by the A169 from Pickering to Whitby.

The original 3 giant radomes, known locally as the ‘golfballs’, have long gone and are now replaced by a less graceful flat-sided structure which constantly scans the skies for any unwelcome missiles. When the ‘3 minute warning’ comes, this is where it comes from!

15 August 2011     Red Arrows at Whitby Regatta

Thousands on Whitby’s coastline watched in awe and admiration as the RAF Red Arrow Display Team put on another spectacular performance. This was the final day of Whitby’s 171st Annual Regatta and the weather was near perfect.

Friends of ours decided to find a less crowed viewpoint and went 2 miles east to the village of Hawsker, where the very distinctive church tower-cum-spire is used by the pilots as a rendezvous point. They regroup over the village at the end of each manouver and set off again for the next pass over the Whitby crowds. So next year, if you want to find a more exclusive grandstand for the Red Arrows’ display, join the locals who are ‘in the know’ and head for Hawsker.

30 July 2011     Sea watching at Sandsend

We had a lovely late afternoon at Sandsend today. It was warm, sunny and very pleasant for a stroll along the sea front, enjoying a locally made ice cream each and then visiting the interesting little shops. A coffee and a cake at a local cafe and we were ready to stroll back the way we came until we came to a lovely, curvy bench (thank-you Katie) where we sat to watch the waves and the surfers just below us.

The tide was almost full and lines of white breakers stretched from our end of the sand (Sandsend) to the Whitby end, some 2 miles away. Experienced surfers sat astride their boards, well out beyond the breaking waves, waiting and waiting and waiting for The Big One. At the water’s edge, just below our feet, were the beginners on their bellyboards, catching as many waves as possible and progressing only a few yards onto the beach. On the horizon several big cargo ships were moving along the coast to some distant port. Closer inshore was a constantly changing collection of smaller craft: local yachts, fishing boats and boatloads of visitors, all enjoying the sea almost as much as we were.

We were so mesmerised and so relaxed that the tide was on its way out again before we ever noticed the time and had to leave. Otis Reading was so right.

19 July 2011     Whitby Salutes the Yorkshire Regiment

Crowds packed the streets of Whitby to welcome 100 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. They were cheered all the way as they marched from Church Street, over the swing bridge, along Baxtergate, up Bagdale and Chubb Hill, along St Hilda’s Terrace and then into Pannett Park. Thousands of people lined the route and 600 local pupils waved their little flags.

On the steps of Pannett Art Gallery they were met by the Mayor of Whitby who presented them with a Whitby town flag and a painting of Whitby Abbey. After the formal speeches the troops were able to relax, mix with their families in the Park and enjoy a drink and some traditional Whitby fish and chips, with lots of other food. All of this hospitality was provided free of charge by local businesses who wanted to show their appreciation for ‘our boys’ on their Farewell Parade, before they leave Yorkshire on a 2 year tour of duty to Cyprus and beyond.

10 July 2011     Blessing of the Boats

This afternoon the Bishop of Whitby led the annual service at Whitby harbourside. The Lifeboat Station was the very appropriate setting for the ceremony, with many local dignataries, residents and visitors joining in - not to mention a good range of boats in the lower harbour.

02 July 2011     Runswick Bay day

We enjoyed a lovely day at Runswick Bay today, starting with a walk down the steep footpath which was once the only road down to the old village. Once down to sea level we strolled to the far end of the beach, passing the legendary caves where Hob Hole Hob once worked a cure for ‘kink cough’ (now better known as whooping cough). We searched for fragments of jet in the rocky pools,  found several, then picked up a short section of a fossil Belemite on our way back to the village.

After a generous sandwich, we explored the narrow alleyways of the old village before working our way back up the old road to the new village and our car. Driving hove past Sandsend, we were surprised to see the breaking waves there, in complete contrast to the almost flat calm bay we had just left behind.

27 June 2011     New Family Tracker Pack

People visiting Robin Hood’s Bay can find out more about the wildlife and heritage of the picturesque village and surrounding coastline by picking up a new Coast Alive Tracker Pack. Each pack contains a route map for a short walk using the seashore and the Cleveland Way National Trail, binoculars, a magnifying glass plus fun nature activities and wildlife identification guides. Available from the Old Coastguard Station, the packs are aimed at families and are available to borrow free of charge.

 

The tracker packs have been developed by the North York Moors National Park Authority and the National Trust with funding from the Coast Alive Project, a European-funded project that aims to test different ways of encouraging people to make use of the network of coastal paths around the North Sea. Similar packs containing information on for a walk from Ravenscar will be available from the National Trust’s Ravenscar Visitor Centre in August.

 

Malcolm Hodgson, National Trail Officer for the Cleveland Way, said: “The North Yorkshire coastline has some fascinating tales to tell and is a wonderful place to spot all kinds of wildlife. These new packs will provide fun activities for families to take part in while enjoying the fresh air and wonderful views to be found at Robin Hood’s Bay and Ravenscar. I hope it will provide inspiration for future visits to our beautiful coast.”

 

 

The Robin Hood’s Bay Tracker Pack can be pre-booked by calling 01947 885900 and the Ravenscar Tracker Pack (available from August) by calling 01723 870138. Alternatively, people can just turn up and request one. A returnable £10 deposit and proof of identification are needed to borrow a pack for the day. For more information on the Coast Alive Project go to www.coast-alive.eu. The Cleveland Way National Trail is funded by Natural England, the North York Moors National Park Authority, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and Scarborough Borough Council.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18 June 2011      Dawn to Dusk with Peter Hicks

Tickets are now on sale for a screening of Dawn to Dusk at The Moors National Park Centre, Danby at 2pm on Sunday 26 June. Nicholas Turner’s film is an extraordinary journey into the world and philosophy of 70-year-old landscape artist Peter Hicks as he meditates on the beauty of the North York Moors National Park from dawn to dusk. Living in Danby in the heart of the National Park, Peter Hicks works in a variety of media to create sweeping landscapes of the moors in all seasons and weathers. He favours atmosphere over replication and is an eccentric and inspiring narrator throughout the film as he explains his philosophy and how he overcomes the daily difficulties in creating his art.

 

Nicholas Turner grew up in Danby and is now a London-based independent editor, filmmaker and musician. Dawn to Dusk is his first feature film and is ‘a love song to the place I grew up’. He says:
“What interests me is exploring where our creativity comes from, how an artist begins with a blank canvas and then sets about creating something beautiful and unique. I wanted to document the process of a work of art from the first moment until the last, something which I haven’t seen done in a feature film before - at least not in an interesting way. The topics Peter discusses here are equally as relevant to me as a musician and filmmaker as they might for a painter or sculptor.”

 

The film is enhanced by a beautiful and atmospheric soundtrack by the eclectic transatlantic band Colourmusic. The screening of Dawn to Dusk at The Moors National Park Centre will be accompanied by a Q&A with both Peter Hicks and Nicholas Turner. Tickets cost £5 and are available by calling 01439 772738. A drink and nibbles are included in the ticket price. More information about the film can be found at www.dawntoduskmovie.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

09 June 2011     Pier repair

Today I sat in the shade of the Lifeboat station, looking across the harbour to the trawlers moored at the fishing quay and downstream towards the piers and the sea. A couple of Herring Gulls walked across to check if I was eating anything (yes, but nothing for them!), our retired lifeboat took another trip out to sea with a group of visitors on board, and a crane stood high above the Victorian East Pier lighthouse.

This crane stands on a jack-up barge, currently positioned just off the East Pier light, and it is working to repair the years of damage to the ancient stonework of the pier. A trench has been cut on the seabed just offshore and submarine concrete is being inserted to help restore and protect the pier.

03 June 2011     Hottest day of the year

You know what they say about the English Summer: ‘Three fine days and then a thunder storm’. Well, today has been even hotter than the last few days, with my car showing 30 degrees C on the display, and that’s TDH as far as I’m concerned!

TDH? Too Damned Hot!

30 May 2011     We needed the rain

After so little rain this spring, not to mention our heatwave in April, the ground was so dry. Rivers were low, the moors were dry, lawns were parched and my vegetable patch was downright dustbowl dry. Our only water supply for Whitby and the Esk Valley is from the River Esk, with water extracted just above Ruswarp weir for purification and then pumped to all areas. When the river level is down, as it has been for several months, then a greater percentage of the total flow has to be extracted for human use.

Water supplies are still plentiful, but no one knows just how much longer this very dry spring and summer may continue… In the past 36 hours we have had a very welcome quarter of an inch of steady drizzle. We needed the rain - but it really didn’t have to arrive on this Bank Holiday Monday!

16 May 2011      When in Whitby

For those of us lucky enough to live in this area, we may occasionally forget just how special it is to our visitors. With friends staying for a few days, we made a list of all the ‘must do’ things they should see. Just for starters, a stroll around the quaint streets and unusual little shops around the harbour, climb the 199 Steps to see inside St Mary’s church and Whitby Abbey, then some delicious fish and chips in any one of our many award winning restaurants.

Another day we explored the Esk Valley, calling at the National Park Visitor Centre at Danby, a relaxing walk on the wide open spaces of the moortop, afternoon tea in a local tea garden and then a superb meal in a village pub. Another day we explored the Esk Valley Railway and the North Yorkshire Moors [steam] Railway and did some local shopping. Then another coastal day exploring the beaches and clifftop paths. One day we even crossed the moors to the outside world at Hutton-le-Hole to visit the Ryedale Folk Museum and its many local buildings and artifacts, including many from the Esk Valley of course.

Not only did our visitors enjoy their visit here, but it also gave us another chance to really appreciate just how lucky we are to live here and be surrounded by such wonderful countryside.

07 May 2011     The green way to explore

Moorsbus is the green way to discover and explore the North York Moors. This network of bus services to and through the North York Moors National Park makes it easy to explore the area without the need for a car. Car-free travel helps keep the Moors a special and more enjoyable place, both now and for future generations.

Pick up a Moorsbus network timetable for 2011 to find out how to save money by leaving the car behind. You’ll recognise a Moorsbus by the plum triangle with the yellow M displayed at the front of bus. In towns and villages they use normal bus stops but out in the countryside you can hail the bus and drivers will stop for you wherever it is safe to do so. For £5 an adult can travel on the inner zone network all day, including the Coastliner 840 route and on Arriva 93 and 5 services. Combined bus and rail ‘Moorslink’ tickets operate on both the North Yorkshire Moors [steam] Railway and on the Esk Valley Railway.

For details of all these car-free alternatives, see the Moorsbus leaflets or visit the Moorsbus pages of the North York Moors National Park website. More…

26 April 2011     Heatwave continues

With temperatures up to 25 degrees Centigrade, the whole area has been busy over the Easter week. Many attractions reported some of their busiest ever days for several years. Yes, we did have the occasional ’sea roke’ once or twice, as the coast was suddenly shrouded in a foggy sea fret, but seasoned locals and visitors know that this is fairly easy to avoid. Just move inland a mile or two and you will probably discover that the rest of the North York Moors is still warm and sunny.

20 April 2011     Dog owners can help the moors

People walking their dogs in the North York Moors National Park between now and the end of July are asked to do their bit to look after ground-nesting birds and their young. Please keep your pet on a lead when out on the moortop. Many farms are also in the middle of lambing, so the National Park Authority is also reminding people to keep their dogs on a lead near livestock.

As this lovely weather continues towards the Easter weekend, more visitor attractions are re-opening and more events are being published. Keep up to date with our Events List to get the most from your visit.

12 April 2011     The grass is riz

The spring is sprung, the grass is riz.
I wonder where the birdies is?
The birds are on the wing - but that’s absurd -
I always thought the wing was on the bird!

Ogden Nash put it very nicely, but as the warm, dry and sunny weather continues we went birding locally with visiting friends. The RSPB’s Bempton Cliff is about 30 miles away and well worth the trip, with tens of thousands of seabirds already nesting on the cliffs. Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills and even a few Puffins crowd the ledges and soar overhead in the most spectacular way.

Much closer to home and just 4 miles from Whitby, the Oak and Beech woods near Falling Foss waterfall around Littlebeck are now alive with birdsong. As the young leaves begin to cloak the trees, we heard and saw Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Redstart, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Marsh Tit, Green Woodpecker, as well as the more usual Dunnock, Robin, etc. Then up onto the nearby moorland where we were delighted to find Curlew, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Short Eared Owl and (my favourite bird of the North York Moors) a predatory Merlin dashing low across the Heather.

With such a magnificent landscape - just another word for ‘habitat’ - comes an equally impressive bird list. Our birding visitors were very impressed!

04 April 2011     175th Year of Steam Railway

Now that Spring is really here and April has arrived, there is a bit of a buzz about. Many attractions have reopened for the summer and steam trains are once again running into Whitby from Pickering (this is in addition to our year-round diesel trains on the Esk Valley Railway from Middlesbrough).

The North York Moors [steam] Railway is celebrating its 175th Anniversary, starting with several days of events later this month, as well as many additional events throughout the season. Visit http://www.nymr.co.uk/special-events/spring-steam-gala/ for details.

25 March 2011     Glorious Goth Weekends

This glorious Spring weather has also attracted the annual gathering of Goths in Whitby. And not for just the usual one weekend, but this Spring it will be for two consecutive weekends. This double event gives Goth Watchers even more chances to see our friendly Goths in all their eye-catching finery.

Two different organisers have staged two different events on two consecutive weekends this year, which gives the rest of us double value of entertaining characters strolling through our picturesque streets. They enjoy the Gothic ruins of Whitby Abbey and our quaint streets, while we all enjoy their eccentric dress code.

19 March 2011     Spring in our step

The warm spring weather continues and is very welcome. We enjoyed the sound of our first spring migrant bird this year, as a Chiffchaff sang in a local wood. It may have a very simple song, but after the hardest winter for 100 years, its still a very welcome one!

Daffodils on sunny slopes are well advanced, with clumps of flowering Primroses, Dog Violets and even Lesser Celadine as we enjoyed walking the Old Toll Road from Grosmont to Egton Bridge. We even saw our first lambs out in the fields, so let’s hope that Summer is just around the corner.

03 March 2011     Whitby blooms

Spring appears to have sprung, with the spectacular ‘crocus river’ now in full bloom along the grass verge of Mayfield Avenue, Whitby. Other colourful features are also appearing around the town, thanks to the local Whitby in Bloom group. They are also responsible for a chainsaw carved statue of ‘Brother William’ which has just appeared in Ruswarp village centre and commemorates an ancient story about this monk from the village. Thanks to our Bloom Group’s efforts, Whitby has been chosen to represent Yorkshire in Britain in Bloom 2011.

My daffodils have been in flower for several days now and my garden pond is full of frogs and frogspawn. If Spring has arrived, can Summer be far behind?

22 Feb 2011     Eventful 2011

Spring is in the air, the days are noticably longer and lots of event organisers have begun to publish their plans for the rest of the year. Dozens of events are now listed on our What’s On - Events Page and they cover a veritable host of indoor and outdoor activities throughout the whole year. These range from the very ancient Planting of the Penny Hedge Ceremony on Wed 01 June to Santa Specials in December.

Find out what will be happening in this area when you are on holiday - or even plan your holidays to include some of our events. Have a great 2011 in Whitby and District!

13 Feb 2011     150th Service of Commemoration

The 150th Anniversary of one of the country’s worst Lifeboat disasters was marked today by a very special service in the ancient St Mary’s Church on Whitby’s East Cliff. Attended by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant and the Bishop of Whitby, the large congregation included today’s Lifeboatmen, as well as Coastguards, Air Cadets, civic representitives, pupils of East Whitby Primary School and members of the public. Marske Fishermens’ Choir sang and there were many readings to mark the capsise of the Whitby Lifeboat and the drowning of our 12 Lifeboatmen. Their 10 widows and the 46 children they left behind were also remembered.

Keith Stewart, today’s Launch Operations Manager of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), read from the Deposition of the Master of the ‘Merchant’:

Left Sunderland 8th February 1861 with a cargo of coals. At midnight blowing a gale from the ENE. At 8.30 am wore to the North, jib and fore trysail adrift, bulwarks carried away and boats smashed. At 3 pm gale having increased to hurricane, the sea tremendous, and finding the ship could not be kept off the land, the crew exhausted, determined to run the ship, then off Whitby, for the harbour. On nearing, the ship was struck by three heavy seas and driven past the North side. On striking [the Abbey Rocks] the crew took to the rigging, the sea making clean breaches over them. In about 20 minutes the lifeboat was launched… The Merchant’s Mate… had a rope which was ready to throw… when a man in the lifeboat called for it to be passed before the main rigging. The Mate and myself went forward, and on looking for the lifeboat found her upset and her crew in the water. They were all drowned save one. The rocket apperatus was then used but without effect. The mortar was then carried to the pier, and a line thrown over our vessel, the crew were successfully drawn to the shore.

The same bravery is still shown by today’s RNLI crews, who go to sea when everyone else is making for the safety of the shore. See http://rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/north/stations/WhitbyNorthYorkshire/

09 Feb 2011     Henry Freeman - sole survivor

Saturday, 09 Feb 1861 was one of Whitby’s darkest days. Ferocious storms blew a fleet of sailing ships onto the coast. Five times during the day Whitby’s rowing lifeboat was launched. Five times crew of the stricken vessels were saved.

A sixth call was to end in disaster. When attempting to save the crew of the schooner ‘Merchant’ the lifeboat capsised. Hundreds of Whitby folk - including the wives and children of the lifeboat men - watched in horror and disbelief as one by one the crew perished a mere 50 yards from the pier. Only one of the 13 lifeboat men survived - Henry Freeman. He was the only lifeboat man wearing that new fangled contraption, a newly designed cork waistcoat, later to be called a lifejacket.

Less than 6 hours after the tragedy, another ship ran aground near the West Pier. As the old East Side lifeboat was lowered into the water, 13 Whitby men stepped forward to row out to the rescue. Their bravery saved every man on board the distressed ship, except for one.

Over the intervening 150 years many other rescues have been undertaken. To all Lifeboat men, past and present, we salute you.

Harry Collett (Collett 01947 821734).

NB: On Sunday 09 Feb 2011 there will be a RNLI Commerative Service in St Mary’s Church. See What’s On Events Diary.

01 Feb 2011     Britain’s Most Romantic

In a national poll just published by BBC Countryfile magazine, Whitby Abbey has been voted the nation’s most romantic ruin. Its majestic atmosphere helped secure its place as your favourite romantic ruin in Britain. Atop 199 steps and set among breath-taking scenery, the Gothic 13th-century abbey is most known for being the location where, in AD 664, the date for Easter was set by St Hilda at the Synod of Whitby.

Find out more about the survey at http://www.countryfile.com/feature/discover/britains-favourite-romantic-ruins-results and more about all the other ruins ir beat, like Fountains Abbey, Corfe Castle, Kenilworth Castle, etc.

27 Jan 2011     Whitby Antique Roadtrip

This afternoon BBC once again featured Whitby, this time on its Antiques Road Trip series. Two top antique experts travelled to Whitby and explored our antique shops in their search for bargains. One visited The Bazaar on Skinner Street to buy a pair of ceramic lions and a copper preserving pan, while the other went to Eskdale Antiques in the village of Sleights and bought an original enamel advertising sign for dog biscuits.

After enjoying some Whitby fish and chips, the experts travelled to Pickering, one by the A169 moor road and the other by steam train on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. More antiques were bought in Pickering before they travelled on towards Leeds. Watch the programme here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y136s

18 Jan 2011     Whitby trains Michael Portillo

On BBC 2 television this evening in Series Two of ‘Great British Railway Journeys’ railway enthusiast Michael Portillo travelled by rail to Whitby. Following Bradshaw’s 19th Century Guidebook, he explores Whitby led by the Chair of our Whitby and District Tourism Association Chairman, Harry Collett - who even persuades him to do what the name implies in Whitby’s ’screaming tunnel’.

Another first for this ex-government minister was to shovel coal on a steam train from Whitby to Pickering, which he soon discovered was very hard work! Click here to watch it now on the BBC iplayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xxr39/Great_British_Railway_Journeys_Series_2_Durham_to_Grosmont/

08 Jan 2011     New Year thaw

It was several days into 2011 before the thaw finally arrived in this area and the white landscape of the last 5 weeks was replaced by a green one. Now there are only odd scraps of snow in the hedge backs and field drains. Even far up the Esk Valley the landscape of Great Fryup Dale or Danby Dale is 90% green or brown again and only the most shaded sections of the most minor roads still have an inch of snow cover.

Back in the olden days, a few hundred years ago, Whitby and district would be cut off for weeks at a time and travel across the moors was almost impossible. Today, however, we not only have the Esk Valley Railway line but also the well maintained main roads from Pickering (A169) and from Scarborough and Guisborough (A171). So if you want some real peace and tranquility, at the quietest time of the year, the next few weeks may be the best time to visit us.

24 Dec 2010     Happy Christmas from Whitby

Another 2 or 3 inches of snow fell today and for a few hours the A170 road to Scarborough and Guisborough was ‘passable with care’, while the A169 to Pickering was ‘treacherous’. Both roads cross the North York Moors at over 750 feet above sea level and are often the first to be affected when the wind is from the North East. Gritting lorries with snowploughs worked to keep the roads open and the snow had stopped falling by late afternoon.

It was now just over 4 weeks ago that the snow and ice started in this area, with the rest of the UK following suite over the past month - trust the Whitby area to lead the way! Perhaps we will also be the first to introduce a gentle thaw?

Whatever happens, everyone at VisitWhitby.com wishes you a very warm and Happy Christmas, with Best Wishes for your next visit to Whitby in 2011!

21 Dec 2010     Dreaming of a green Christmas

This morning’s lunar eclipse on the shortest day of the year was a beautiful sight - and only happens ‘once in a blue moon’.  A few light snow showers have turned the whole area white again, overnight frosts continue and the whole area is even more stunningly beautiful than usual. Who needs indoor Christmas decorations when the landscape is already looking like the ultimate Christmas card, with the trees standing starkly against the snow and the bright sun already glints on every bit of ice?

While the River Esk may be frozen over at the Salmon Leap weir in Sleights and there is ice in Whitby harbour, all the local main roads are open and the local trains are running normally. What an ideal time to enjoy our traditional warm Whitby welcome over the Christmas holidays and in such spectacular surroundings!

17 Dec 2010     Jack Frost

The bright sunny weather which melted some of the snow cover belies the deep frost which continues every night. While the main roads and railways are back to near normal, many of the smaller and higher roads are still tricky.

Some ’roof avalanches’ left dumps of snow several feet deep outside peoples’ houses, sometimes blocking any outward-opening shed or conservatory doors. Others have reported knocking down big icicles from their house gutters, but the most unusual story was a family in Goathland who realised that one particular icicle had developed aroundtheir telephone wire. If they knocked it down it might also remove their phoneline, so they had to lean out of an upstairs window with a hair-dryer, until the offending icicle was melted away!

10 Dec 2010     Minus 8 to plus 8 degrees

The thaw began yesterday and already the changes are noticable. For 2 weeks Whitby Abbey was a dark outline against an all white background but now it stands amid green fields again. Throughout the area the rumble of passing snowploughs has been replaced by rumbling ‘roof avalances’, as the deep snow finally slides off and the red roofs reappear. The ice in Whitby harbour and at Ruswarp Dam has vanished as the swollen River Esk carries the meltwater away and the icy white roads have turned back to the more familiar black tarmac. One week ago I recorded a temperature of -8 degrees Centigrade and today it has risen to a dizzy +8 degrees.

Only a couple of days ago there were 100 cars stuck in a sudden snow storm on the A171 between Whitby and Scarborough but now England has been reconnected to Whitby by road, the trains are running normally again and the villages are back in touch with Whitby and the world. While the villages were out of touch it soon became obvious that those which still have a village shop fared much better than those without one, but neighbours always keep the less agile well supplied with food and other essentials. So much for the modern supermarket policy of  ‘just in time’ deliveries!

Even the Lion Inn high on Blakey Rigg near the headwaters of the River Esk was finally reached by snowploughs, after the customers and staff were marooned there for almost a week.

03 Dec 2010     What a winter wonderland

The heavy snow continues and the overnight temperature in my garden dropped to minus 10 degrees Centigrade the other night. In common with most parts of the UK, roads are either closed or ‘passable with care’, most side roads are untreated, and the rail and bus services are much reduced. Many schools are closed and many events cancelled. The A169 to Pickering has been completely blocked by snow for a week.

Having said all that, anyone who is fit and healthy and with a good spirit of adventure would probably have a super holiday in our beautiful Winter Wonderland. A 4×4 vehicle, good driving experience in difficult snow conditions and an interest in skiing or snowboarding would be an advantage!

26 Nov 2010     England cut off from Whitby

After the earliest onset of wintry weather for about 20 years, the A169 from Whitby to Pickering and York is blocked by snow just South of Goathland. A friend in the village there tells me they have 20 inches of level snow on the lawn! It seems we on the East coast of England and Scotland are the first to get the snow this winter, but it will probably spread further across the UK in the next few days…

18 Nov 2010     Annual General Meeting

At this evening’s AGM of the Whitby and District Tourism Association (WDTA, founded 1995) the Chairman reported on the past year. The WDTA was represented at numerous meetings of at least 7 different organisations. Bow House Ltd published our 8th Whitby Guidebook and is currently working on our 9th for 2011, as well as marketing this website (which is consistently near the top of page 1 of a Google search for ‘Whitby’).

We also organised our 6th ‘Spirit of the 40s Weekend’ which was a great success. Last month WDTA organised the 26th annual Captain Cook Commerative Service and wreath-laying ceremony, attended by 7 neighbouring Mayors and Chairs with Cook connections. All of the committee were thanked for their hard work throughout the year and the officers were re-elected for 2011.

12 Nov 2010     Elizabeth goes to London

No, not to meet the Queen, but to take part in the Lord Mayor’s Parade. Elizabeth the Steam Bus is the only working vehicle of her type in the world and she provides a daily service around Whitby during the summer months. When I saw her yesterday she was all dressed up in VisitYorkshire regalia and was about to be loaded onto a trailer for her trip to London.

If you live in the London area do look out for her as she brings a little bit of Whitby to our capital city. For more information about her, visit her website at http://www.whitbysteambusandcharabanc.co.uk/elizabeth.htm

03 Nov 2010     Great Goth Weekend

The weather was kind to thousands of Goths when they spent the Hallowe’n weekend in Whitby. This was perhaps the best attended of all the Whitby Goth Weekends with extra Goths arriving from overseas, having been unable to attend the Spring 2010 event because of the volcanic ash preventing many international flights.

English Heritage arranged to have the ancient ruins of Whitby Abbey floodlight, with magnificent red, blue and purple lighting effects over the weekend. The Goth Weekend even made the BBC News, as you can see by visiting http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/york/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_9144000/9144676.stm

24 Oct 2010     Will your anchor hold?

The bells rang out and a big Australian flag rippled proudly above St Mary’s Church at the top of the 199 Steps this morning. A strong wind moaned across the church roof and the seas crashed far below as we held the 24th Annual Service to commemorate the birth of Captain James Cook RN FRS. The Marske Fishermen’s Choir and the East Cliff Primary School Choir sang very appropriate songs, in addition to the traditional seafarers’ hymns. The Reverend Canon David Smith led the service and the Preacher was the Venerable Paul Ferguson Archdeacon of Cleveland.

Councillor Dorothy Clegg read an extract from Captain Cook’s Journal of 1774, as the Resolution finally turned around at the ice wall it encountered at 71 degrees South - further South than anyone had ever ventured before - without encountering land. They had been 103 days at sea and were in desperate need of sheltered waters in much warmer climes. The service was followed by the laying of wreaths at the feet of Captain Cook’s statue on the West Cliff and the whole event was organised by the Whitby and District Tourism Association (WDTA).

20 October 2010     First snow shower

After several weeks of mainly dry and mild weather, an overnight change to Northerly winds brought our very first brief flurry of snow to the moortop. At Sillers Howe, above Goathland, the early morning landscape was today covered with a thin layer of snow left by the wintery showers. By mid-morning it had all melted away as the sun rose in a clear blue sky.

Only a few days ago we had walked through the woods at Littlebeck, admiring the first autumnal colours in the Ancient Woodland (pre-1600 AD) alongside the small stream (or little beck) that drains Fylingdale Moor towards the River Esk. It seems that winter draws on…

15 October 2010     Whitby blooms even brighter

Having already won a Silver Gilt in Yorkshire in Bloom, not to mention coming first in the Small Seaside Resort category, Whitby has now been invited to enter for next year’s Britain in Bloom competition - a real feather in our cap! Or should that be a real white rose in our buttonhole? Well done to all concerned and Good Luck for 2011!

07 October 2010     A fresh on the river

After a couple of very wet days the River Esk has risen high enough for the waiting Salmon and Sea Trout to jump the weirs as they move upstream to their spawning grounds. After waiting patiently in the pools immediately below the weirs, this extra water or ‘fresh’ is just what they had been waiting for - as have the anglers! As the only Salmon river in North Yorkshire, all anglers require a Permit from the Environment Agency, as well as permission to fish on each stretch of the river.

Good weather has returned again, with a Pipistrelle Bat hunting over my garden this evening and a good crop of Raspberries ripe for the picking. The forecast for this weekend is dry and sunny, so a little bit of beachcombing at Runswick Bay, Sandsend or Robin Hood’s Bay may be in order.

30 September 2010     National Park’s green challenge

Schools, businesses and community groups in and around the North York Moors National Park are being set a green innovation challenge by the National Park Authority. The Authority is looking for project ideas costing up to £5000 to enter its Green Innovation Challenge. Ideas must have benefits to communities, the local economy and/or the environment and - as the name suggests - the most innovative and exciting ideas will be short listed. Three successful projects will then receive funding from the Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund.

 

The competition has three categories, each with its own challenge that projects should seek to address:
Schools are being challenged to come up with an idea that involves creating a new and exciting sustainable development project – all ideas welcome.
Community Groups are asked to develop something innovative that encourages a wider cross section of people to live more sustainably within the community, rather than just the committed few.
Businesses need to come up with an idea that will reduce carbon emissions from their organisation and which could be adopted by other businesses, locally or nationally, as best practice.

 

Michael Graham, Assistant Director of Recreation & Park Management, said “We want people to think creatively about actions that could really change people’s behaviour, have a positive impact on communities and help make a difference to the carbon footprint of the North York Moors.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24 September 2010     Autumn Springs

After several days of Southerly winds and warm weather, last night saw a sudden change to strong Northerly winds and a very rough sea. No coincidence that this is about the Autumnal Equinox on the 23rd September and every year it is usually marked by the equinoctial gales. Day and night lengths are equal at the Spring and the Autumn Equinoxes, and from now until late December the nights continue to get longer until mid-December. Just now the moon is full, leading to some of the highest tides of each month and these very high tides are known as the Spring Tides or just Springs. Springs are the highest High Tides and the lowest Low Tides of the monthly cycle and the greatest of these are at the Equinoxes. With this strong North wind blowing onshore, the high tides will be even higher than expected.

Coastal erosion is always a problem along our shoreline and a major international company is currently gathering equipment in Whitby Harbour to start repair work on Whitby’s East Pier and the East Pier Extension. After 100 years the structure of the piers has been weakened by the waves, removing some stones and creating voids within. Repair work will continue, weather permitting, over the next few months and is being funded by DEFRA, the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs.

17 September 2010     ‘Spirit of the 40s Weekend’ - 2011?

The committee of the Whitby and District Tourism Association has published an open letter on this website about the future of this event. After organising the 40s Weekend for many years, this successful event has now outgrown the small group of WDTA volunteers and new ideas are being sought. Please click the Tourism Assoc. (WDTA) button on the left of your screen for the full letter.

12 September 2010      Whitby is world class ’spooky’

Popular magazine TNT has voted Whitby as the 3rd spookiest place in the world, following ‘Dracula’s Castle’ in Romania and the ghostly goings on in York. Whitby is up there with the world leaders thanks to our annual Goth Weekends every February and October. More…

07 September 2010     Two birds with one stonechat

The main summer rush of visitors is easing now that August is past, but the strong Southwesterly winds recently should have blown a few unusual birds across the North Sea to us. Whitby is well placed for two of the region’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reserves, each within an hour’s drive of here. At Bempton Cliffs we watched some 8000 Gannets from the clifftops just South of Filey. Most were on the water but many were still on the ledges. On one of the fields a very rare Brown Flycatcher (from Siberia) had been seen that morning and we were still in time to watch a Pied Flycatcher and a Wheatear there. At nearby Filey Dams Local Nature Reserve a (once) Common Sandpiper performed nicely.

Next day my birding guests crossed the River Tees on the world famous Transporter Bridge to visit the new, state-of-the-art visitor centre on the RSPB Saltholme reserve on the North Tees Marshes. Water levels were low and so were the bird numbers that day - much to the surprise of all concerned - but a Little Egret was visible. Back in Whitby, don’t forget to walk along the West Pier at high tide and scan the inside wall of the East Pier with your binoculars. As well as the usual Turnstones, you should find a scattering of Purple Sandpipers huddled into the ledges just above sea level.

30 August 2010     Amy goes coastal

Sponsored walks are almost ten-a-penny in this area, with the 110-mile Cleveland Way National Trail around the North York Moors and the end of the 190-mile Coast to Coast Walk at Robin Hood’s Bay, but today Amy arrived in Whitby on her epic walk around the coast of mainland Great Britain. She started her 6800-mile ‘Amy Goes Coastal’ sponsored walk in February from Guy’s Hospital in London, to raise money for Kidney Research UK in memory of her late brother Dean. Since then she has averaged 30 miles every day, 7 days a week, passing Land’s End, Wales, Cumbria, Cape Wrath, John O’Groats, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and today, Whitby. She was greeted by the Mayor of Whitby and a group of local supporters who also supplied a meal, a bath and overnight accommodation.

This is a quite remarkable achievement and means walking over a Marathon a day, every single day, for 8 months. She is due to arrive back in London on 28th September and we wish her well. More details on her website, where you can also follow her Journal and make donations: http://www.kidneyresearchukevents.org/amygoescoastal

28 August 2010     Another fabulous Folk Week

Seven days of dancing in the streets, music and singing in the pubs, concerts and dances until late into the night, and a whole lot more. Seven days of meeting old friends and making new ones. Altogether, Whitby Folk Week is a compelling reason for ignoring the ‘Costas’ and heading to the North East of England in late August each year. This longstanding celebration of the traditional music, dance and song of the British Isles has taken on the trappings of a tradition in its own right.

With over 600 events covering workshops, concerts, singarounds, dance, sessions, street entertainment and the extensive ‘Fringe’ events that blossom. Folk Week is a festival that no lover of real music should miss.

23 August 2010     170th annual Whitby Regatta

The weather on Saturday and Sunday was everything the organisers and the crowds could hope for, with warm, dry and sunny days attracting huge crowds to the town for our biggest 3-day event of the year. Sadly, the weather on Monday morning was less obliging with low cloud and rain. This began to clear about lunchtime and hopes were still high that the Red Arrows display team would be able to fly - but at the very last moment the weather conditions at their airfield base far inland were deemed unsuitable and their visit to Whitby Regatta had to be cancelled.

More details of the whole weekend will be available over the next few days as the town returns to normal again after what was still a very busy and successful event.

13 August 2010     Guardian Top Ten

Today the Guardian newspaper published its ‘Yorkshire coast’s top 10 budget eats’ of the best affordable places to eat on the Yorkshire coast. The Magpie Cafe and the Black Horse Inn, both in Whitby, featured well as usual, but welcome newcomers included the Sandside Cafe at Sandsend and the River Gardens Cafe in Sleights. ‘As locations go, you will struggle to beat this glorified beach hut at Sandend, where you sit with the North York Moors at your back, the beach at your feet and a two-mile-sweep of bay to ponder’ is an excellent description! See www.sandsidecafe.co.uk

‘There has been a tea room on this site for over 100 years, and little wonder’ is how he describes the River Gardens and Perry’s Plants on the banks of the lazy River Esk at the bottom of Sleights (rhymes with ‘flights’). Simple, wholesome home-cooked dishes are ‘tasty and generous’ with Whitby scampi, crab sandwiches and steak pies from the renowned Radford’s butcher in Sleights. See www.perrysplants.co.uk

08 Aug 2010     Rose Queen to lookout

August is always a busy month in this area and this year has been no exception. Littlebeck Rose Queen Ceremony, a delightful village tradition in a beautiful wooded setting, was quickly followed by the Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Show to judge the heaviest gooseberry in the world. Don’t believe it? Just look up Gooseberry in the Guinness Book of Records! Then Whitby Lifeboat Weekend with the Blessing of the Boats as well as all the fun of the fair. Those of us who prefer the quieter areas of the moor spent that Sunday exploring the Esk Valley and enjoying the rural delights of Calstleton, Danby Moors Centre and Lealholm, as well as the ever increasing purpleness of the Heather-clad moortops as the flowering season gets under way..

Talking of Danby, their 150th Annual Agricultural Show takes place this Wednesday. This is the ideal place to meet all the locals as they bring their prize livestock and produce from all around the dale, to see just whose is the very Best of Show. Thousands are expected to attend and you would be made very welcome.

Now that the Tall Ships Race to nearby Hartlepool (30 sea miles north of Whitby) is almost over, we MAY be lucky enough to have one or two of the contestants sail past, or even drop into historic Whitby on their way home. So keep a sharp lookout over the next few days…

30 July 2010     Now that it’s closed, it’s open again
Whitby’s 101 year old swing bridge has been open for over a week, closing off the two sides of the town. Due to a mechanical breakdown the bridge jammed in the ‘open’ position, that is - open to river traffic but closed to pedestrians and road traffic. It stayed like that for over a week, while frantic efforts were made to identify the problem, locate a spare (from Italy), get it on site and install it. While the bridge was stuck open, local charter skippers started a ferry service immediately upstream and a free shuttle bus was also provided to try to serve the Eastside residents and businesses. Our ‘A Bridge Too Few’ dilemma even made the regional TV News on several occasions.This morning, to the great delight of all concerned, a new gearbox shaft was successfully installed and our Grand Old Lady is once again behaving perfectly. You can keep an eye on her future conduct via this webcam www.whitbyswingbridge.co.uk

24 July 2010      New buoy on the bay

Coastal erosion has always been a problem on this coast and our cliffs are constantly battered by the waves. Now those same waves may, one day, help to provide us with electricity as the price of oil and gas rises inexorably.  To find out all about our local ‘wave climate’ a new buoy has been anchored one mile off Whitby harbour, near the Bell Buoy. As it bobs up and down with every wave, it also transmits data via satellite to Cefas (the Centre for environment, fisheries and aquaculture science) as part of their WaveNet programme of directional waverider buoys around the British Isles.

The Met Office, Environment Agency, Natural England, fishermen, sailors and you can now keep a weather eye on Whitby’s wave conditions by clicking on http://www.northeastcoastalobservatory.org.uk/

Today also saw Whitby host a major Windpower Event at the Spa, when a hundred scientists and engineers came to find out about our possible future as the closest port (a mere 70 miles!) to the new Dogger Bank windfarm. All the heavy work will be done from deep water ports on the Tees or the Humber, but Whitby could still have a role as a servicing port, once the 2500 mega turbines are up and working to provide 10% of the UK’s electricity by 2020.

20 July 2010     Rain at last

After what seems like weeks of hot weather and even longer without proper rain, the heavens opened today. There were some thundery rumblings and then the rain fell steadily for several hours, providing just what everyone has been hoping for. Now the gardens are watered again, the farmers’ crops are growing properly, the fire risk on the high moorland is reduced, the hay fever sufferers have stopped sneezing and the wild Salmon will be able to migrate up the River Esk to breed. What more could we ask for?

The River Esk is Yorkshire’s only Salmon river and when the water level is low after prolonged dry weather, the Salmon lie in the pools below each weir just ’waiting for a fresh’. The fresh rainfall increases the flow over the weirs, giving the Salmon more chance of jumping up to the higher level and continuing upstream to the spawning beds. ‘Fish ladders’ help them over the more difficult weirs and some of the best places to watch the Salmon leaping are near Ruswarp, Sleights and Egton Bridge. Their increadible journey is almost over, as they prepare to spawn another generation which will again hatch in the river, drift downstream and then out to sea at Whitby, before living in the North Atlantic for several years before returning to the self-same spawning grounds to repeat the process.

10 July 2010     Hot reception for Len Tabner paintings

On a very hot and humid sfternoon, hundreds of art fans crowded into Whitby’s Pannett Art Gallery to hear HM Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, The Lord Crathorne open the new Len Tabner ‘Sea and Coast’ exhibition. He described how Len, a local artist of international renown, uses his battered but trusty Land Rover either as a shelter to paint in if the weather is wet or as a giant easel if it is dry.

Of Whitby’s museum, Len Tabner wrote: ‘Sadly, so many museums today are bland, slick and full of graphic displays and ‘interactive’ devices, whilst the authentic objects are buried in storage. Whitby’s wonderful museum is the absolute opposite, every corner being filled with the most amazing and totally authentic treasures. The Pannett Art Gallery which is attached to it, although small, is a wonderful space with a geeat feeling of both peace and tranquility. ‘It was to me, therefore, a great pleasure and privilege to be asked to show a substantion group of my paintings here. I have tried to  choose a group of work, which I hope will have particular meaning for the people of Whitby and the surrounding area.’

His huge landscapes and seascapes are on display until Wed 01 Sept 2010 and admission to the Art Gallery is free and it is open every day except Mondays.

04 July 2010     Take a trip down memory lane

Nostalgia-fans will be in their element this summer with a heritage bus offering trips to and around the North York Moors National Park. The bus is part of the National Park Authority’s ‘Moorsbus’ network and all day travel costs just £5 with up to four children travelling free (with a fare paying adult). From Whitby, you can hop on board a beautiful 1958 Bedford Coach to get to The Moors National Park Centre at Danby and enjoy the wonderful views from Danby Beacon. The Vintage Bus departs Whitby at 11am every Sunday from 25 July to 29 August, plus Bank Holiday Monday.

Janet Armstrong, the National Park Authority’s Transport Project Officer, said: “This bus offers people the chance of a great day out with some fabulous views of the North York Moors. They’re also good value for money and help keep congestion on our narrow moorland roads to a minimum.” Timetables for the Heritage and Vintage Buses can be found in the Moorsbus network timetable available from National Park and Visitor Information Centres and online at www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/moorsbus

27 Jun 2010     Hottest day but traffic low

My car said it was 31 degrees Centigrade when we parked at Lealholm for lunch today and, even though it’s Sunday, there were vacant spaces in the village car park. This heatwave has lasted for several days now and we expected the place to be much busier. After lunch we checked our sobriety by crossing the River Esk on the stepping stones and then, laden with shopping, we returned to the car and drove back on the A171 Guisborough to Whitby road, commenting on how little traffic there was for a hot, summer Sunday mid-afternoon. What in the world could be the reason for so little traffic?

Then we remembered. Of course, its Open Gardens Day in Ruswarp village and everyone must be there! What else could it possibly be?

25 June 2010     Tackling the plant invaders

A battle is currently being waged against 2 invasive species on the banks of the river Esk in the North York Moors National Park. Patches of Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam are springing up along the river posing a threat to native plants and leaving the banks more vulnerable to erosion. As part of its Pearl Mussel and Salmon Recovery Project, the National Park Authority is working with landowners and farmers to prevent the spread of these species. It is asking members of the public to help by reporting any sightings of Japanese knotweed or Himalayan balsam along the Esk.

The plants are both garden escapees capable of spreading rapidly along watercourses. Vigorous species, they smother native plants during the summer and then die back in the winter leaving the river bank without any stabilising vegetation. Simon Hirst, the Authority’s River Esk Project Officer, said: “These plants may look pretty but they can be a real menace on our river banks, crowding out native species and increasing erosion. We’re concentrating our efforts initially at the top of the Esk working downstream hand-pulling the Himalayan balsam and treating Japanese knotweed with a herbicide to penetrate the deep roots. It will take a few years to totally eradicate these plants but there are signs that native vegetation is starting to recolonise those areas that have already been treated.”

To report any sightings of Himalayan balsam or Japanese knotweed along the river Esk, please call 01439 770657 or email s.hirst@northyorkmoors-npa.gov.uk There is also a form on the National Park website at www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/recording

20 June 2010     ‘Holiday Which?’ top 5 UK resorts

Whitby has come 3rd in the latest survey of the UK’s favourite seaside resorts. Only just published in the July edition of the ‘Holiday Which?’  magazine, this wonderful news from a major consumer organisation confirms what we have long suspected - Whitby may be small, but can hold its head up high when compared with much bigger resorts. Blackpool is voted the nation’s favourite, Brighton is second and proud little Whitby is third.

Described by ‘Holiday Which?’ as ‘Radiating old-world charm, this seaside town ranks in the top five of our July 2010 survey of the UK’s all-time favourites. Take time out of quick-fire modernity and relax in a quaint seaside town that radiates old-world charm. Overlooked by its ruined Benedictine abbey, Whitby’s Georgian houses hug its opposing steep estuary slopes in stepped rows that descend to the harbour and medieval narrow lanes below.’

Well said - we couldn’t have put it better ourselves!

14 June 2010     Runswick Bay beachcombing

Warm sunny weather has returned again, making this our 4th attempt at summer so far this year. We strolled along the beach at Runswick searching for pebbles which might contain Ammonites but the only fossils we found were bits of broken Crinoid set in stone since the Jurassic Period. We did find some tiny fragments of jet, a fossilised tree similar to our present day Monkey Puzzle tree, trapped in the rock pools at low tide. After a wonderfully relaxing stroll along the beach we returned to the village for a welcome drink and a snack before exploring the jumble of tiny cottages and the maze of narrow paths that serve this ancient fishing village. We all call it Runs-ick, so you can always tell a newcomer by the way they pronounce the ‘w’.

One of the very best collections of local fossils can be found in Whitby Museum, including an Ammonite about as big as a cartwheel and, of course, the magnificent Plesiosaurus which now hangs on an inside wall. More…

10 June 2010     New loo opens

Another new attraction was officially opened today, this time at the water’s edge on the marina car park. Whitby’s new Marina Centre not only includes free toilets for the general public, but also additional toilets, showers and a launderette for the boat owners in Whitby harbour. After a rough time at sea, they can now use the new onshore facilities to get themselves and their clothes properly clean and dry again.

The distinctive profile of the new Marina Centre is inspired by the shape of an upturned boat and also echos the jawbones of the whale on the West Cliff, and the Gothic arches of Whitby Abbey on the East Cliff. Artwork by local school pupils has been incorporated within the new building and the children attended the official opening before enjoying a boat trip this afternoon.

02 June 2010     Oh what a perfect day

Today’s celebration of Pannett Park’s restoration was a great success. The summer weather returned and the day was enjoyed by hundreds as the hot sun beamed down on us all. After a £1.4 million upgrade taking several years, today was the official relaunch of Whitby’s new, improved park. The childrens’ playground was busier than ever, there was a Punch and Judy show as well as Storytelling, and the whole park was full of music and laughter. A marquee full of local crafts included the Queen Bee Quilters, jet work, wood turning and beaded jewellery, while other local stands supplied local baking, seafood and ice cream.

Andy Lowe, Whitby’s Town Cryer and international champion, put the public address system to shame as he gathered the crowds for the official ceremony. Then the great and the good made fine speeches and the Marquis of Normanby cut the ribbon with a pair of gardening shears. It was his grandfather who opened the original Pannett park in the 1920s, and many of today’s guests were in 1920s costume to recall the park’s original opening. Then the sounds of the church bells at St Mary’s Church, beside the abbey, rang out in sheer joy. Much of the park’s restoration work has been done by the Friends of Pannett Park, who have already put in 6,600 hours of voluntary work. Many more details at www.pannettpark.co.uk

26 May 2010     Spoke too soon

Oh dear, it’s got cooler again. Temperatures have returned to normal and the sky has clouded over, but at least the rain has kept off. Never mind, the North York Moors National Park is still the driest National Park in the British Isles - a fact I delight in telling anyone who has just spent a wet week in the Lake District!

23 May 2010     And the living is easy

After a very long and a very hard winter season, Whitby bed and breakfast providers are delighted to welcome this lovely summer weather and the many visitors it has attracted to the Whitby area. With temperatures well above average for this time of year, and the sun beaming from a cloudless sky, everyone is smiling and the whole area is busy again. Fingers crossed for a proper summer!

17 May 2010     Summer on the moor

The warm sunny weather has returned, just perfect for a walk on Glaisdale High Moor. The approach road was completely empty of any other cars and the path wound across the heather slopes, opening up views that were just magnificent. A Wheatear flitted ahead of us as a Curlew called overhead, then a Golden Plover flew past. Meadow Pipits cheeped all around and a Skylark poured forth its unending melody from high above us, as we paused to drink it all in. Now that is what I call the ‘magic of the moors.’

11 May 2010     Ascension Eve again

Tomorrow will be the 849th Ascension Eve that the Penny Hedge has been ‘planted’ in Whitby Harbour and, to everyone’s surprise, the Penny Hedge from last year is still standing! According to the ancient penance, the local noblemen who mortally wounded a hermit from Whitby Abbey had to construct a token Hazel hurdle to ‘withstand three turns of tide’ or else all their lands would be forfeit to Whitby Abbey. By my reckoning that means that last year’s Penny Hedge has actually withstood 2 high tides every day for 365 days, a total of some 730 high tides - and after last November’s exceptionally heavy rainfall, some of them were probably very high tides indeed.

The construction is very simple and must follow the exact details of the ancient penance set in the year 1159 AD: 9 stout stowers as uprights in the tidal mud, 4 stakes as corner struts, and about a dozen yethers woven horizontally across the tops of the stowers. Ah yes, they do make Hazel hurdles like that anymore!

02 May 2010     Roundabout Goathland

The Coastliner bus service from Leeds to Whitby used to turn off the main A169 road near Ellerbeck, drive right through the long village of Goathland and then return to the A169 at Sillers Howe and on to Whitby. But as more and more people travelling to Whitby choose public transport rather than car, these single buses were replaced by double deckers. Sadly, these new buses were too tall to get under Stevenson’s 19th Century railway bridge at Moorgate, so the bus route was changed to just using the Sillers Howe junction to detour down into Goathland village centre and back again. And since there was nowhere suitable to turn a double decker bus, the far end of the village near Mallyan Spout no longer had any bus service.

In the last few weeks however, the junction near the church has been reconstructed and now the huge buses can once again serve the far end of the village and then, very slowly and carefully, can swing right around the brand new roundabout and head back past the shops to the A169. Not exactly a giant leap for national road building, but certainly a small step for improving public transport in a moorland village. (Known as ‘Aidensfield’ in the tv series ‘Heartbeat’, ITV has ended this popular  series and stopped all filming in the village).

25 April 2010     Warm welcome for Goths

Whitby always welcomes the Goths, but this weekend coincided with the warmest days of the year so far. Yesterday my car told me it was 20 degrees Centigrade and today was almost as high. The Goths first chose Whitby because of our Gothic abbey ruins overlooking the town, not to mention our associations with Bram Stoker and his infamous book - but Whitby also embraced the Goths because Whitby is well used to centuries of interesting and unusual characters landing here from all over the world.

After 15 years of Goth Weekends in Whitby, they have become a regular fixture on our calendars, a welcome addition to our community and a visitor attraction in their own right! Lots of Goth-watchers also come to admire their very impressive costumes. MyToday my eye was caught by the lady in a long, elegant black dress with purple trim, complete with black parasol (with purple trim, as well) as she crossed the swing bridge. Elsewhere in town I noticed a couple of Goths jogging in matching black singlets, black shorts and black trainers, but a Goth walking a (non-Goth) dog along the pavement was topped by a Goth couple pushing a Goth toddler in a Goth buggy!

18 April 2010     High spirits as peace returns

The sun shone from a clear blue sky as we all enjoyed the Spirit of the 40s weekend. There seemed to be hundreds of costumed re-enactors, both military and civilian, in and around the town, with some lovely old vehicles to be seen as well. Several shop windows were also well dressed, with 1940s-style window displays. Steam trains added to the atmosphere, bands played, pipes skirled and the parade was very impressive. The Living History displays of British, American and German ‘troops’ in full uniform and with all their equipment and camping gear, were much admired up on the West Cliff near Captain Cook’s statue.

Talking of ‘clear blue skies’, all passenger flights in most of Western Europe are still grounded by the ash from the Icelandic volcano, so there was not a single condensation trail to be seen overhead. Holiday in the UK, anyone?

12 April 2010     Final preparations for Spirit of the 40s Weekend

After two busy weekends, with thousands of visitors enjoying the ever improving spring weather, we are now putting the final touches to next weekend’s big event. This will be our forth annual 40s Weekend, a chance to remember (or learn!) about the way of life in the 1940s. A variety of military uniforms will be on parade throughout the town, but you will also be rubbing shoulders with ‘civvy’ re-enactors in period costume. Many of the costumes are surprisingly glamourous, given the rationing restrictions in force at that time.

Dances on Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as a convoy of vehicles on Saturday morning, Living History displays throughout the weekend near Captain Cook’s statue, a Black Market in the Bunker at the Whitby Pavilion, jive and foxtrot classes, and much, much more. The full Programme is on the What’s On - Events List for Fri 16, Sat 17 and Sun 18th April 2010 and all of us at the Whitby and District Tourism Association hope you enjoy the weekend. We may even see you there!

02 April 2010     Good weather for Good Friday

Snow? What snow? The blizzards only hit Scotland and Northern Ireland, with just a bit on the Pennines. Rain? What rain? It fell on Wales and the south of England, leaving us with some lovely warm, sunny days and clear, frosty nights. Perfect spring weather for a visit to Whitby and the North York Moors and we are all looking forward to a busy Easter weekend.

30 March 2010     The Lambing Snow?

My elderly neighbour, a retired hill farmer, was a bit cautious when I asked him if winter was really over and spring had finally arrived. ‘There could still be the Lambing Snow’ he replied, that sting in the winter’s tail which can catch us unawares. Traditionally, this would be a short snow storm sometime in April, once the lambs were out in the fields and everyone had lowered their guard. Many a hill farmer in these parts thought they had shepherded their flock successfully through the worst of the winter weather, only to be caught out with a late snow and frost when the young lambs were still vulnerable.

My garden Daffodils are now in full flower, the Primroses in the woods are also flowering and the Willow and Elder trees are the first to leaf. My first Chiffchaff, a summer migrant (and unlikely to have overwintered this winter) was singing on Sunday 28 March and the small black dots in the mass of frogspawn in my pond are elongating into commas very nicely. A Sparrowhawk displayed in lazy circles high over a nearby wood and the lambs gambolled happily in the field beyond. But then, they don’t know about the Lambing Snow…

24 March 2010     Spirit of the 40s Programme is now online

Our Spirit of the 40s Weekend is less than a month away! This is our biggest event organised by the Whitby and District Tourism Association and this year will start with a 1940s-style Hangar Dance starring Lola Lamour, at 7.30pm on Friday 16 April. On Saturday 17 April there will be Living History events and displays around Whitby from 10am to 5pm, and at 7.30pm a Gala Dance with the Moonlight Serenade Orchestra and Miss Lola Lamour. Sunday 18th April starts with a Victory Breakfast and Singalong from 9am to 10.30am, then lots more events and displays, as well as a Sunday Showcase Concert at 2pm.

So if you remember the 40s yourself, or if your grandchildren are studying ’Britain at War in the 20th Century’, then do come and have a wonderful weekend in Whitby -  just as we all did when Peace was finally announced in 1945. The full programme can be seen (and printed) from our What’s On > Events List page on this website. The event is in honour of Britain’s Armed Forces and supports the charity Help for Heros.

18 March 2010     Spring has sprung

Once the Curlew are back up and calling on the moortop, once the Lapwing are back on the hill farms and displaying their courtship ‘tumble flight’, once the Daffodils in my garden are flowering and the Frogs are calling in my pond and laying masses of spawn, then we dare to think that Spring has finally arrived. All these things are now happening and the Crocus river alongside Mayfield Avenue is in full flower for hundreds of yards, so now we really can assume that Winter is over and the Summer is on its way…

11 March 2010     Whitby Guidebook published

This morning we were delighted to take delivery of 60,000 copies of our Whitby Guidebook for 2010. This is the 8th annual edition of the ever popular little guidebook published by the Whitby and District Tourism Association, in conjunction with Bow House Ltd of Easingwold, York. Many boxes have already been distibuted throughout the Whitby area and you can pick one up, free of charge, when you arrive at your local railway station, hotel, guesthouse, B and B, holiday cottage or caravan site.

08 March 2010     Spring Sunday

What a lovely weekend we’ve just had, with cold, clear, frosty nights and warm, dry, sunny days. Our best weekend of the year so far enticed many, many visitors to come to Whitby and the coast. The town was very busy and at Sandsend cars were parked almost everywhere, as everyone stretched their legs with a good walk on the beach and enjoyed the sunshine. After one of the longest, coldest winters for 30 years, this is exactly the kind of opportunity we have all been waiting for!

There have been a few changes over the winter, with the big tin shed on Endeavour Wharf still being dismantled very carefully and sold off. Just a few yards away, the brand new marina centre is taking shape as an iconic building with a framework of Gothic arches, reflecting the structure of Whitby Abbey and the familiar shape of ships’ hulls. When complete, it will contain washing and drying facilities for visiting sailors, as well as public toilets for all of our visitors.

02 March 2010     Another lovely day

Yesterday and today have been warm, dry and sunny, with not a cloud in the sky. Has Spring arrived? Is the winter weather over? It certainly wasn’t just a few days ago, when very heavy rain flooded the River Esk over the fields and the very high tides drove big waves up against the sea wall at Sandsend. All that is hard to believe today, as the wildflowers start to bloom and the birds bask in the sun and sing with a bit more urgency.

26 Feb 2010     Events, events, events

Many event organisers have now published their programmes for the 2010 season and these are being added, bit by bit, to the What’s On Events List on this website. Dozens of events are already listed there and hundreds more will be added as they are received.

20 Feb 2010     Moortop snow walk

Yesterday’s snow was a bit of a surprise, but today the sun is shining brightly and we drove to the slopes of Danby Beacon, above the village of Lealholm. There must be enough warmth in the sun to warm the tarmac of the roads, keeping even the minor roads open. We walked a section of the old ’stage coach road’, which used to run from Whitby to Stokesley. This must have been a real white-knuckle ride when it opened in the late 18th Century, costing 16 shillings (80p in today’s money) for the whole journey - or just half price if you sat on the roof!

As we walked in the sunshine, we tracked the Grouse and the Hares which had used shared the same path as us. We also admired the beautiful Esk Valley below and the magnificent moors stretching as far as the eye could see. From the top of Danby Beacon we could see all of the locations on the summit view finder, and even make out Captain Cook’s Monument on distant Easby Moor on the western edge of the National Park. Then down to Lealholm for a hot drink, before calling in at the National Park Centre just outside Danby.

15 Feb 2010     Pannett Park almost ready

As the first Snowdrops flower and the dawn chorus becomes a daily event, work in Whitby’s Pannet Park is almost complete. The £1 million Lottery-aided year of major hard landscaping would have been complete by now - had it not been for the most severe winter in 30 years! This set back the completion by a few weeks but the finishing touches are now just being completed. Some tarmac is still being laid on a few of the paths, but most of the park is fully open to the public again. The new Commemorative Garden has a wood rib sculpture to frame the view of Whitby Abbey and is a lovely place to sit and remember. More exciting is the Jurassic Garden, which reflects the extinct wildlife now to be seen inside the neighbouring Whitby Museum. Given a few weeks of ‘reasonable’ weather the last of the machinery will be gone and the serious replanting can begin, with 4,500 shrubs and trees going in this month alone. Roll on Spring!      more…

10 Feb 2010     More press praise

Once again this area has hit the headlines in three different national publications. Two of our local hotels were named in the Top 25 Places to Stay in the UK, according to the TripAdvisor website: Broom House at Egton Bridge (more… ) and The Waverley Guest House in Whitby (more… ). Interesting to note that not a single London hotel made the top 25! Stephen Ward , who runs The Waverley with his wife Julie, said that it was particularly good as the TripAdvisor survey uses only the votes of people who have actually stayed there.

In the Travel section of  the Guardian (Saturday 31 January) it was the Woodlands Hotel in Sandsend, Whitby which made their Check In feature with the line:
‘Food presentation is faultless… it is a whistles blowing, klaxons blaring, corder of a meal’. more…

Our coastline has been well covered in several series of the BBC TV programme ’Coast’, but now one of our local hotels has been given a feature article in this month’s copy of Coast magazine. Based in the house where Lewis Carroll once stayed 150 years ago, La Rosa Hotel on Whitby’s West Cliff is the place to ‘enter a world of romance and eccentricity’ where the great author himself might feel at home. more…

05 Feb 2010     Fast turnaround on footpath repairs

A popular footpath to Mallyan Spout waterfall in the North York Moors National Park was reopened 2 weeks ahead of schedule thanks to the efforts of the National Park Authority’s field staff.
The recent heavy snow and subsequent meltwater uprooted several trees across the footpath making it impassable. An emergency closure order was put on the path while the Authority carried out the necessary repairs. Karl Gerhardsen, the National Park Authority’s Head of Recreation and Access, said: “We knew this was a popular route with walkers and – with the snow melting fast – there would be many people wanting to get down to the waterfall to see it in all its glory. We therefore made re-opening this route a priority and managed to turn the repairs around in less than a week.”

Now that the snow has melted, the Authority will be carrying out routine footpath inspections to assess any damage but is asking members of the public to also report any obstacles or difficulties they come across. Karl added: “Whether you’re a seasoned walker or just looking for a short ramble to stretch your legs, there are some great walks in the North York Moors and with spring fast approaching, now is a lovely time to be out and about. We’re doing what we can to find any trouble spots caused by the snow, but with 1408 miles of public rights of way, extra pairs of eyes are always welcome! We’d be grateful if people could let us know of any fallen trees, landslips and the like that have made a route difficult or inaccessible.” To report a problem path please complete the feedback form on the Authority’s website at www.moors.uk.net/prowform, email paths@northyorkmoors-npa.gov.uk or call 01439 770657.

03 Feb 2010     Thaw again

Don’t worry, it’s gone again (apart from the moortops) and all the main roads remain open.

31 Jan 2010     Snow again

Yesterday we all woke up to a cold, calm sunny morning - and 3 inches of snow again! As ever, all the main roads were kept open and life continues as normal. A stroll on the beach at Sandsend was quite special, with big waves rolling into the bay. At high tide in Runswick Bay it was quite spectacular, with no beach to be seen, just white waves breaking onto white snow-covered cliffs and white farmland above. Fearing snow and ice on the modern public access road, we walked down to the old village on the even steeper and much narrower path which once was the only village road. How on earth did they manage this gradient when we still had ‘proper winters’?

I bought a copy of the 2010 Tide Tables, sold in aid of the Runswick Bay Rescue Boat, to help me plan all my coastal visits around Whitby for the rest of the year. The ‘Spirit of Runswick’ was launched in 2007 and is the 5th boat to serve the local community. When the RNLI Station at Runswick was closed in 1982, local people set up their own organisation to provide a rescue boat for the bay. The operating costs are over £5000 annually and this is raised by the local community’s many fundraising events. Their next outdoor public event will be a Welly Wanging [Throwing] competition on Sat 01 May 2010.

24 Jan 2010     After the snow

A week ago the temperature rose, the snow melted and people in the villages were able to move freely again. Only now are the stories of life in the snow emerging. There is the family near Littlebeck who had continuous snow cover for 28 days, had to leave the car a mile from home at the top of a hill and yet still managed to walk to the car and drive the children to their primary school without missing a day. Or the village shop in Lealholm which had bags of other peoples’ shopping arranged all over the floor, just waiting for a neighbour with a tractor or 4 x 4 vehicle to deliver it to those without. Or the chap from Egton who went to Whitby on the Esk Valley Railway to do some vital shopping, only to find on the return trip that ‘half the village’ was also on the train. Or the family who left Goathland to spend Christmas week in Wales, but they had to stay away for 4 weeks because their lane was still blocked with deep snow. Or the day several weeks after Christmas when the bin lorries finally reached one village for their first bin collection since mid December - in fact, three bin lorries travelled in convoy, collecting whichever coloured wheelie bin or bins the residents had put out. Now that’s what I call a Good Idea!

18 Jan 2010     Slow thaw continues

A trip from low-lying Whitby to the moorland village of Goathland soon made the point that not all the snow has gone. The moortops are still white, but with the long Heather now sticking up through as it just begins to thaw up here at about 200 metres (c600 feet) above sea level. The snow and ice from the bottom of the valley may have melted away into the River Esk, but this slow thaw has the advantage that the Esk is not overwhelmed by all the snow melting at once.

The Goathland Plough Stots had their Day of Dance this weekend, a tradition which dates back hundreds of years when our winters were so hard that the fields were too frozen to plough. This enforced idleness meant the farm labourers had to start performing to earn a crust. They are the oldest long sword dance team in the country and their numbers are flourishing. More…

12 Jan 2010     Beware imitations of www.VisitWhitby.com

Please do not be confused by a new website with a domain name very, very similar to our own. The new site has absolutely nothing to do with this site, nor any of the community-based organisations in and around Whitby which created and run it.

It is said that ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’, so we are sincerely flattered that others are trying to profit from our success by passing themselves off as this not-for-profit Community Interest Company. Please send them a very clear message by supporting only www.VisitWhitby.com and no other. Thank-you.

11 Jan 2010     UK grit from Whitby

The past week saw widespread snow and ice which closed 10,000 schools throughout the UK and caused major disruption for everyone. But just 10 miles from Whitby the staff at Cleveland Potash Mine worked night and day throughout Christmas and New Year, to produce more road salt than ususal to keep Britain on the move. One mile down and four miles out under the North Sea, the UK’s deepest mine brings potash (an agricultural fertiliser) to the surface, with road salt as a by-product. The other major supplier of road salt is in Cheshire.

All main roads remained open throughout the Big Freeze and on Saturday there was still snow on the beach at Tate Hill Sands and at Sandsend. Today a slow thaw seems to have begun in this area of Yorkshire, with the 2 to 4 inches of snow beginning to collapse into rivulets of icy water.

04 Jan 2010     When we had Proper Winters

Some of us are old enough to remember when we had ProperWinters, with enough snow and ice to close the roads from Whitby and the Esk Valley to England for weeks at a time and we all relied on the Esk Valley Railway as our only lifeline - but that was decades ago before we were aware of Climate Change and its many implications.

Just now we have 2 or 3 inches of snow in Whitby (and more on higher ground) but all the main roads are open thanks to the County Council snowploughs and grit-spreaders. Our newspapers may be delivered a bit later in the morning than usual, but the buses and trains are all running as normal. The snowy landscape is breath-taking beautiful and it’s great to see locals and holiday makers enjoying the snow with their little sleighs and their big snowmen. Winter sports, anyone? Keep an eye on the weather here by visiting our sister site, www.WhitbyWeather.com

01 Jan 2010    Happy New Year everyone!

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Sun 27 Dec 2009    Our White Christmas

The thaw began on Saturday, but I doubt if the North Sea had warmed up much for the Boxing Day Dip. There were still patches of snow on the grass above the beach, as the brave swimmers took to the water to raise money for charity. That’s about 10 days of lying snow since it began on Fri 18 Dec, with overnight temperatures down to -6 C and occasional top-ups of more snow as the days went by. Main roads to, from and within Whitby have remained open throughout, with just occasional short interruptions until the next snowplough cleared the way. In Whitby and at sea level, almost all of the snow has now gone, but the outskirts of the town and the villages beyond are still fairly white, while the high moors remain under several inches of snow.

Want to know just how well insulated your house is? The next time you have had a fresh snowfall, just look up at your roof and compare it with your neighbours’ roofs. The one with the most snow on top is the roof which is loosing least heat, thanks to a good thick layer (12 inches) of loft insulation!

Thu 24 Dec 2009     Happy Christmas Everyone

Wherever you happen to be spending Christmas, everyone here at VisitWhitby.com wishes you a warm, happy Christmas and a healthy New Year!

Sun 20 Dec 2009     Holidays Abroad Anyone?

I have just returned from a lovely few days in the Lake District, to find that Whitby and the North York Moors are looking lovlier than ever in a fabulous winter wonderland of snow. All the local main roads are open and passable with care. If you still need convincing, the BBC News tells me that several major UK airports are closed because of snow, hundreds of flights have been cancelled or delayed, 5 Eurostar trains have broken down in the Channel Tunnel and thousands of travellers have been disrupted, French ferry ports are affected by bad weather and the UK Borders Agency is taking industrial action. Are you really sure you want to go overseas to get away from it all? Why not just stay in the UK this Christmas and have a wonderful holiday in the Whitby area? Contact some of our advertisers on this website and ask them about late vacancies and special offers…

Click for Old News Blog 2009…

To ensure dog-owners can still enjoy the North York Moors, the National Park Authority has provided details on its website of 25 walks where people can exercise their dog more freely. At www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/dogwalks people will find a mix of coastal, countryside and woodland walks to choose from. All of the walks avoid moorland areas with the most sensitive wildlife, have few stiles to cross and largely avoid fields containing livestock.

Sarah Blakemore, the National Park Authority’s Access Officer, said: “Dogs are naturally inquisitive and may mean no harm, but ground-nesting birds are easily scared and will fly away until the perceived threat has passed. This risks their eggs getting cold and not hatching or leaves the eggs or young at risk from predators. Also, a loose dog can frighten pregnant ewes and cause them to abort their lambs.

“We certainly don’t want to stop dog-owners enjoying the National Park but just ask that especially from March to July they take extra care to keep their dogs on a lead in sensitive areas or choose a walk where there is less chance of disturbing young birds and lambs.”

The North York Moors National Park is a haven for ground nesting birds such as golden plover, curlew, lapwing and merlin.

Michelle Lindsay, the RSPB’s conservation officer for Yorkshire, said:

“Many of the ground nesting birds on the North York Moors National Park are of conservation concern so it is vital they are given the best possible chance of breeding successfully, free from disturbance. We would urge dog walkers to exercise care and common sense during this important time for birds.”