Whitby

In Living Memory

1989

Throughout the most part of 1989, Yorkshire Water was working on Ruswarp Weir, as part of a 2-year-long programme of works, which was completed towards the end of this year. The weir's condition had lately deteriorated due to the constant erosion from the water and so a new 'toe' was created.

Towards the end of January, work began on demolishing the old glass-roofed ball room, at Whitby's Spa, ready for a new brick-built extension to the main building to take its place. The former ball room was built in 1924 as an extension to the old Spa and the first stage of its demolition was to remove the floor and roof, before the rest of the building could be taken down.

Also in January, plans were passed for Doug Sims to set up his own miniature railway at Ruswarp, on the opposite side of the road to Esk Leisure.

Around this time, repairs were carried out to the forecourt area of what was, at the time, Presto's of Flowergate, after the bricks had become damaged. Scarborough Borough Council agreed to pay £5,000 towards the cost of resurfacing the area, as North Yorkshire County Council's Highways department were apparently short on funds. The borough council did ask the supermarket's agents however, if they would contribute towards the cost of the repairs, as it was more than likely that the damage was a result of their delivery vehicles using the forecourt.

It was announced in January 1989 that three disused buildings at Dale Garth, The Cliff, Iburndale, were to be converted into 3 business units.

In February it was announced that building work at the holiday village "Captain Cook's Haven" at Larpool, near the viaduct, would go ahead. The first block of accommodation was built on the site in 1983, along with a slipway & boat park, but the Larpool Marina, as it was called at the time, failed to attract buyers. Now, 20 more homes were planned in this second phase of works, which would be complete by the summer of this year. A later phase would include more homes, a club house & swimming pool, to make a total of 83 units, which were added in the 90's.

GK - Photo taken in 1994 on land soon to be built on to form Riverside View, built 2007 with the yet-to-be-built swimming pool behind the shooting point

Also on the tourism front, it was in this month that the Whitby Wax Works business, based in the White Horse Inn, Church Street, closed its doors. The business had only been running for just over a year, before which it had been used for 20 years as a fisherman's warehouse & storage area, until being bought by Mr. Perkins in 1986. Due to failure to attract visitors, the disappointed owners were faced with no option but to close it.

On a more positive note, Kenneth Johnstone was granted permission to open a bistro at 5-6 Marine Parade & 16 Haggersgate, although this entrance was recommended to only be used as a fire escape. The building was saved from ruin in 1986 by the Northern Heritage Trust when 4 flats on the upper floors were created & sold, with the ground floor standing redundant since. Also in this area, permission was granted for work to be carried out to the Pier Hotel at Pier Road. At this time, the front dormer window was removed and replaced with a skylight & a front extension was added early in the new millennium.

GK - Pier Hotel before major alterations including front extension

Also, St. Catherine's Hospice closed its doors in March to its shop in Upgang Lane after having been in the premises for 18 months. The charity was hoping to find another suitable home in the town. A former antiques shop in Church Street was converted to a cafe by Mrs C Arnold, only two months after a change of use to an Indian take-away was declined by planners. Also on the shop front, Mr James Fearnley was given permission to open a wholesale food shop in the basement of his vegetarian cafe at 1 Skinner Street. The shop would have access from Silver Street.

Also in March, 25 Baxtergate - a former jewellers shop - was converted into Spastics Charity Shop, which was re-named Scope in 1994. A light engineering workshop covering 2,000 sq ft was erected at Cholmley Way for Mr M Harland & Mr P McQue.

Also in March, "Yesteryear", a themed experience giving visitors a taste of Victorian Whitby opened in Sandgate.

Onto April, renovation work was ongoing at the Metropole, which would sea a new sun lounge added on the seaward side, after local builder David Freeman bought the building 6 months previous. Phase 1 of the other plans for the building - which was hoped to be complete for the summer, with another phase due for completion by Easter 1990 - was to restore the hotel's ballroom & include a high-class 150-seater restaurant & large public bar. The 2nd phase of works was to include 25 bedrooms of hotel accommodation with the rooms mostly on the first floor, with some on the ground floor, all to 5-crown standard with full en-suite facilities. The hotel was to boast a health club, with facilities such as a sauna, jacuzzi, gymnasium & pool.

Also around this time, The Chocolate Box, which opened in the autumn of 1987 in Golden Lion Bank by Mark Edwards, was undergoing a refurbishment, which included a new shop front & a complete interior redecoration. Another business to receive a makeover at this time was The Middle Earth Tavern in Church Street, with owners there - Malcolm & Jen Beaumont - spending £30,000 on the premises. They would soon be celebrating their 1st anniversary of running the pub and so decided to give the place a bit of TLC. Work included a brand new bar area, which they moved from its former location to nearer the door. The restaurant was redecorated with new fittings and the kitchens were totally re-built, with the addition of new equipment.

The Chocolate Box, Golden Lion Bank, opened in 1987 had a refurbishment in this year

Also in April, a new company, manufacturing mobile generators, moved into a premises on the Stainsacre Lane Industrial Estate, the former home of Dock End Engineering. The company said that they would provide 15 jobs within the first year, with more jobs likely in the coming years. Incidentally, 4 new factory units were built recently on the newly-formed Enterprise Way, with 4 more units built in the coming months in a second phase of work, as these initial units were filled.

A modern photo of Enterprise Way from its junction with Stainsacre Lane

Colin, Brown & Kidson Solicitors moved premises from their previous home of 34 years at Talbot House, Baxtergate to Wellington House, Wellington Road, to what was Arthur Sawdon's premises, selling furniture & carpets. Before their home at Talbot house, which was formerly a hotel, they were based in Flowergate for a number of years. The solicitors now offered a property-selling service, in line with a new government policy. In the coming months, Talbot house was almost completely demolished, leaving only the Baxtergate facade standing, and re-built to form 2 retail units with flats above. Talbot Cottage - which stood behind Talbot House, accessed by steps from Baxtergate to the left of Talbot House - was also demolished during the works.

GK - Talbot House, Baxtergate during major works

John & Mary Adkin completed a major facelift of their shop in Bridge Street next to the Whitby Gazette offices. The shop was split into two separate shops - one selling quality, re-production furniture, brassware, ceramics & gifts - which was run by John & the other, run by Mary - sold confectionary, ranging from ice-creams, pick-and-mix, as well as tea & coffee to take away. The couple had run the shop for about 18 months previously and had to close it temporarily to allow the re-fit to take place, which was done by themselves. The couple stressed that they would no longer be dealing with antiques or second hand goods.

Also in April, plans for an extension to be added to the infirmary wing of St. Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle were passed. The extension was to provide sitting rooms, a small chapel & bedrooms.

The Ship Inn was given a new lease of life by its landlords Stephen & Margaret Hancox, who took over the pub in the previous summer. The makeover involved knocking down an interior wall to create one big room and also included redecorating the interior - taking on a cottage-style look, with creamy plaster walls, dark timbering & flower-patterned upholstery.

Moving onto May, Lander's Butchers shop branched out & renovated their Baxtergate premises. The business had premises at the time in Baxtergate, Golden Lion Bank & Skinner Street, and it was at the Skinner Street shop that they converted a disused bakery - at the rear of the premises - into their own bakery, with new ovens. The shops at Skinner Street & Golden Lion Bank were acquired by Landers in 1986 from Hearts of Whitby and the intention was to provide a hot counter in all 3 of Lander's shops to allow them all to sell hot pies.

From the 15th May, anyone awaiting to alight a train on the Esk Valley line at either Ruswarp, Sleights, Egton, Lealholm, Danby or Castleton, would have to 'flag' it down in order for it to stop, otherwise - unless anyone was onboard wanting to be off - it would just sail past. The move was to allow the trains to be more energy efficient, only stopping when they needed to; the guard on the train knowing when someone wanted to be off the train at any given station.

Lynda & Dale Robinson set up a laundry business at Larpool Industrial Estate, to fill what they felt was a gap in the industry, created when the Sanitary Steam Laundry at Stakesby - which later became the Handyman Store - closed in 1974.

A 6-month study into Whitby's drainage system was launched after blood had been seen on numerous occasions in Whitby Harbour over the past month or so. The fault was found to be at Chubb Hill & with a design characteristic built into the system in WWII. A blockage in the system meant waste had no option but to enter the overflow, which discharged into Dock End.

Moving onto June, a member of the lifeboat crew, Barry Sneddon, bought Whitby's former lifeboat - the Mary Ann Hepworth - to use as a pleasure craft, meaning she would be coming back home. The former lifeboat served Whitby from 1938 until 1974. After leaving Whitby, she spent some time on the Broads and on the River Trent, & now she was returning home before being restored in her former R.N.L.I. colours.

Plans for a three-storey extension were passed for the rear of the White Horse & Griffin, after the new owners earlier received planning permission for a change of use into a hotel. The extension was to replace a single storage building, and would house toilets & kitchens on the ground floor, with hotel bedrooms on the 2 floors above. There was concern at the time amongst neighbours that it would create a problem relating to water pressure, but these were quashed with reassurances that the building would be served by a new water main from Church Street.

Plans were also passed for Esk Hall off Coach Road, Sleights to be converted into a care home for the elderly, which would cater for 12 residents. Also during this year, a new house was built at Iburndale Lane between the junctions of Birch Avenue & Ingham Close, on the opposite side of the road.

House at Iburndale Lane

Also in the area of Church Street, a new jet museum was set up after builder, Dave Freeman, was renovating a property in Burns Yard, Flowergate to use as a accommodation. He was renovating the attic when he came across the hidden-away remains of a jet workshop, which he thought would be a good idea to re-create - which he set up exactly as it would have been in the 1860's - over in Church Street.

At the end of May, an arrestor bed was installed on the bottom part of Blue Bank, Sleights, after numerous accidents involving run-away lorries - the most recent of which resulted in a fatality. Signs were erected informing drivers of the escape lane, but referred to it as a "run off" & this led to drivers using it accidentally. In July, temporary signs were placed to convey the message more clearly until permanent signage was passed by the department of transport.

Railings - erected earlier in the year on a wall between The Ropery & Ras Dara in Brewery Yard - were ordered to be removed, after Dr & Mrs G. G. Gray lost their appeal against Scarborough Borough Council to keep the railings. The railings were installed to prevent children from the 2.5M drop off the wall and the railings had since been lowered in height in hope of the council giving them the OK. The railings were altered by putting them on the inside of the wall, after laying a section of coping stones.

Consent was given in July for four houses to be built at the rear of Falcon Terrace on land off Lydhurst Close.

J & P Howard coal merchants moved premises from the former Railway Goods Yard to a yard at the bottom end of Cholmley Way. Their former home needed to be freed up along with the rest of the area to make way for the new supermarket development on the British Rail site.

Planning permission for a two-storey, cottage-style house was granted to Mr R Kemp on land adjacent to 12 Brook Park, Briggswath. July also marked the official opening of a flat in the lower floor of Fishburn Park Methodist Church, for use by the Cambridge Centre. A new yoghurt factory was launched at Whitby Dairy on 20th July, which included a new £750,000 yoghurt machine.

Consent was given in July for four houses, 3-6 Lyndhurst Close to be built at the rear of Falcon Terrace.

Plans were passed for 3-6 Lyndhurst Close to be built

The end of July marked the end of an era for a Whitby village. The 230-year-old Ruswarp Mill was closed down for good with the loss of 14 jobs. North Yorkshire Food Compounder, Page Feeds, had owned the mill since 1972. The mill was badly damaged by fire in 1911 and parts of the building had to be re-built. In 1946, a 100ft concrete silo was added to the mill, with flour milling coming to its end in the 60's.

Sleights railway booking office - built in 1913 on the northern platform at the station - was demolished & moved, brick by brick, to Grosmont Station, where it was re-built to coincide with on-going work to extend the platforms. The work was to be completed in time for the following season.

The 6th of August marked a very special day for the East side of town. It was the day that Helredale Play Centre opened its doors, officially opened by Deputy Borough Mayor Jack Warwick. Lots of activities took place during the celebrations, including a street party, games, refreshments & children's entertainment. The centre was built on land between St. Peter's Road & Abbots Road.

Two days later, on the 8th August, a new headquarters for Whitby's Air Corps was opened. The building - at Castle Park - was once used by RAF Fylingdales, but after extensive modifications, the building was converted for use by the ATC, which was formed 5 years earlier.

Also in August, F. Hoggarth, soft drinks manufacturer at Spital Bridge closed down after over 50 years trading from the premises. In 1986 the company expanded, venturing into producing beers, wines & spirits. Pontefract-based company Hey UK had bought the assets of the company as part of its new marketing strategy & planned to expand its Scarborough depot. Hey UK had a small cash & carry based at Larpool Industrial Estate, which it aimed on keeping running.

Sleights Institute at Coach Road was given a new name 81 years after opening, becoming Sleights Village Hall. Built in 1908, the institute was used as a hospital & convalescence during the first world war.

The 1st September saw the closure of Whitby's first charity shop, Oxfam - which was based in Flowergate - having opened its doors 12 years earlier. 20 volunteer staff worked at the store.

In September, a change of use was granted to 11 Byland Road for Mrs Foulston, where she wanted to run a child's nursery & live in the flat above. The building was at the time unoccupied, situated in a terrace of shops.

Also around this time, West Cliff Hotel boasting 16 bedrooms was refurbished, by the owners at the time - husband & wife - Pat & Alf Abbott, along with daughter Gillian, which they opened in 1983.

Also in September, land owned at the time by the railway, near to Bog Hall crossing - at the site of the former turntable - was granted a change of use to a boat yard, for use by Coates Marine. Permission was also given for Coates Marine to erect a workshop.

 During the autumn, Cooplands bakery opened at 60 Baxtergate in the premises of a former wallpaper & paint shop, with the addition of a new shop front.

In October, a bungalow being built at the time by Mr. R. Kemp at the junction of Union Road & Walker Street had to be altered after it caused much anger amongst neighbours, after the window facing Union Road was positioned higher up than indicated on the plans, overlooking neighbouring property.

Work on the Banqueting Hall at Whitby Abbey was complete by contractors J. Hewson of Harrogate. The work was paid for by English Heritage and included removing loose concrete & cleaning the exposed areas of the beams & the buildings steel reinforcement, along with repairing the dovetail joint & applying effective outer covering for continued protection.

In business news, Scarborough Building Society moved premises from 42 Flowergate to 5 Flowergate, after 10 years in the town.

The ancient footpath Featherbed Lane between Sleights & Aislaby was re-opened after it had become completely overgrown. The work was carried out by Sleights firm "RentaRanger" - a ranger service set up in spring 1988 by Niall & Anthea Carson.

A 2-year-period of work, totalling £20,000 was announced for Whitby Museum, to enable it to continue to be part of the Museums & Galleries Commission. A visit by Mr. John Morris - assistant director of technical services at Yorkshire & Humberside Museums Association - indicated that the work needed to be done. Most of the work was confined to the basement, formerly used a coal cellar, now used as storage, where shelving & benches had to be installed. Other work included the vent system from the ground floor to the basement, formerly used as a coal chute.

In November, John Freeman opened the former slaughter house in Market Place as Abbey Gallery, formerly used by butcher Hoe Marsay, who used to own the whole row of buildings down to Sandgate. The butchers shop was converted several years previous when it was changed into the Seagull Cafe, before later being turned into Abbey Gallery.

In December, plans were passed for an extension to provide a workshop to a newly-built bungalow at 39 Lowdale Lane, Sleights. Also passed was plans for a bungalow at 33 Iburndale Lane to be called Burndale House at the junction of Ingham Close, Sleights. In June 1992, plans were passed for a house to be built on land adjacent to it at Ingham Close.

The British Red Cross was given permission to change its former meeting hall at 32-33 Cliff Street into two 2-bedroom cottages. Sometime around the end of this year, the R.C. Diocese was given permission to demolish the premises of St. Hilda's Boys Club in Newton Street after the building was reported as been structurally unsafe. The building was officially opened as the boys club in 1971.

It was also in this year that Caedmon School's bus moved on to pastures new, after being with the school for 17 years. The bus was originally bought from Scarborough F.C, who used it as a team bus. The bus, a Bedford J2 S2 Plaxton Embassy 20-seater, was nicknamed the 'Flying Pig', and was now going to be preserved in County Durham. The bus was a 16-seater with 2 double seats facing rearwards with 2 tables. The bus was adapted for school use and the 2 tables removed and 2 sets of old double seats from another bus were fitted in place of the tables as a temporary measure, which turned out to be a permanent move. The bus got its nickname, firstly the 'Flying' from its lack of acceleration & speed & secondly the 'Pig' due to its road holding characteristics!