1994

1994

In January 1994, the Workingmen's Club on Flowergate, now the Resolution, was closed after cash flow problems and the keys were handed back to the brewery. Also in January, Whitby Fish Quay got a £25,000 improvement in order to meet European Hygiene Regulations.

In February, work was started on the demolition of the 3 'Golf Balls' at R.A.F. Fylingdales Early Warning Station. The triangular building to replace them was completed in 1992, after almost 3 years of building work. Construction of the new building started in the Autumn of 1989, by Leeds-based firm Laing, Yorkshire, after they were awarded the contract by American firm Raytheon. The 105ft-tall, £23.5M building was paid for by the British government but the £250M radar equipment inside was financed by the American government.

Left: Whitby Fish Quay getting some treatment, including construction of another building; Centre: The 'Golf Balls'; & Right: The Golf Balls under demolition with the new building to the right of them

Also in this month, in the town centre, Presto's supermarket was closed, which was to become Mackay's clothes shop. Presto's, which was part of the Safeway group, housed at numbers 57-59 Baxtergate. Whitby Town Football Club had it's cup stolen from it's clubhouse, which the club won for winning the Northern League Division 1 in the previous season. The cup was solid silver and dated back to 1889, when the Northern League was formed. The cup, which was worth £5,000, was never seen again.

Left; M & Co, Baxtergate Whitby, then called Mackays; Right: Me, age 5 at the 1993 annual Whitby Town F.C. Gala Day with the Northern League Championship cup about 6 months before it got stolen

In March, the TV program ‘One Summer In Whitby’ was aired, filmed from summer 1993. Also in March, it was agreed that a boundary fence would be erected on the footpath at Boghall to separate Coates Marine. In March also at Coach Road in Sleights, 4 new lamp posts were added. It was decided the village's main road was too dark, so 4 new street lamps were to be added each year, until the full length of the road was covered, which was estimated to take until around 2006. Also in this month, the toy library, which was based in Trinity House, Flowergate, was closed, as it was deemed too small for all the toys. It was a service that would be missed by many youngsters, especially those with special needs.

In April it was announced that local bus services, run by Tees & District would be resumed, one of the routes was Eskdale Park. The routes formally had clipper buses serving them, but they had been withdrawn & the services suspended. These would be reinstated, but with full sized buses at 20-minute intervals. The service would only stop at designated bus stops, not a 'hail & ride' service as it was before. This was possibly when the many brick-built bus shelters were built that stand around that area of town. Also in April, the old mortuary at Whitby Cemetery was closed after being there since the opening of Whitby Cemetery in November 1862. The service was moved to newer premises in Whitby Hospital. There was also a ban for vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes, except for access, entering upper Church Street between the times of 10:30am until 4:00pm. In Sleights, the Bowling Club got a new brick-built clubhouse, replacing the old one made out of timber.

In May, 'Colour Copy Shop' was opened in the Station Buildings, occupying Unit 3. The business was previously called 'Pro-Print', ran by Peter Freeman, from his house on Esk Terrace. In June, work was started on the new crossing on Prospect Hill. Work included adding a new crossing on the old railway bridge & also one on the slip-way from New Bridge, as well as making the main traffic lights into pedestrian crossings. The work was complete by September, for the new school year.

In July, Brunswick Methodist Church was put up for sale, open to offers. This included the church, Brunswick Room, Auxiliary Room & caretaker’s house on Baxtergate. Also in July, new businesses came to Whitby including Bon Marche opened it’s Whitby branch on Baxtergate, in the former Llyoyd’s SuperSave. The other was Sacky’s Chippy, which went into the former Jack Cook’s Chandlery, on Langborne Road. It was owned by Colin Swales. Also in July, the British Gas Showroom on Flowergate was closed, but in the following month, East Yorkshire Gas opened other the road, in the former Elektra Toy Shop. Also in July, 5 telephone exchanges were upgraded round the area to digital dialing, which saw the introduction of the ‘01947’ Whitby area code, which replaced the former code of ‘0947’.

Left: St. John’s Church with Methodist Church’s caretakers house behind on Baxtergate; Right: Whitby Brunswick Methodist Church & Brunswick Rooms

In August, on the A171 at Hawsker it was decided that, after an accident, extra singing would be provided on the right hand bend leaving Whitby, where the old bridge was. The signs would include black and white chevrons showing the direction of the bend and ‘Reduce Speed Now’ signs. Also in August, the old foghorn buildings at High Light were converted to Horn Blower Tea Rooms. Also in August, a weight restriction came into force for the upper part of Church Street, Market Place & Henrietta Street, banning lorries over 3.5 tonnes using the road between 10:30am & 4:00pm.

High Light Foghorn, known locally as 'Hawsker Bull' was turned into Horn Blower tea rooms

In September, the Working Men’s Club was re-opened and run by Howard Driver from Redcar, who also wanted to buy the club from Carlsberg Tetley, but never did. Also in September, Mackays clothes shop opened in the old Presto’s premises on Baxtergate. Also in September, but strolling out to Sleights, a new nursery was launched, which ran out of Sleights School, which was named ‘Sunshine Corner’. In October, Whitby Library closed for a week while it was re-fitted with computer equipment. Also in this month, the former job centre building on Brunswick Street was converted into flats & the old annexe turned into a cottage. Also in September, CCTV was installed, in and around the harbour.

In October, the Prospect Hill Pedestrian Crossings were fitted with a new type of device, which comprised of a small cone underneath the pedestrian control box, which rotated when it was safe to cross. It was the first of it’s kind in the town, and was only first introduced in this country 18 months before. In November, the name of a charity shop changed nationwide. A company called, at the time, Spastics Society Shop, was re-named SCOPE, after the word ‘Spastic’ was getting used as a bullying term more and more often. In December, the owners of Clarke’s Off License, Skinner Street, John & Margaret Tyreman, opened a grocers opposite in a former specialist in lingerie, which, prior to that was Quaron’s Grocers. Further afield in Sleights, a new ‘Gateway’ was introduced from both directions entering the village on the A169. The ‘Gateways’ consisted of 2 large signs, 1 either side of the road with the speed limit & a ‘Welcome to Sleights - Please Drive Carefully’ message. On the road was a non-skid strip, to warn drivers to slow down. Also in Sleights in this year, on Birch Avenue, a lay-by was created to give residents somewhere safe to park their cars. Also in 1994, Westfield Court was constructed on Crescent Avenue.

Left: Sleights Gateway on the Southern approach, newly installed in this year. Centre: Birch Avenue Lay-by installed in this year. Right: Westfield Court, Crescent Avenue, constructed in this year

Also in this year, the old Bus Depot on Upgang Lane was demolished, after many planning applications were refused relating to different uses for the building. The land would be used to build a small avenue of houses on, to be called 'Blenheim Avenue'.

The old bus depot, before getting demolished & how a similar viewpoint looks today.