Whitby

In Living Memory

1995

In 1995, an agreement with Abbey Farm was made to run the Cleveland Way footpath across their land, after land slips left the original path precariously close to the cliff edge. It was also in this year that the alternative route to Whitby Abbey 'Caedmon's Trod' was formed, by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. 65 stone steps were added at the top of Green's Yard, which, incidentally, is on the site of the former Green's Yard, which was demolished in the mid-1950's, forming the route up the cliff. Also, a new housing estate, to be called Linden Close at Briggswath off Carr Hill Lane was started. Also in this year, the TSB bank in Flowergate was changed to Lloyds TSB after the two companies merged.

Green's Yard & Caedmon's Trod, making its way up the cliff  behind Church Street to the Abbey

In January, the Princess Club on Spring Hill, which had stood empty for some time, was bought by Bagdale Old Hall, and used it as an annex to their hotel. The building was most recently used by a catering supplies company. In Ruswarp, the high street was closed for 3 weeks at the end of January to allow for a camber to be corrected and that meant lowering the road surface. Also in the works included new drainage and crossings. Also in January, £90,000 was spent on the Piers & £24,000 on harbour wall repairs, including pressure grouting at Marine Parade.

Bagdale Lodge as it is today, formely Princess Social Club, Spring Hill

 In February, work started on removal of old out building at Dalewood House, costing. A new building was erected, which would take about 20 weeks & cost £30,000. In March, East Yorkshire Gas closed it's Flowergate branch due to being uneconomical, only 6 months after opening.

In April, Whitby Fire Service lost it's 2nd fire engine, leaving the service with only 1. Also in this month, the flat bowling green on the West Cliff was lost to car parking, which was adjacent to the crown green that still exists today. Tuby's Pleasure Land Arcade got a new, mini, 6 lane 10-pin bowling facility, which replaced the children's mini-dodgems. The Trinity Youth Centre introduced a scheme to year 7 & 8 on Monday evenings, they could attend and take part in a variety of sports. Also in April, Network moved to new premises on Flowergate in the former Duck's shop. Network at one time, were based at premises on Spring Hill, formerly the Spring Hill Dining Centre where children from the schools of St. Hilda's RC & St. John's at Albion Terrace had their school dinners, after they had been cooked at County Kitchens as it was then, now the home of Beavers Carpets at Stakesby Vale. St. John's School was demolished when it became obsolete when the present Airy Hill School opened in 1963 & council houses were built on the site. It had an office, shop, cafe & living accommodation.

The footings of the old Spring Hill Dining Centre at Spring Hill next to the police station

 In May Street Cred Shop moved into Skinner Street, into a shop that had stood empty for years, the former SupaSave Supermarket.

In June, Green Lane Play Centre was completed at a cost of £96,000, which would only last until 2007, when it would be demolished to make way for a bigger and better centre. In July, the day hospice got a new home in Mulgrave Crescent, after moving from Kirkham Road. The service is part of St. Catherine's Hospice. At the end of August, 3 more blocks, all of equal size were constructed on the industrial estate. 1 block was divided into 2, to give 2 half-size units.

Left: Duck's Shop getting ready for closing down, which will see this building house Network for a short time

In July, the former Mount Antiques on Khyber Pass, was re-opened as L.P. Dance Centre, in the old Mount School building. There was a plea out for a bell to be sourced, so it could be sited in the bell tower, and in the coming months, a bell was supplied by Rodger Janney of Sheffield, and was fitted by stonemason Dave Parker.

L.P. Dance Centre moved in to the former Mount School, more recently Mount Antiques

In August Getaway Travel moved from Grape Lane after 15 years to 11 Baxtergate. Also in the summer, Sleights playgroup from Church House was closed after 13 years. In Whitby, the double yellow lines on Chubb Hill Road were extended up the hill, on the park side as far as the floral clock, and on the other side as far up as the language school.

In September, the overhead power lines were replaced with underground cables, as these dated from the 1950's, when the area first got electricity. There was also overhead lines carrying 11,000 volts going across the new housing estate, that dated from 1932. There was concerns that the street lights that were attached to the old poles would not be replaced, but these fears were soon quashed, and were in fact replaced. In October of this year, Diamond Music was opened in Flowergate. Also in Flowergate, the church house was sold. That meant that lots of volunteer organisations could move in, including the toy library re-opening, Citizen's Advice Bureau, Mind, Whalers & Advocacy and more. The interior of the building was changed dramatically, but the outside remained largely the same. Also in October, Lawson Brothers' Electrical Store in St Ann's Lane was closed after 60 years of trading in the town.

Left: Trinity House, the Church House on Flowergate at time of closure before being sold.

In December, new navigation lights were installed on the pier extensions, to replace the old, obsolete ones. The West Pier light already had a back-up power supply, via a generator at the Harbour Office, which would last 2 days. The East Pier didn't, but with the new system, it would have battery back-up. The new system also had automatic bulb changers.