1997

1997

This year saw an exciting time for the town, with the arrival of the replica ship of HMS Endeavour. Sometime in this year, a small section of land off Carr Hill Lane, Briggswath, was built on. In early 1997, a new 2 bedroom bungalow was built on the end of Mulgrave Road, overlooking the sea and golf course.

In January, the charity shop, Sue Rhyder Foundation, which opened in October last year in the former Freeman Hardy's shoe shop closed. Benson Shoe's was to move in in March. Also in January, Whitby Community College got a new 17-seater mini-bus, replacing their old one. At the end of January, a four-week programme began on building works to install a control room at Whitby Police Station to monitor 12 new C.C.T.V. cameras that were being installed around the town at the time. In February, a furniture factory, owned by Mr. Whiteley, was opened in the former Normanby Barracks Territorial Army Centre. Also around the same time, the P.D.S.A. shop on Baxtergate was given a major re-vamp, while, on the other side of Baxtergate, work on Halifax was completed, which saw the branch expand upstairs into what was a hairdressers, and included fitting 2 new ATM machines, 5 till points and consultation rooms. At the end of February, safety work started on improvements to Blue Bank South of Sleights and took 2 months to complete. Works included replacing old information signs approaching the top of the bank with big blue signs, warning of the steep decent, 2 electronic flashing signs, which would be triggered by heavy vehicles, and safety barriers at the bottom of the hill with chevron markings on each bend. Also, a sign warning of the steep gradients on the road was placed South of the Hole of Horcum.

Lots happened in Whitby worth taking note of in the month of March. On March 24th, Presto's supermarket on Flowergate became Safeway, inline with the company's plans to convert all of their Presto stores to Safeway by the summer of this year. This meant that the store would now have an in-store bakery. The store would also open half an hour earlier each day, at 8am rather than 8:30, and on a Saturday it would stay open 2 hours later until 8pm. The store would also open until 9pm on 1 night a week. Also, Tog 24 opened in Whitby, as it moved into a shop, which had stood empty for years, next to the Shepherds Purse on Church Street. Also in March, Armstrong & Richardson & Co Ltd opened a new animal feed store at Selly Hill on Guisborough Road. The family business had been going for over 70 years. In March too, the Mission on Haggersgate opened its doors as a drop-in centre for people who wanted to meet new friends or find a sympathetic ear. It also offered low cost food. It was in this month also that the pelican crossing was installed on Stainsacre Lane, which parents had been campaigning for since October 1996, after a tragic accident. At the end of March, Nationwide Building Society opened a branch in the town, in the building that also houses Wasley Chapman, in Victoria Square. Also around the same time, Easter Sunday in fact, the last service was held at the Brunswick Methodist Church, with subsequent services & events moved temporarily to Whitby Seaman's Mission. Beacon Farm opened an ice cream factory, which visitors could see into and watch ice cream being made. Sleights Bottom Shop at 15 Coach Road was converted into a house, with the shop front turned into a bay window. The Citizens Advice Bureau was closed at the end of March and re-opened at the volunteer centre at Trinity House, Flowergate on 8th April, which leads us nicely onto April...

Left: A house on the bottom end of Mulgrave Road, built in this year;
Right: The pedestrian crossing installed on Stainsacre Lane outside East Whitby Primary School in March of this year

In April, the Cambridge Centre was given the go-ahead to open a drug counselling centre in Silver Street, moving from the Seaman's Mission. Arundel Garage started opening 24 hours from Thursday morning until Sunday night, with the forecourt shop also open the same times. Annie's in Grape Lane, which was a Fruit & Veg shop, was taken over by different owner in April and changed into an Antiques Shop. J.C. Nicholls of Driffield bought the old Co-op store on Wellington Road, to sell home wares, and trading under 'Yorkshire Trading Company'. The shop had stood empty since January, when Paul Hodson closed it, after he had opened a shop selling bargains. Their old home in Wellington Road was filled by Rayners Opticians, which was previously on Church Street at the top of Bridge Street. Also in April, Whitby Business Park by the A171 was given a new look with new signs and landscaping. The Co-op decided to install barriers on their customer car park, as customers were leaving without paying and leaving genuine customers with nowhere to park sometimes. Also installed was a small kiosk in the middle of the 2 lanes of traffic. In Sleights, the bowling club completed a 5-year-programme, which included a new kitchen, new pavilion & new footpaths and fencing around the pavilion, with the pavilion being built in 1994. Whitby Town F.C. gained promotion out of the Northern League into the Northern Premier League First Division by winning the Championship, in a season that saw them get within less than a minute of beating Hull City in a replay at Hull in the F.A. Cup 1st Round.

May, saw the 2 most important events for the town of the 90's, perhaps arguably, the whole of Whitby's recent history, that was the arrival of the HM Bark Endeavour & Whitby Town F.C. winning the F.A. Vase, both which happened on 10th May. For the arrival of the Endeavour, Park & Ride sites were set up by Scarborough Borough Council at West Cliff Car Park, Abbey Plain Car Park, which had just been completed after major works, and from the Showfield off White Ley's Road, where there was capacity for 1000 cars. May also saw the Brunswick Rooms re-opened for events for the people of Whitby, but only for a short time, before being sold in the near future to David Gray of Guisborough. Also in May, Beck's Veterinary Practice was re-opened in a new building, built by Newton Building Contractors. The new building stood on the site of the old Woodlands Surgery at High Stakesby, and included a spacious reception area with children's play area, 2 consultation rooms & an operating theatre, as well as a heated recovery room.

In June, the Dolphin pub re-opened, Whitby Insurance Firm, T Williams, on Brunswick Street was taken over by Scarborough firm, Coates, Smith & Cook. After 12 years existence, Mr Williams decided enough was enough owing to ill-health. It was also in this month that the 30mph speed limit was introduced from the Eastern side of the New Bridge to South of the junction of Cholmley Way, where the National Speed Limit used to come into force, but this was also changed, with a 40mph 'buffer zone', until South of Enterprise Way. In August, Whitby telephone exchange went digital, which meant new facilities were available, including; Call Diversion, Call Waiting & Call Minder, where the exchange could record incoming messages, if the residents phone was busy.

In July, St Hilda's School closed for good. The school, housed at Sneaton Castle, Carr Hall & & St Hilda's Terrace was in a debt of £90,000. The buildings at Carr Hall & St Hilda's Terrace were sold, but the school at Sneaton Castle was owned by the Nuns. 'Sneaton Castle School' was subsequently set up by Whitby business men, who had children at the former St Hilda's School. 12 C.C.T.V. cameras went live in July, linked to the town's police station, allowing police to monitor different areas of the town, in as much clarity as reading the headlines of a newspaper. Bridport Gundry Marine of Haggersgate closed down at this time, after trading in the town for 70 years. It was owned by a national chain, but the Whitby shop was run by one man. The former Abbey Press printing works in Grape Lane was converted into 2 shops, and Ramblers Court off Coach Road in Sleights had 2 houses built around this time. Also in July, the Church House, Trinity House, on Flowergate was officially re-opened after major renovations. It was to house many groups and organisations, and for the summer of this year at least, these included; Fit Tots, Toy Library, Lobster Pot Creche for under 5's, Activities Week for over 12's, Summer Play Scheme for 8-12 year olds, Whitby Disablement Action Group, Advocacy Alliance, Citizens Advice Bureau, Age Concern, Caring Together, Stepping Stones drop-in centre & Whitby Whaler - university of the third age for older people.

Left: Beck's Vets move into their new building; Right: Ramblers Court, Sleights, 3 cottages built in 1997

In August, Whitby Museum saw some works taking place, to make it more accessible for the disabled. To the rear of the building, on rough ground, a new entrance was added & disabled toilets installed. Also, test drilling was underway in Whitby Harbour for Yorkshire Water, as a pumping station was being proposed in Dock End, after Yorkshire Water bought Broomfield Farm off Stainsacre Lane. In the same month, the Friendship Rowing Club's floating boathouse, moored near the Friendship Club, was sold for a nominal amount as it had begun to leak.

The town's C.C.T.V. was fully launched on 17th September, and in the same month, the Out Patients department at Whitby Hospital was given a face-lift. Six consulting rooms were added and the work cost £90,000. In October, a new dry dock was installed by Parkol Marine, replace the old one, which was installed in 1992. The new one, measuring 42 by 40 metres, could support vessels up to 500 tonnes. Also in October, the HM Bark Endeavour sailed by into Whitby, this time for a re-fit, then to be open to the public to walk onboard. Whitby's first out of school club was launched. 'The Endeavour Fun Club' was run out of The Bungalow, Airy Hill School. A new look was given to the Heather Unit's Rowan Suite at Whitby Hospital, which allows relatives of very ill people to stay with them. The suite was also available for relatives of patients of Abbey Ward too.

In the last 2 months of 1997, the Friendship Rowing Club extended, by knocking through to an adjoining cottage in Argument's Yard, allowing them to use it as changing rooms. The old changing rooms were then used to store barrels, freeing up the boathouse, which was previously the home of the barrels. Also, quite a few changes were happening in the retail industry at the end of 1997. A shop called 'Progress' was opened in the former Duck's premises in Flowergate, selling Orange mobile phones & Vodazap pagers. Deja Vu opened in Church Street selling quality second hand clothes. In Grape Lane, Harbour Gallery & Botany Bay Antiques opened, and also Porto Pizzas on Windsor Terrace. On 1st December, Y.H. Training Services of The Ropery, closed its Whitby branch, as not enough people were seeking work. Johnson's Pork Butcher's closed after 37 years in the business. Richard & Florence Baker sold the business to Richard's Cousin David Goodswen of Redcar. The Black Dog Brewery opened on the Ropery. In December, Carr Hall old school was bought by Keith & Electra Robinson who previously owned Larpool Hall. Carr Hall was bought in 1944 by St Hilda's School, and became the middle school. Also in December, St Hilda's Roman Catholic Church on Bagdale was closed for safety reasons as plaster had fallen from the roof.

End the end of this year Meyer International, the owner of Jewson, purchased Harcros Timber and Building Supplies from parent company, Harrison's & Crosfield nationally. The deal, secured for a figure around £300,000M, combined Jewson's 200 stores with Harcros's 211 stores nationwide and subsequently, the offices on Fairfield Way changed names.