Whitby

In Living Memory

2003

In this year, a 2 bedroom cottage being approved on the site of an old garage at 46 Upgang Lane. Also, a 4 bedroom house was approved at Lodge Farm with access off St. Peter's Court. Also this year, the old council offices on Back St. Hilda's Terrace were converted into 2 flats. Another 4 three bedroom cottages were built to the end of Henrietta Street on the site of former fish processing sheds. Permission was given for Wits End Cafe at the foot of Lythe Bank, Sandsend, to provide a court yard with seating and converting a byre into toilets. The area to the rear of the cafe was formerly called the Boatyard and also used to be a building used to store beasts for slaughter, in the days the cafe was a butchers shop. Also, sometime in this year, Bryan Clarkson replaced Sky Lark with Esk Belle I, a 50-seater pleasure craft & the company 'Whitby Coastal Cruises' was set up. It was also in this year that the 'Calla Beck Conservation Group' was formed, whose aim was to tidy up the footpaths around the Spital Vale area & install picnic benches. The work wasn't carried out until 2007 however.

The cottages at the end of Henrietta Street

In January, the P.D.S.A. shop in Baxtergate was closed for 2 weeks to allow for a refurbishment. Also in the town centre, Whitby Library received 13 new computers thanks to a count-wide lottery grant from the New Opportunities Fund. The computers were installed in the centre section of the library, where the enquiries desk formerly was.

Parking on the Northern side of North road, between the junctions of Falcon Terrace & Gray street was made illegal, whilst restrictions on the other side of the road were lifted.

More work was carried out to Whitby's Swing Bridge, which brought more road closures with it. Phase 1 of the work was complete by March, which focused on the Eastern leaf, which involved having a new diesel engine fitted, replacing the 17 year old one, along with new hydraulics, electrical & wedging systems. The next phase of the work was to focus on the Western leaf.

A change of use planning application was granted to change the former Nicholson's Vets of the Parade to a restaurant. Also on the dining front, the Beach Cafe, near to the chalets below West Cliff re-opened for the first time in a number of seasons.

In March, New Quay Road saw some changes, where disabled & loading bays were added. The disabled bays on the harbour side of the road caused one motorist to receive a parking fine, after parking against a dropped kerb, within the bay. There was a solid white line painted on the road at the time the fine was issued, in January 2004, but just weeks after that, text saying 'Keep Clear' was also painted. Part of Church Street, from the Market Place to Henrietta Street was closed, to allow for replacement of electrical cables, following a number of power cuts in the area.

Work began in March on a 3-4 week project, which saw piling installed in the lower harbour to strengthen the seabed, which also prepared for the new lifeboat house promised to the town. A massive crane, the 'Rebecca M', dominated the Whitby landscape. Work then progressed into the upper harbour at Whitehall, again with piling to strengthen the seabed, and also to prepare for the installation of pontoons.

Cliff stabilisation work was undertaken on the embankment parallel with the A174 road to the South of Sandsend, to try and eliminate further landslips, after a few small slips had happened over the winter. Work had previously been carried out in the late 1960's.

The 199 steps were closed for the first time ever due to vandalism, and £12,000 was spent on the steps to investigate why the Southern side was eroding. English Heritage paid for half of the costs, while the Church met the other half. Whitby's old whalebones that stood on the West Cliff for nearly 40 years were taken down by council engineers and stored at the council depot, before being donated on 'permanent loan' by the council to Whitby Archives & Heritage Centre in June, despite having received 2 offers off people willing to buy them for their own, personal use. The old jaw bones were donated to the town in 1963 by Norwegian shipping company 'Thor Dahl' and the whale, a 113-ton Fin Whale, was killed in the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic by the Norweigan whaling ship 'Thorshovdi'. The new bones, were installed a week later on 1st April after a delay due to having to fill a jaw cavity.

Also at this time, plans were passed for change of use to 13 Station Square, which saw a former Shoe Repair shop turned into a tattoo parlour, named 'Turvey's Tatoos'.

In April, plans were passed for a 1st floor extension to the Whitby Fisherman's Club to provide new toilets. Around this time, plans were passed to allow the Spar shop to move into a new building to replace the former Arundale Garage on Castle Road, after Arundale pulled out of the car selling, repair and parts business shortly before. The land was owned by W. Eves an the petrol was sold by Shell at the time.

Whitby Golf Club was awarded £289,252 from the Sport England Lottery Fund to help them towards buying a field behind the R.A.F. estate, to create 3 new holes on, after the fairways of holes 4 & 6 had become very thin due to coastal erosion. A shower, toilet & washing suite was also to be created in the work in a new ground-floor, ladies locker room. The work was complete by the summer.

Whitby Jets Juvenile Jazz Band sold their coach as the license of the former driver of it had expired. The coach was owned by the Jets for 4 years and was 22 years old when they let it go. Plans to change the former Whitby Quilt Shop to Clevedale Vets at 10 The Parade were passed, after Nicholson's Vets Of The Parade closed in 2002. Also in April, Fishburn Park Post Office sold its last stamp after the owner decided it was no longer financially viable keeping the Post Office open. It was hoped that the Post Office would re-open after a year, but it was re-assessed and decided that nothing had changed within the year it had been closed so the building was converted into a 1 bedroom flat sometime later, having already received planning permission.

The former Fishburn Park Post Office building, now flats

Whitby's new bus station, started in June 2002, was complete in May of this year. The whole of the road through Station Square was also re-surfaced and a 'No Right Turn' was brought in to stop drivers turning right into Windsor Terrace, instead having to use the roundabout at New Quay Road to come from the other direction. Hatchings replaced the centre right turn lane. The area in front of the train station was also tidied up, with some pavement area taken away to make the road junction shallower, making it easier for buses getting into the station. A new type of pedestrian crossing was also introduced in place of the old one and new kerbstones installed. The flat-topped-hump, promised at the end of Windsor Terrace, provided an easy route for wheelchairs linking the bus & train stations.

Also in May, Monks Haven in Church Street was granted permission to change the first floor from living accommodation to include more seating and toilets.

St John's Church on Baxtergate was awarded £36,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund & English Heritage for Regional Churches to put towards work estimated at the time to total around £200,000. Work that needed doing included to re-build the bell turret & re-hanging the bell & timber & roof repairs to the nave and aisles.

An Italian Resaurant 'Moutrey's' opened at 9a Grape Lane in May, in a premises formerly used as a shop selling paint & wallpaper in conjunction with a painting a decorating business. The shop was owned at the time by Brian Hodgson of William Hodgson & Sons. He had to come out of the shop but kept the decorating side of the business going. The new restaurant was able to seat 60.

Over the summer, 2 traffic islands were installed on the A169 in Sleights. 1 was at the brow of the hill on Coach Road, just South of the junction of Esk Hall & the other was just North of the junction with Eskdaleside. The kerbs were also altered at the junction with Iburndale lane to make it easier to cross the road.

Coach road viewed looking South at the junction with Iburndale Lane. The road here has been narrowed to make it easier for people to cross & 1 of the newly-installed traffic islands is in the distance

In June, work was completed on the bank side which lines Khyber Pass, below Kirby Flats, following a landslip at the very end of 2002. Work on the £16,000 project started in February, and at the end of the works, which involved 'Soil Nailing', contractors re-instated a footpath & railings. Also around this time, speed humps were installed, parking bay lines were painted & footpaths were laid on Khyber Pass.

Khyber Pass traffic improvements

Also in this area around this time, the former nightclub at the Royal Hotel was demolished to make way for a car park for the staff & visitors to the hotel. The 'Big Bamboo' was falling into a state of disrepair.

Plans to build a bungalow on land at 12 Birch Grove, Sleights were passed. The bungalow, to become 12A was to be in keeping with the bungalows on the street. Goathland Surgery was closed down around this time at all patients were moved to Sleights Surgery.

Back in town and the bus service 94, operated by Arriva,was no longer calling through Abbots Road, due to health & safety issues following the speed bumps installed in the previous year. Instead, the 97 bus, to St. Mary's Crescent, would go via Abbots Road. In other health & safety news, railings were installed around the Harbour from opposite what was then the Big A, to the Swing Bridge, due to fears that someone would fall in.

The times were moving on in Whitby as households connected to Whitby telephone exchange could now get broadband! The internet service was said to be up to 10 times faster than the dial-up connection, and didn't take up the users' telephone line whilst on the internet, allowing them to surf & talk simultaneously. Also a celebration was on the cards for residents of Staithes, as their homes were now connected to a gas mains supply. The work was carried out by United Utilities and the supply to Staithes was turned on in June, after Boulby Mine was connected to the supply in May, which enabled the villages to take advantage, with the gas being brought so close. The villages of Hinderwell, Port Mulgrave, Easington & Runswick Top would also be connected in the coming months.

Just North of Staithes, at Boulby Mine, the mine put a new building to use, which was built in the last 12 months close the mine head, to house a plant for watering down waste. The mine had been operating a pilot scheme for at least 2 years previous, after being told they had to cut down on waste going into the sea by 2004, from 200,000 to 130,000 tonnes a year. The process involved mixing sea water and diluting the waste material, and then pumping the waste into old mine workings.

In July of this year is was announced by Scarborough Borough Council that the cargo shed at Endeavour Wharf would be let to firms to use it for storage purposes after failing to find new harbour trade. It was also announced that Endeavour Wharf was to be used for car parking throughout the summer, as well as extra parking at Abbey Headland. The temporary parking was only permitted until September 15th though, and a ticket machine, powered by solar energy, installed at the temporary abbey car park was to be taken away before that date too. Also in that area, on Dock End, work was carried out by Yorkshire Water which involved fitting automatic valves to pipes, meaning they didn't have to send divers down to adjust the valves.

Also around this time, a smuggling museum was opened on the ground floor of Robin Hood's Bay's Albion Hall, simply called 'Smugglers'. Whitby's Baxtergate saw a new shop arrive called 'Talk! Mobile Solutions'

Also in July, work was on-going on erecting a stone-faced wall at Sandsend Beck to stop erosion, much of which was caused by the 2000 floods. The £50,000 scheme, undertaken by Raynesway was complete by October.

Work was complete by August on transforming Old Ammonite House, Church Street, into a resaurant. The building was bought by Mousa Mohamad, who gained planning permission for it to be used as a restaurant, but he decided to lease the building, which eventually became an Italian resaurant 'Elessies'. Also at this time, plans were passed for 2 semi-detached holiday cottages at Resolution Close, Captain Cooks Haven.

In August also, a new dredger arrived in town following the departure of the Sandsend & Saltwick earlier in the year. The new vessel, named 'B33' when it arrived but re-named 'Sandsend' received a lot of attention at Parkol Marine, before being launched into service. Incidentally, Whitby's old 'Dredge Esk' was scrapped just months before, having served another 20 years since leaving Whitby. Its crane was saved and fitted to another vessel.

In September, Whitby branch of Building Society closed its Flowergate doors for the last time, 24 years after opening them. While elsewhere in the town, another business was opening in the form of Whitby's new driving test centre, which opened in St. Hilda's Business Centre, after moving from the old premises at Back St. Hilda's Terrace. September also saw the arrival of a new mobile library van to replace the old one, after giving 12 years service. The new Leyland T45 van, costing £75,0000, was fitted with air conditioning, air suspension & a step lift for the disabled.

September saw the demolition of a historic farmhouse near Whitby Abbey. Abbeylands Farm was badly damaged by fire in March of this year, and so the decision was taken by Scarborough Borough Council, who owned the farm, to destroy it. The farmhouse was leased by English Heritage but had been out of use for years, the last use it had was when contractors used it for storage during works on the abbey headland project.

To round off September, we will finish with the most fierce moor fire in decades, involving nearly 100 fire fighters at one point from around the region, who tried their hardest to control the fire, which lasted several days. The fire was believed to have been started in a litter bin at the Jugger Howe Lay-by off the A171 South of The Flask and saw flames leaping as high as 20 feet. The fire spread quickly and crossed the road and headed towards Ravenscar, covering 4 square miles. A second fire then started whilst the first fire was just coming under control. This time, it was at Lattergate Hill, Robin Hood's Bay & was believed to have been started deliberately.

A shed at Airy Hill School was targeted by arsonists and burnt to the ground. The shed was used by Endeavour Fun Club and contained 8 children's bikes at the time. Also at this time, just over the road, Caedmon School was awarded a £450,000 grant for an all-weather community pitch, with dugouts, changing rooms & showers.

Archaeological excavations were carried out at the site of the old TV mast near Whitby Abbey, commissioned by owners Crown Castle International, prior to new anchor blocks being constructed to minimise any movement triggered by nearby coastal erosion.

After being reported in the summer that there was no sign of any cargo trade for Whitby Harbour, it was exactly that that arrived in the port in October. The 'Ladogan 13' was the first cargo trade the town had seen for 3 years.

Also in October, Daisy's ice cream parlour at 9 Flowergate became Contemporary hair salon.

Daisy's ice cream parlour becomes Contemporary

Lights at Whitby Pavilion were to be demolished and refurbished over the winter months, after many were found to be rusting. The lights, about 13 altogether, ran from the whalebones to the top car park and also down to the booking office and had been installed about 10 years previous.

InterActive received a £1,000 grant from Yorkshire Water which would benefit the Fit Tots on Tour activity scheme. The Shambles bar also got the go-ahead at this time to build a balcony overlooking the harbour.

Building work by D & N Developments was nearing completion on 2 cottages to the West of the railway line at Bog Hall, on the former site of Heidi's Cottage.

In November, plans were passed for a house to be built in the garden of a house owned by Mr. Stanforth, on the corner of Oak Road & Byland Road. Other plans passed around this time was for a workshop at Low Garth, Sleights, to be converted into a house. Other things to note was the sale of St. Hilda's Business Centre to a private investor. 23rd November saw the official opening of Whitby's long-awaited Sports Centre, on land adjacent to Whitby Indoor Pool & the building was then re-named Whitby Leisure Centre. The centre was initially meant to be ready by Autumn of 2002.

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Left: Cottages to extreme left on site of former Heidi's Cottage; Centre: New house at Oak Road built; Right: Whitby's new sports centre added onto Whitby Indoor Pool

Also in the Autumn, Whitby's old pumping station was sold to Stuart Perkins, the owner of the White Horse & Griffin, after being put on the market earlier in the year. Having only 1 room, the building, at the base of the Fish Pier, would require some developing.

The Whitby branch of the Salvation Army got themselves a new £12,000 mini-bus, mainly to help transport the older members to the centre in St. Peter's Court. The funds for the new vehicle mainly came from the HQ of the Salvation Army in Newcastle, although other sources of funds included the sale of their old bus & £5,000 raised locally.

Around this time, Scarbourgh Borough Council took over from the police of the monitoring of the town's C.C.T.V. cameras. Also towards the end of this year a company was set up in Whitby, based at St. Hilda's Business Centre, named Forsch. The company provided firms with a round-the-clock live telephone answering service and dealt with organisations like Information Technology firms, Company Information agencies & Security companies.

To end the year, Ian Duffield retired from his post as teacher at Whitby Community College, having been there since 1996. Mr. Duffield also served at Eskdale School before that, raking up a total of 32 years in teaching. St. Patrick's Church in Church Street held its final service over the Christmas period, after the trustees of the diocese decided to close it to save money. The church had served the catholic community of Whitby for 60 years, and the building dates back to 1886, when it was opened as St. Patrick's School.

Also in this year, Eves' Garage on New Quay Road sold its last gallon of petrol, after closing down to make way for a development of retail units with apartments above, to be called Jutland House, which was completed in 2004. Bar 7 also opened in this year, in premises that formerly housed the fun house in Pier Road and a new sight-seeing tour bus hit the streets, in the form of a 1931 charabanc, running on steam. The bus, named 'Elizabeth' was owned by Mother & Son Viv & Vernon Smith.

Towards the end of this year saw the huge hand-over of all the houses owned by Scarborough Borough Council, to a new company, Yorkshire Coast Homes. The houses would be run on a similar basis, where tenants had the opportunity to buy their property, and repair work whilst in ownership of Yorkshire Coast Homes would be carried out by them & their contractors. The coverage area stretched from the North at Staithes to the South at Filey, and inland as far as Glaisdale and the surrounding villages.

Left & centre: Eves Garage, New Quay Road how it appeared before demolition &; Right: The site after re-development with Jutland House