Whitby

In Living Memory

2010

Amongst all the changes in this year, one that might have been overlooked by many was the introduction of wooden railings in Ruswarp, at both sides of the junction with The Carrs & High Street. Over the New Year period and the months following, work was ongoing on Bridge 30, which carried trains over the Murk Esk between Grosmont & Goathland, which saw the bridge replaced at a cost of £650,000. It was in this year sometime that Pikes Sports shop in Flowergate closed for the last time and Kristy's Beauty Salon opened in its place after converting two storage rooms at the first floor level and incorporating them into the salon.

Left: New railings at the junction with High Street & The Carrs, Ruswarp; Right: Kristy's Beauty Salon in the former Pikes premises

In the early stages of 2010 Four Lane Ends Service Station expanded. Work started in January, and took approximately 4 months to complete, the garage having to close for most of this time. Work involved extending the forecourt to the West, allowing room for car parking & Jet wash facilities. The garage also got new fuel pumps, which now offered Super Unleaded & easier access for HGV's that couldn't get under the canopy. The entrance and exit was also changed and signed accordingly, with no right turn out of the garage. A central lane for turning into the garage was added a couple of months after completion.

Above left: Four Lane Ends Garage as work began; Centre & Right: Work underway            

Above left: The garage complete; Right: The central right turn lane added

1st February saw Whitby's birthright cease to exist as a new £2M midwifery unit was brought into use at Scarborough Hospital, replacing units at Whitby, Malton & Bridlington. The unit was supposed to open in summer 2009, but staffing issues delayed the opening of the Scarborough unit.

Also around February time, gas main works were taking place on the East side of town including at Helredale Road. Moving onto March, the Cargo shed, which was erected in 1996, was demolished, after standing empty for a number of years after a number of possible uses had been talked about over the years, which included uses the building as a cinema. Also in March, a wall collapsed on The Carrs at Ruswarp, luckily no-one was hurt, but a green house from the hillside at the top of the wall was very nearly taken with the wall.

Left: Gas works on Helredale Road. Left & Right centre: The Cargo Shed, erected 1996, is demolished, having been stood empty for years; Right: A JCB works on the collapsed wall on The Carrs at Ruswarp

A new play area for White Leys, in the corner of the rugby field was made, which was open by Spring.

White Leys Road new play area

In March, the Sangaim Thai Restaurant on Skinner Street became Luna Piena Italian Restaurant, and work on the flats above was undertaken. Also around this time, a new volunteer group was formed named the 'Gateway', whose aim it was to improve the footpath network in & around Whitby, focussing mainly on the old railway line.

Luna Piena, Skinner Street

In the Spring of this year, the first phase of building work was complete of houses on the site of the Bungalow Hotel, Sadsend. The end of July 2009 saw the decision made to demolish the former bungalow Hotel at Lythe Bank, Sandsend, and to replace it with 9 houses. The 20-bedroom hotel had been empty for several years and it was said to be in a bad structural condition & uneconomical to repair. The Mulgrave Estate proceeded with the development 'The Valley' on the site, with car parking on the site of the former car park. The properties were built in 3 blocks in a terrace fashion, with a mixture of 6 two-bedroom & 3 three-bedroom houses. The final part of this project was complete by January 2011.

The Valley, Sandsend on the site of the former Bungalow Hotel - Left: Plots 6 & 7 from the access road from Lythe Bank with 8 & 9 out of view to the far end;
Centre: Plots 3, 4 & 5 from the bottom; Right: Plots 1 & 2 from a similar vantage point

It was around June this year when the fields, adjacent to Larpool Lane opposite the cemetery were worked on, ready for the new housing development, to be called Bluebell Grove. At the end of this year though, the building company went into administration and another company had to be found, which wasn't done until May 2011. It was the same company working on the Byland Road development, which meant the same happened there too. There, the park was closed and equipment removed in April. Also around this time, the Highways department moved depots from their old home on The Garth off the White Leys Estate to their new home off Cholmley Way.

From left: 1 of 2 new housing developments built in the town this year, we have Larpool, to become Bluebell Grove. Next we have the Byland Road development. The next 2 photos show the old & new highways depots

For more photos on the Larpool development

OR

Byland Road developemt, click here

By around June also, work was complete at Stakesby Vale tunnel, which got tidied up as a result of work on the Cinder Track, which also included more access to the cinder track being provided, with work starting in the Autumn of the previous year.

Above left: Work at the tunnel underway, pictured in February; Right: Work complete

The new toilet facilities on Langborne Road were complete by June, with work starting in October of the previous year.

Langborne Road new toilet & shower block

For more photos of the Langborne Road Toilet Block, click here

In July, the Swing Bridge suffered a major breakdown, which left it closed to traffic for several days which resulted in local boat owners making a bit of money, ferrying pedestrians over the water.

Whitby Swing Bridge suffers a major breakdown in July

Work was completed in July on 2 new buildings in Prospect Hill, with work started in March.

New dwellings on Prospect Hill during & complete

In August, work began on the first phase of Harbour works, which saw the East Pier receive some attention. Work continued into November.

Work on East Pier link bridge, which was not restored

In August, a pointless white line was painted on the A171 from the top end of the cemetery down to the junction with Helredale Gardens, presumably to stop people parking, not that this was ever a problem. Also, around the same time, railings were installed at the bottom of Airy Hill School Steps to prevent children running into the road.

Left: The pointless white line on Helredale Road onto Stainsacre Lane & Right: The railings at the foot of the steps to Airy Hill School

By October, The Old Creamery development was well underway with the first road being completed, which was Landsdowne Way.
By November, Caedmon's Prospect was complete on the site of the old Functional English School in Chubb Hill, which had a new post code of YO21 1HF, even though the street address was the existing Chubb Hill Road. It was also in this year that Wharton's Skip Hire moved into the site of the former recycling site at California Road.

From left: Landsdowne Road at The Old Creamery development, Caedmon's Prospect front; Caedmon's Prospect rear; From top of Rievaux Road, Caedmon's Prospect & Kirkham House built at the same time

For more photos of the Functional English development, click here

In December 2010, the Big A in New Quay Road closed it's doors for the last time, along with Laughton's Nightclub & The New Angel Hotel, awaiting a buyer. A number of pipes had burst in Laughton's due to the cold weather, soaking carpets and causing extensive damage. In the winter of this year, KamThai restaurant serving Thai food opened at Ammonite House in Church Street, the former home of Elessies Italian restaurant. Also towards the end of this year, Clever Clogs footwear shop in Flowergate closed down and was soon to become Yorkshire Holiday Cottages premises. The Nationwide Building Society's agency branch at Wasley Chapmans accountants in Victoria square was to close at the end of this year, with the ATM being taken out. This meant that the nearest Nationwide branch would be Scarborough, leaving customers infuriated. The accountants continued trading from the same premises.

Left: Big A closed & boarded up shortly after closing; Left centre: KamThai at Amounite House; Right centre: Yorkshire Holiday Cottages in former Clever Clogs premises; Right: The premises of the former Nationwide Building Society in Victoria Square

By around June, the 2nd phase of Railway Cottages, which was started in December 2009 were complete and work was started on phase 3, which saw 7 more cottages built, between Phase 1 and the old engine shed, which was also being done up at the time in conjunction with the work to meet planning permission requirements. The 3rd and final phase of work on the Railway Cottages, was complete by the end of this year.

Above left we have phase 2 of the Railway Cottages development complete & Centre & Right we have Phase 3 before & after completion

For more photos of the Railway Cottages, click here

Whitehall Gardens, to become a complex of 4 holiday cottages, was built in this year, next to Whitehall at the top of Spital Bridge, with work starting in 2009. The building meant the demolition of a single-storey garage, bedroom and entrance lobby of Little Whitehall was necessary, to allow for a driveway to be laid for the new dwellings.

Work on Whitehall during work & nearing completion