2011

2011

In January this year, Fusco's extended their cafe in Baxtergate, extending into their own premises, which was rented by them to the former Creature Comforts Pet Shop, which closed shortly before. Also, an old clothes shop at 33 Flowergate was converted into a sandwich shop. Also in January, cliff stabilisation works were underway on Khyber Pass near the steps up to Captain Cooks monument & a grant from the European Fisheries Fund was used to install a new, heavy-duty landing davit in the lower harbour.

Left & Centre; Fusco's extend into the former Pet Shop, Right; Cliff Stabilisation Works on Khyber Pass

In February, Alliance Fish Whitby Ltd, decided to close down its chandlery business, stop operating its ice plant which supplies ice to Whitby’s skippers and resign from its role in Whitby Shellfish Holding Facility. In March, the Swing Bridge had its pavements widened by about a foot each, and the New Bridge got new railings & lighting, with work taking 2 months to complete.

From Left; New Bridge before & after new railing & lighting work, Swing Bridge before & after pavement widening project

In March, her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, formally opened the £12.5M combined mess at RAF Fylingdales, which had been built to the highest standards of energy conservation.

2nd April saw the official opening of a new play park on the site of the former park, which opened in the late 1980's. November 2010 saw the diggers move in at the old park, which had fallen into a state of neglect, to create a £136,000 play park. Scarborough Borough Council agreed to lease the park to Ingham Park Play Area Committee, who had secured £36,000 from the North Yorkshire Moors, Coast & Hillls LEADER programme and £100,000 from the Big Lottery Community Spaces, with donations also coming in from Eskdaleside-cum-Ugglebarnby Parish Council, The Northern Area Committee The Mayoress' Community Fund & £200 from Councillor Herbert Tindall.

Ingham Close, Sleights, play park

Between May & July the pier extension huts got a looking at, with solar panels fitted and also flashing, colour-coordinated lights were added to the outside of the huts, with the same lighting applied to both main lighthouses. In the following couple of months, street lighting was also replaced down the length of the West Pier. The bridge linking the East Pier with the pier extension was being looked at, but was never replaced.

From left; East Pier Extension link bridge support being looked at, New lighting on West Pier, Solar panel on top of West Lighthouse, Solar panel on West extension

In June of this year, restoration works on the Old Engine Shed was complete, which included installing new windows and replacing roofing tiles. A high-level door was also fitted, to provide access to a future mezzanine floor, which was to be installed, when planning permission was granted for an art gallery & cafe. The photo below shows the newer, extended half of the shed to the left (South) & the older, northern end of the shed, which had its gable end wall re-built after being bombed in 1940. New houses on Lythe High Street were completed by August for Sanctuary Housing by the Mulgrave Estate, providing affordable housing to go with the houses built for sale in the previous year by the same company on the site of the former Bungalow Hotel. Also in this year, Peregrine House had a fair-sized extension built adjacent to the football ground, which was started in the Autumn of 2010. It was also in the summer of this year that Whitby Fish Market got 2 new ice making machines costing £18,000.

Left; Side on view of the Engine Shed after being re-roofed, Centre; New houses at Lythe High Street; Right: Peregrine House before getting its rear extension

Also over the summer of this year, Whitby Town FC had a section of wall built around the pitch, replacing boarding and metal railings. The section added in this year ran between the home and away dugouts, with a section between the home dugout and Upgang Lane end of the East stand added over the summer of 2010.

Left: The boarding as it used to be; Centre: The wall built in 2010 up to the home dugout from the Upgang Lane end of the East stand; Right: The section built in this year between the dugouts

In September, Horne's shop on Skinner Street closed its doors for the last time. Meadow clothes shop moved into the premises in the following month from further up the road on the opposite side.

Hornes' shop becomes Meadow Clothes shop in September/October 2011

Also in October, part of the A169 from Sleights roundabout to the junction with The Carrs was re-surfaced with tarmac, making the road surface much smoother. In late 2011, a steel sculpture was loaned to the town of a man fishing. It stood on the West Pier near the Battery Parade for one month, standing at 12 feet tall. Sometime around the end of 2011 or the early part of 2012, the Bottom House pub was converted for residential use after closing its doors in late 2010.

Steel sculpture & The Bottom House Pub After closing.... & after minor alterations, it is now residential accommodation

In the last month of 2011, the road markings on the West Cliff were changed, to stop camper vans parking on the road side. The parking bays were changed from parallel to the road to parking bays. Road markings were also painted in the centre of the road at the point of the changed parking bays, but this wasn’t done until March 2012. Also towards the end of the year, the Little Angel Pub on Flowergate was given a facelift inside, with the exterior walls also painted.

West Cliff Parking alterations, showing North Promenade with the old parallel parking & the new, changed bay parking, & on the right, Royal Crescent with the changed bays, which made it very narrow

For more photos of the West Cliff Parking alterations, please Click HERE

The West Pier Extension Bridge, which was deemed unsafe in October and subsequently closed as a matter of health and safety, had a temporary bridge installed over the top of it, so pedestrians could access the extension. Over the last few weeks of 2011, and the New Year period, work began on installing the bridge to go over the existing bridge, which dated from after the 2nd world war, during which the bridge at the time was destroyed to help protect the town. Also, in the final weeks of the year, a new fence was installed at Stakesby School.

Left & Centre; The bridge seen here before & after the temporary bridge was installed. Right; Stakesby School gets a new perimeter fence

Below we look at the progress of various developments in town at the end of 2011.

From left to right: The Old Creamery; Affordable Housing, Larpool; Affordable Housing, Larpool; Byland Road

Stonehouse Gardens, off Back St. Hilda's Terrace were completed in this year, replacing pre-fabricated bungalows, similar to those found at St. Hilda's Gardens.

Stonehouse Gardens Completed

It was in this year that Raithwaite Hall hotel was opened on the Sandsend Road. Work transforming the 19th century country mansion was completed by the Skelwith Grouip and resulted in a 45 bedroom hotel with Spa facilities. It was also in this year that the new Potash Mine by York Potash was first brought to life, with test drilling in several locations taking place.

Left; Just South of Sneatonthorpe, to the West of Raikes Lane off the B1416, Right; To the North of the B1447, just East of Hawsker