Whitby

In Living Memory

2019

At the start of 2019, Homebase closed its doors after trading in the town from the same site since 2009. Much to the delight of many locals, the new store to take its place was B & M, which opened on 24th May. In other news, The Carrs road was closed between Ruswarp & Briggswath between 17th & 22nd January after a water main had burst.

Above from left: Homebase is now an empty shell; B & M opens 24th May

Byland Stores also closed its doors around this time which was to be converted to a hair salon to be known as 'The Fringe' which opened in March 2020. The owners old salon was based in St. Hilda's Business Centre off The Ropery. Black Market on Sandgate & The Recipe on Church Street also closed their doors in early 2019 - Black Market closing its doors on 23rd February. The Recipe became North Yorkshire Gallery soon after and Black Market became Doorstep Adventures soon after. Agars furniture shop of Flowergate also closed its doors, a long-serving Whitby business. Their unit on Cholmley way was also now closed with Electrical Network moving in soon after. Agars premises in Flowergate was soon re-opened as Rooms, a store selling home furnishings.

Above from left: Byland Stores closes down; The Fringe hair salon opens in former Byland Stores premises; Black Market, Sandgate before closing down; Doorstep Adventures replaces Black Market

Agars furniture shop, Flowergate before closing down; Rooms replaces Agars in Flowergate; Agars former home at Cholmey Way becomes Electrical Network

A new house popped up on land next to Spring Hill adjacent to Trillo's. Bagdale Lodge was given some internal T.L.C. and was re-named Lobster Hall. In similar news, the owners of Bagdale Hall also carried out renovations to one of the annexes at number 4 Bagdale after receiving planning permission with work starting in March 2020.

Above from left: New house pops up behind Spring Hill next to Trillo's Ice Cream warehouse; New house complete; Bagdale Lodge spruced up internally & re-named Lobster Hall

Just Games in Bridge Street closed its doors early in the year also after the owner took retirement. This opened an opportunity for Four Seasons Restaurant to extend next door, making their restaurant larger.

Above from left: Just Games, Bridge Street, closes down; Four Seasons after extending

 Above from left: The Recipe, Church Street, closes down; North Yorkshire Gallery opens in its place

Work was on-going at the start of the 2019 to upgrade the town's sewers. Church Street car park was the site of the work and due to all the machinery which was needed for the works to take place, the whole car park was closed off to the public until early May 2019.

Above from left: Church Street car park closed for sewer upgrade works; The site of the works

A bus stop on Runswick Avenue near to Runswick Court was altered to make it easier to board and alight the bus, with a raised kerb installed and the lay-by made longer. In similar news on the East side of town, the brick-built bus shelter dating from the 1980's was removed from the bottom of Abbots Road around this time, probably due to this road no longer being served by a service bus route.

Above from left: Bus stop at Runswick Avenue moved slightly & kerbs laid to aid passengers; Work complete; Lay-by made longer

Capello's Hair Salon moved homes from their former home at the rear of Victoria Square to the front of the square into the former Wasley Chapman offices. A rear extension was also added to the new property around this time.

Above from left: Signage in place on Capello's new home; Capello's former premises at Victoria Square; Capello's new premises at 1A Victoria Square

Broadings Farm were having some alterations to allow them to provide better holiday accommodation which involved demolishing old barns & replacing with new buildings. They also removed a vehicular entrance way.

Above from left: Old barn building still stands; A new building almost complete

Above: Re-roofing work complete, a entrance way walled over & block work started

Above: Work on-going at Broadings Farm near the campsite entrance

St. Hilda's Priory had been having some work done to the South of the existing Sneaton Castle Centre. This was due to be sold around this time to the owners of The Stables Restaurant. St. Hilda's Priory was built to give the nuns somewhere to go after the old building closed.

Above from left: New crossing area made near the new entrance; The entrance gates & signage; Looking into the entrance to the left; Looking into the entrance along the road

Carlton Motors of Church Street closed down early in this year & work was soon started on the building which was flattened to allow houses to be built on the site. By the end of 2020 the development was nearing completion.

Above from left: The roof taken off the building; The concrete base for the old fuel pumps which were removed many years ago

Above left & Left centre: A couple of different angles of the site after clearance; Centre right: A similar shot taken 8 months later; Right: A year later still and the development is almost complete

Around the turn of the year, Dr. Sprockets bike shop closed down on Skinner Street and became The Copper & Grain Co.

Above: The Copper & Grain Co. moves into the former bike shop, Skinner Street

Also around the turn of the year, Harbour View Cafe - formerly Mill's Cafe until 2014 - which had recently been extended to the rear, changed its name to Hetty & Betty's.

Above: Hetty & Betty's cafe, Baxtergate

At the turn of the year also, Burgsy's burger house at Grape Lane announced it was relocating to York. Shake It Up milkshake shop opened in Burgsy's former premises in May. Further down Grape Lane at number 10, Woodstock closed sometime around late 2018/early 2019. The shop sold carved wood products. This shop was then became Kemps On The Coast, a type of general store selling mainly British-made items.

Above from left: Burgsy's former home in Grape Lane; Shake It Up opens in former premises

Above from left: 10 Grape Lane was the former home of Woodstock; Kemps On The Coast soon to be opening; The shop now open

White 'No Parking' lines were painted alongside dropped kerbs on various driveways on Stakesby Road in late February/early March following similar work which was carried out a number of years ago to some driveways on the same road. Highways contacted residents to ask if they wanted the lines painting outside their driveways.

'No Parking' lines on Stakesby Road

Whitby's engine shed was changing once again, which saw the building extended towards Whitby railway station by around 20 feet with work completed in early 2020.

Above from left: The end of the extension with 2 doors; Looking down through the roof rafters into the new extension; The new extension complete; The roofline of the extension meets the old building perfectly

Tides Cafe, Sandsend was extending with another hut being erected next to the current one. A bin store was also built in front of the older part of the building. A decking area was also added to the rear of the building.

Above from left: The old part of the building to the left with new bin store in front; The new extension with decking area

A new sculpture had been carved in late March by John Iredale in Pannett Park. The base of an old tree which had recently been felled was used to create the artwork, joining the many other sculptures around the park.

Above from left: The front of the sculpture; The rear of the sculpture

A Whitby business, Pandemonium, which closed its doors in Flowergate in 2017 after being established 18 years re-opened in another premises at Golden Lion Bank. Another similar business, Mr Chip's joined them upstairs, selling similar gothic-themed dress. Pandemonium for the last 2 years had been holding stalls at local sales and festivals. The shop's fascia board however was not fitted until July!

Above from left: Pandemonium re-opens with Mr. Chip's above; Fascia board fitted

Whitby's Eastside Park got a new sign added to its pedestrian entrance from Abbots Road in April 2019 & shortly afterwards a new sign directing road traffic to the centre was added from Helredale Road. Whitby Angling Supplies of Church Street closed down, formerly Rods & Reels, with work to the shops fascia temporarily revealing this past name from around 15 years earlier. Wolf of Whitby opened in the former fishing tackle shop in June 2019.

Above from left: Whitby's Eastside Park gets a new entrance name; Whitby Angling Supplies, Church Street closed down; Work reveals former name from around 15 years earlier; Wolf of Whitby almost ready to open

Around April time concrete bollards were installed on a grass verge on Stainsacre Lane, presumably to stop cars parking on the grass. This then meant people instead parked on the pavement opposite so as not to completely block the road at school pick up time. They were installed near to the Eskdale Road junction. In the catering industry, Hippy Hippy Shake on Church Street was taken over & renamed Sprinkles & given a change of colour scheme from green to blue. A new cafe opened in Flowergate Walk called Ellie's Courtyard Cafe.

Above from left: The new bollards on Stainsacre Lane; Sprinkles, Church Street; Ellie's Courtyard Cafe opens

11th May saw the opening of another eatery in Whitby at 147 Church Street, Walrus of Whitby.

Above: Walrus of Whitby

In April also, Books For Less at 146 Church Street changed names from Little Readers. The store was the Sister store to Great Reads Whitby, at 95 Church Street. Little Readers was previously known as Whitby Book Clearance previous to 2017 when it acquired its name 'Little Readers'. Previous to that it was Publishers Book Clearance store. Little Readers closed down in 2020.

Above: Little Readers renamed - Books For Less

Also around June 2019, Costcutter underwent a refurbishment and colour change from white to green, which meant a new fascia was added to the shop on The Parade. A new tattoo studio opened in Whitby's Wellington Road. Seven Sins Ink opened at 2 Wellington Road in what was part Raw Nightclub in May. The nightclub previously used the room as a private party room accessed from the nightclub but now it was accessed by its own stairway from street level.

Above from left: Costcutter with a colour change; 7 Sins Tattoo studio opens

In June work was starting on alterations to change the former Scoresby site of Caedmon College Whitby (former Caedmon School) into Whitby Sixth Form College ready to welcome post-16 students in September 2019. The secondary schools in Whitby changed in September 2014 when the then Whitby Community College (Prospect Hill) & Caedmon School amalgamated and formed a college for 11-19 year olds. The sites were split in Normanby Site (former Whitby Community College 1993-2014) & Scoresby Site (former Caedmon School) with pupils generally staying at one site for their lessons. And everything was to change again 5 years later with the amalgamation of Caedmon Collage Whitby & Eskdale School. This meant the pupils of Eskdale would be able to stay their until they reached age 16, and then go on to the sixth form at the former Caedmon School site (Scoresby Site) if they chose to. Pupils already at Whitby Sixth Form would simply transfer to the site at age 16 after leaving the former Normanby Site. It means 'Caedmon' would be lost completely from the name of the school for the first time in almost 50 years since becoming Caedmon School after being Whitby West Secondary when it first opened in the 1960's. The former site at Prospect Hill opened in 1912 as the County School Grammar School which it remained until 1972 when it became comprehensive and changed its name to Whitby School. It was renamed again in 1993 to Whitby Community College. Historically Eskdale School & Caedmon School were known to be rivals in sport and other areas, people from Caedmon were known locally to be more 'geeky' than those across the bridge. This changed dramatically from the early 00's and within 15-20 years this massive changed happened benefitting the education in Whitby. This change was talked about by an old teacher 15 years before it happed. The only difference to what he suggested was that the sixth form would have been on the Prospect Hill site.

"Caedmon School" now Whitby Sixth Form

In June Whitby Court care home added 2 signs to the front of its premises. Nearby, AT Engineering opened next to the Butcher's in Park Terrace in a unit that had been empty for a number of years. Also in June, Whitby Way pub, formerly the Wellington, closed its doors due to no making money. The pub was taken over by another local businessman and re-opened shortly after.

Above from left: Whitby Court care home gets new exterior signs; AT Engineering opens at Park Terrace

A new tea room opened in July at Whitby's former High Light lighthouse at Saltwick called Hornblower Tea Garden after the name of the residential side of the property Hornblower Lodge. Also in July, My Local Canteen which was based in a kiosk on Pier Road re-located out of the town. It wasn't long however until another food retailer moved in. Chef Istanbul Grill opened, selling a similar selection of food to what My Local Canteen previous offered. This didn't last long however and was soon to be become Whitby Wok offering Chinese food.

The closed-season in the footballing world brought some big changes at Whitby Town F.C. A new sponsor had come forward in the name of Towbar Express wanting to pledge £15,000 over 3 years. This meant the football ground would be re-named The Towbar Express Stadium at the Turnbull Ground - a bit of a mouthful if you ask me.

On 19th July a burst water main under Brunswick Street saw gallons of water spill down the road into Station Square. The fire brigade attended but it was hours before anyone from Yorkshire Water arrived on-scene.

On 26th July a major power cut hit the Yorkshire coast with over 60,000 premises affected according to Northern Power Grid. The area affected stretched from Staithes down to Filey and inland beyond Pickering, The power was off for most customers for around 2 hours from around lunchtime.

Work was underway throughout the summer months at 38 Prospect Hill, which would see a detached house transformed into 3 self-contained apartments, which meant raising the roof height, allowing for a first-floor extension which would house 1 of the apartments, with the other 2 being on the ground floor. Work was compete by Spring 2020.

Above left: 38 Prospect Hill during works; Centre: Exterior work almost complete; Right: Complete

In business news there was a couple of new Barber's shops opening in the town. Sam's former sandwich shop on Baxtergate became Golder Clippers & at 7 Grape Lane Whitby Barber Services opened in the former Persian Carpet premises.

Above from left: Golden Clippers, Baxtergate; Whitby Barber Services, 7 Grape Lane

A new Cornish Bakery opened at 128 Church Street in the former premises of Justin's Fudge shop. The Cornish Bakery would be the second of the same kind of bakery in the town, the other being at Marine Parade.

Above: The Cornish Bakery opens at 128 Church Street

Another change which happened in August was Coffee Shack of Silver Street changing ownership & names to Lush Coffee after a takeover deal from the previous owners. Previously Lush Coffee had solely been a mobile catering company attending events so this was a massive company expansion.

Above from left: Lush Coffee of Silver Street replaced Coffee Shack

In Summer 2019, Fishermen's Wife at Khyber Pass was undergoing some external works, utilising some unused space on the cliff edge to the side of the restaurant which would incorporate outdoor seating.

Above from left: Works on-going outside Fishermen's Wife restaurant; Work after completion

Church Street's long-awaited flood prevention scheme was started in June 2019 after a long wait. Work was carried out on the landward pavement of the road for quite a long stretch before attention moved to the harbour-side of the road in August. The garden area near The Fleece pub which belonged to Seamen's Cottages was removed while the work took place and also the car park area was taken up with machinery. The 2 small brick-built buildings in the garden were demolished and re-built as part of the work. Traffic lights were also in place for most the duration of work which continued well into 2020 until completion later in the year.

Above from left: Church Street made 'No Parking' due to the up-coming flood defence work; Work on-going at Church Street with 2 sets of temporary traffic lights;
The flood defence wall complete; The 2 small buildings having been re-built

Around the start of the main Summer season, Windy Corner cafe, The Parade closed its doors for good and became a mobile phone repair shop GSM.

Above from left: Windy Corner, The Parade, closed for good; GSM mobile repairs opens in its pace

In November the two Spar garages in Whitby changed to Shell forecourts, replacing the Spar branding on the canopy at the Castle Road store & the W.Eves' branding on the canopy of the Guisborough Road site. It meant new branding was placed on the pricing boards & new pumps were also installed. The Castle Road site pumps were closed for longer than the other site whilst the work was carried out with the Four Lane Ends site being changed first.

Four Lane Ends garage fuel pumps now operated by Shell

December 20th saw the closure of the iconic Sutcliffe Gallery of 1 Flowergate, with the company continued trading online. Another change nearby was Curly Tops hair salon, which moved premises from Crescent Avenue near the top of John Street to the former premises of Celtic Inspirations at 5 Silver Street, which merged with another business at number 1 Silver Street, the Twice Upon A Time shop. Twice Upon A Time closed down for good in March 2020 with Celtic Inspirations continuing to trade online.

Above from left: Sutcliffe Gallery closes its doors on Flowergate; The former home of Curly Tops, Crescent Avenue to be converted into a flat unit;
Curly Tops new home at 5 Silver Street, formerly the home of Celtic Inspirations; The new home of Celtic Inspirations at 1 Silver Street

At the turn of the new decade into 2020 a number of projects were happening in the area. These included an upgrade to the broadband for the schools which meant 4-way traffic lights were in place for around a week at Prospect Hill. More road works were in place near to Cholmley Way while pavement works were carried out. Work was also earmarked for the the grass verge area of Helredale Road to be turned into a lay-by for parking. Other works were needed in the area though so councillors were waiting for the other works to be undertaken first before this work could be started.

Fulton's Foods in Station Square closed down in early 2020 which was to become Gregg's bakery. The rendering of Contempory Hair Salon was removed in work to the exterior of the building in March 2020.

So I have documented the changes to Whitby over the past 30 years & photographed them myself for the past 12 years. I have split this into 3 books which cover the decades 90's, 00's & 10's and taken over 4,000 photos of changes in the Whitby area since 2007. I am going to take a back seat now and hopefully watch on whilst other people take the photos & make notes, them notes for me will be mental ones. Whitby as a town has changed so much over the past 30 years & I think that rate of change is accelerating. 30 years ago the town didn't even have a full-blown supermarket. It now has 4! New businesses are arriving & others are unfortunately making way for them in the turning of the wheel that makes up social history. What will the town look like 30 years from now? Will we ever get a McDonald's? Will through traffic from Scarborough to Middlesbrough be able to miss out Whitby fully via some kind of by-pass? Will there be another park & ride site built to serve the East side of town? And what will the empty unit that meant for M & S eventually be? Sit back and enjoy as we watch the rest of our future unfold, which will be history before we know it!