Whitby and the Cleveland Way

I arrived in Whitby via the Cinder Track - see earlier blog. I spent an enjoyable time seeing the sights of Whitby before returning to Robin Hood's Bay along the coastal path - the Cleveland Way.

Whitby is at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the earliest English poet, lived. 

The fishing port emerged during the Middle Ages and developed important herring and whaling fleets, and was where Captain Cook learned seamanship

Tourism started in Whitby in Georgian times and developed with the coming of the railway in 1839. Tourist interest is enhanced by its location surrounded by the high ground of the North York Moors national park and heritage coastline and by association with the horror novel Dracula. Jet and alum were mined locally, and Whitby jet, which was mined by the Romans and Victorians became fashionable during the 19th century.

The earliest record of a permanent settlement is in 656, when Streonshal, was the place where Oswy, the Christian king of Northumbria, founded the first abbey, under the abbess, Hilda. The Synod of Whitby was held there in 664. In 867, the monastery was destroyed by Viking raiders, and was re-founded in 1078. It was in this period that the town gained its current name, Whitby, (from "white settlement" in Old Norse). 

Steam bus - one of the only such vehicles in regular service in UK

Reminded me of that famous old joke - what do the donkeys at Whitby get for lunch?

... half an hour!!

The abbey ruin at the top of the east cliff is the town's oldest and most prominent landmark 

Whitby's swing bridge was commissioned by Whitby Urban District Council in 1906 to carry the 'A' class road across the Esk. It was designed by Mr J Mitchell Moncrieff, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and constructed by engineers Heenan and Froude of Manchester (whose most iconic structure is Blackpool Tower). Total costs of the bridge are put at £22,582 14s 4d. It replaced Francis Pickernell's swing bridge which was in operation from 1835 until 1908.

The two leaves are moved by electric motors controlled by the bridgemen from positions on the bridge itself. The original roadway was paved with wooden blocks and the specification was that the bridge must “carry a traction engine weighing 15 tons’ The current bridge has spanned the river Esk longer than any of its predecessors and is a rare example, in the UK, of a twin leaf bridge carrying an ‘A’ class road, Whilst ship building on the Esk is now more limited, the need to maintain navigation to and from the upper harbour remains.

Captain Cook Memorial Museum

 Award winning Fish and Chip restaurant and takeaway

Looking back over Whitby from the Cleveland Way

Spectacular coastal scenery - the path was often at the cliff's edge - sometimes with no fence!

Seagulls resting

A holiday cottage with a difference

The field where the coast guard used to practise drills to rescue sailors from stricken ships.. Rockets with ropes attached were fired onto ships and, once secure, a Breeches Buoy used to transfer sailors to shore.

Back to Robin Hood's Bay