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Here are just
a few of the activities on offer in and around the area, which
cater for all ages & abilities.
There's
also lots of beautiful walking to be had, indeed the Cleveland
Way passes right through the village.
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| Beaches
and seashores |
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There's
nothing better than to spend a day pottering on the
beach, looking in rock pools, watching the waves and
listening to the seabirds and we are sure that most
other people do. There is a small beach within the confines
of Staithes Harbour, just a short stroll from all our
cottages, which is exposed from mid to low tide. It
is gently shelving with no immediate strong currents
so it is safe for children to wander around on. It contains
a mixture of sand, pebbles and seaweed allowing the
construction of fanciful sandcastles and other edifices.
If you want a larger sandy beach then Runswick Bay has
one and is only 3 miles South of Staithes, it is also
a picturesque village and the pub does good food. Further
South, at Sandsend, there is another wide sandy beach,
eminently suitable for kite flying, where you can watch
the surfers, or give it a go yourselves. Whitby has
a sandy beach North of the harbour. |
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| Cycling
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| The
disused Whitby to Scarborough railway is now an excellent
traffic-free cycleway and bikes can be hired from a shop
on the trail at Hawsker, just South of Whitby, 01947 820207.
They stock a wide range of bikes including childrens’
bikes and seats. There are also many bike friendly trails
through the inland woods that border the coast. |
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| Fishing
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Many
people fish from the harbour wall at Staithes. For the
more adventurous there are boat trips from Staithes
(01947 840278) and Whitby, you can usually hire tackle
and bait from the proprietors. The River Esk is the
only river in Yorkshire to contain salmon and sea trout
and permits are available to fish some stretches of
it.
Many children (and quite a few adults!) love to try
their hands at crabbing. Crab lines are available in
many of the local shops for usually little more than
a pound and can provide hours of inexpensive seaside
fun. Tip:
smokey bacon scraps work very well! |
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| Surfing
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Staithes,
Saltburn and nearby Sandsend are said to be the best
surfing spots in the country, we even get surfers from
Cornwall travelling to Staithes when they hear that
the surf is right.
Probably
not for the faint-hearted, Staithes is said to provide
some of the most "extreme" conditions in the
country at times.
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| Geology
and industrial history |
| The
sea cliffs present a wide range of geological formations
from which many different materials have been mined. Remains
of an ironstone mining operation can be seen at Port Mulgrave,
a mile South of Staithes along the cliff tops. To the
North of Staithes, at Skinningrove, there is the Tom Leonard
Mining Museum where you can take a trip around an old
iron mine and gain a fascinating insight into the iron
mining industry that used to be so prominent around this
area (01287 642877). Evidence of alum mining can be seen
at Sandsend. Cowbar Nab at Staithes, the cliff on the
North side of the harbour, shows Jurassic period strata
and fossils can be simply picked up off the shore at low
tide. The harbour at Whitby is on a fault line which can
be appreciated in the rock formations of the East and
West cliffs. |
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| Painting
and photography |
| Staithes
was the centre of eponymous school of painting in the
early 20th century and it still inspires many artists
(some of whom have chosen to live in Staithes for immediate
access to this source). You won’t feel out of place if
you set your easel up anywhere in Staithes, and there
are always likely to be some fellow artists at work. Frank
Sutcliffe was a remarkable photographer of the early 20th
Century whose work provides vivid documentation of life
in Staithes, Whitby and the surrounding area. The Sutcliffe
Gallery in Whitby displays his work and sells prints of
them (The Sutcliffe Gallery, Flowergate, Whitby 01947
602239). An excellent art gallery has recently opened
in Staithes (Staithes Gallery, 01947 841840) and there
is also one at nearby Sandsend (Turnstone Gallery, Sandsend
01947 893289) both of which display work by local artists.
The Pannett Art Gallery in Whitby (Pannett Art Gallery,
Pannett Park, Whitby 01947 602908) has a large collection
of paintings including many from the Staithes School. |
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| Birdwatching
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| Staithes
has a wide selection of sea birds in its environs. The
harbour always has turnstones, redshanks, plovers, wagtails,
cormorants and the obligatory seagulls. In Winter more
exotic visitors can be seen including sea ducks such as
eider. Whitby harbour has a fine gathering of gulls. If
you come in the late April to June period and haven’t
been before then it is well worth the 50 mile trip South
to see the thousands of puffins, fulmars, kittewakes,
guillemots, razorbills and gannets that breed on the sea
cliffs at the RSPB reserve at Bempton. |
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| Golf
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| Whitby
Golf Club is situated on the cliffs just North of Whitby
and non-members are welcome (01947 600660). There is also
a course at Brotton a short distance away (Hunley Hall
Golf Club 01287 676216). |
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| Railways
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| The
North Yorkshire Moors Railway is based at Grosmont which
is 20 miles South of Staithes. There are 18 miles of track
from Grosmont to Pickering and beautifully preserved steam
trains run along this with a regular timetable which is
very frequent at weekends and in the Summer (North Yorkshire
Moors Railway 01751 472508). The Esk Valley railway is
the ordinary railway that runs from Whitby to Middlesbrough,
it has 11 stations in the picturesque Esk Valley so it
can be used to explore this and to join up the ends of
walks. |
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| Other Activities
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| If
nothing there takes your fancy then there are plenty of
other things to see and do. Click here for our The
Area link. |
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