See in 2010 at The Waverley

What a fabulous house

Last weekend was Heritage weekend and we visited this Georgian house on Upgang Lane. It has been brought back to life by its current owners who have done a great job. You couldn't claim that it had been restored to its former glory as some areas were modern. Many of the original features have been saved and it is now a beautiful house which operates as both a family home and B&B. It is a gem in the area as most similar properties have unfortunately been converted into several flats. We didn't visit other Heritage properties this year as we have already seen the others in town in previous years. It is an interesting time to visit a favourite area to see inside properties from a bygone era, many of which are still in daily use.

International Plastic Bag Free day

Those of you who know us will be aware that we are involved in the Plastic Bag Free Whitby campaign, and by default we obviously support International PBF day on 12th Sep.

Please try to remember your alternative bags, not just this Saturday but as a routine. The start of PBF in UK followed Message in the Waves, a BBC film by Rebecca Hosking, click on the link to see more about the film.

While we are on Green Issues why not take a look at the the 10:10 site.

WHAT IS 10:10?

10:10 is an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.

Being a Green Tourism Business Scheme member we have already done most of the things suggested, but we continue to look at ways of improving.

The row goes on

Sadly the clash of Regatta and Folk Week has developed into an unfortunate public debate/argument. You can read about it in yesterday's Whitby Gazette. If you have an opinion you can either add your views to those already expressed or cast your vote about whether the two events should coincide.

Coastal Flavours of Whitby

We are lucky to live in such a vibrant and busy town and we were pleased to see a new event come to Whitby, particularly as it involves food!! Irene Myers has done a fantastic job at organising this event which hopefully will become an annual one, or better still twice a year. We bought some fabulous chocolates from Lauden Chocolate of Leeds and some very tasty extra virgin rape seed oil from Gold from the Wold. The mugshot on the right is Graham Collinson who was manfully looking after an information stall at the event. Graham owns Discovery Accommodation but has sneakily started competing with B&Bs by offering a breakfast option as well, just goes to show that you can't trust anybody!! (Only joking Graham). For more information about the Coastal Flavours of Whitby, see the article in Whitby Gazette. Can't wait for next year...

Folk Week

We were fortunate to have Pete Morton, one of this year's performers, staying with us. Having obtained tickets we had been to see Pete earlier in the week at a small venue but he was also part of the final 4 hour concert in the Pavilion. One of our regular guests told us about a particular song of Pete's called "Another Train" which had been an inspiration to him whilst undergoing treatment for throat cancer. This is obviously a popular song as when Pete asked for requests it was by far the most called for, if you would like to hear it, or see the lyrics, click on the link above. All in all it was a good concert and Folk Week, many said their favourite yet.

It is a shame that the Folk Week and Regatta clashed and it would be a bigger shame if this caused the organisers to shift Folk Week to another town. Without any doubt Folk Week is the biggest single event in the Whitby calendar, rivaling Goth Weekend for popularity but unlike the gothic event it is a full week of activity that takes place all around town. It isn't viable to have two major attractions on at the same time.

Christmas in August

What a strange way to spend a sunny August afternoon! This year is our fourth in Whitby and we haven't been to any of the Folk Festival events until this week, but on Tuesday we broke our duck when we went to the Conservative Club to see Pete Morton (more of him in tomorrow's blog). As we had the tickets and we'd enjoyed Tuesday we thought why not see what else is on. That is why Christmas came early as today we went to see John Kirkpatrick in his concert "Christmas and Crumpets". John is a former member of the 70s band Steeleye Span. It was certainly a different way to spend an afternoon, listening to a Christmas concert while the sun shone outside, surreal but fun!!

Regatta

Once again the Red Arrows were the stars of the Regatta closely followed by the finale of the usual firework display from the East Pier, it was a shame about the light pollution from the fair though. Undoubtedly most people enjoyed themselves and as ever the Arrows were amazing, although we cannot help but consider the environmental impact of the event with the air display, fireworks, electricity used for the fairground etc...This year, and apparently next, the event clashes with the annual Folk Week causing problems both for businesses and visitors. It would be nice to think that for 2010 the organisers would not stubbornly stick to a conflict of dates which benefits nobody other than the Regatta who gain extra revenue from the large influx of Folkies and their followers. There is no need for the dates to clash and it is far easier to move the Regatta than Folk Week. Hopefully Scarborough Borough Council, Whitby Town Council and other authorities will see sense and not allow the same situation next year. Rant over, later this week we will write about the Folk Week.

Bridge Centenary

There have been no postings to the blog for a while, that is because people in Yorkshire say "If tha's nowt to say, say nowt" we've had nowt to say recently.

On Saturday, however, Whitby's swing bridge centenary was celebrated in style with a splendid event being organised by WDTA who must be congratulated on their efforts. The Cleveland police band and Marske fishermen's choir entertained and many of the organisers and other locals turned out in their Victorian regalia.

John Freeman, one of the main organisers, has a great art gallery in the old town which is well worth a visit.

Click here for more photos.

Whitby Gazette coverage

Guests see air ambulance rescue

Our guests Mark and Sue witnessed a rescue of a 58 year old man who had fallen into the harbour on Sunday evening. A local man who works on the local speedboat went into the harbour to help save a man who had fallen off of the quayside. His colleague called the emergency services and the air ambulance took the unfortunate man to Scarborough hospital. Sue always has her camera to hand and some of her photos are online in our images section from a previous visit earlier this year.

The report of the rescue is in the Whitby Gazette.