Esk Valley News - Esk Valley News magazine – News, events and places of interest in the Esk Valley and Whitby, North Yorkshire

'A very well produced magazine and teeming with local information.' – Nicholas Rhea, whose books inspired the TV series 'Heartbeat'

... your local guide to the Esk Valley and North York Moors National Park area

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October 2016 issue...

Whitby Hero

Whitby’s unsung hero, Michael Costellow, features in a second part to Robert Bridge’s article this month, and our cover picture shows the 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment, of which he was a member, fighting heroically at the Battle of Alexandria, Egypt, in 1801

Also in this month's magazine:
Pink Grasshoppers Discovered by Tammy Andrews in a remote part of the National Park.
Esk Valley Mines  Underground explorations and remedial work by the Cleveland Mining Heritage Society are helping to preserve local industrial remains.
Music on our Doorstep  The Colin Holt Band with Snake Davis returns to Danby in October, and world music festival Musicport for the first time includes a local tour, along with Sol Cinema, the world's smallest solar-powered cinema.
. . . And Further Afield The Dalesmen Singers' trip to Sweden in September . . . none of the party got lost, locked up or left behind.
Botton Village Triathlon  Results of the hard-fought pond-swim, forest-run and hill-bike competition.
Give Glaisdale Gym a Go! Locals attending Jamie Risato's gym sessions show improved physical wellbeing. Why not join them?
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What's Been Happening . . . ?

September's Staithes Festival: art, music, heritage, Light Shows and Dark Matter . . .

The fabulous 1812 Theatre Company performing for the Helmsley Arts Centre volunteers

The fabulous @1812TheatreCo performing in the garden for our wonderful volunteers pic.twitter.com/rJzVjX2Rh3
— Helmsley Arts Centre (@helmsleyarts) July 14, 2016

Tour de Yorkshire in the Esk Valley

The third day of the Tour de Yorkshire 1916, from Middlesbrough to Scarborough and passing through the Esk Valley, was a challenging ride with nearly a third of the field, 42 riders, abandoning the 198-km stage. Limber Hill at Glaisdale, shown here, proved a tough climb for the exhausted riders. Finishing first in Scarborough was Frenchman Thomas Voeckler of Team Direct Energie, the overall winner, and Irishman Nicolas Roche of Team Sky a close second in the sprint finish and overall standings.

The Hayshed at Commondale

The Hayshed, a care farming enterprise in Commondale, will open its doors on Sunday 5 June for the 'Open Farm Sunday' event. From 11 am till 3 pm see the farm in action with sheep shearing demos, farm walks, static farm machinery display, open gardens and food.

St Hilda's Festival Chorus

The Chorus based in Whitby will perform Gounod’s St Cecilia Mass and Puccini’s Messa Di Gloria on Saturday 19 March at St Hilda’s Church, West Cliff, Whitby, 7.30 pm. Tickets on the door or from choir members. £10, concessions £8, students free.

Do you suffer from slow broadband speed?

The Danby Group Parish Council is acutely aware that not everyone within the Parish and indeed the Esk Valley in general has access to good internet service by way of broadband and as such we wanted to try to make people aware of an opportunity which may be to their benefit. Read more here.

Archbishop Sentamu in Danby

The 9.28 am train on 3 December arriving at Danby was greeted by a large crowd eager to meet the Archbishop of York. His first stop in the local area was Danby's Church of England Primary School, where the Archbishop spoke to the assembled staff and children about the purpose of his pilgrimage.

Moorland Children's Home

Davison Home in Danby, which opened its doors to needy children from Middlesbrough between 1915 and 1984, is the subject of a new book by Colin and Heather Mather.

Getting on Track

On the morning of Saturday 31 October, Goth Weekend in Whitby, track magically appeared along the pier for the first official outing of Morticia, probably the world’s only coffin-carrying velocipede. This extraordinary invention began life at Grosmont's Motive Power Depot.

Dark Night Skies over the Moors

With moonlight absent during the evenings from the second week in October, why not try to seek out an entirely separate galaxy with just the naked eye: the Andromeda Galaxy?
At a distance of 2.65 million light years our sister galaxy is considered the most remote object visible to the unaided eye.
In an expanding universe where everything is hurtling away from one another, the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy are slowly edging together, a process that will take four to five billion years, merging around the time our Sun reaches the end of its life. Whether you use the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope to view our ‘near’ galactic neighbour, it is astonishing to reflect that this faint smudge of light emanates from over 300 billion suns arranged in a spiral system spanning some 160,000 light years across. The combined radiance diminished only by a 2.65-million-year journey, a journey that started when our early human ancestors first gazed up at the starry firmament.
The next meeting of Whitby and District Astronomical Society is on 6 October at Whitby College, room H1, from 7.30 pm. Newcomers welcome. www.whitby-astronomers.com

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – 150 years old

Lewis Carroll’s famous book Alice’s Adventures inWonderland was first published on 4 July 1865, 150 years ago this month.
Born Charles Lutwidge Dogson, Lewis Carroll visited Whitby in 1854 as a 22-year-old student of Christ Church College, Oxford. He stayed at number five East Terrace (now La Rosa Hotel) and lodged there on another six occasions, the last time being in 1871. On one of his visits he was witnessed sitting on a rock on the beach telling stories to young listeners. It is thought that ideas for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and his poem ‘The Walrus And The Carpenter’ (in the sequel book Through The Looking Glass) were inspired by his walks around the town and along Whitby beach.

Tour de Yorkshire excitement in the Esk Valley

Villages up and down the Esk Valley were decorated in blue and yellow for Friday 1 May, the first day of the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race. The community celebrations in each village proved to be a great success, and many people turned out to watch the cyclists. See the amazing colour photos in the June issue of Esk Valley News, which capture some of the excitement of the day.
(The photo above shows cyclists at Danby (photo © Peter Leeming Photography)

March’s Solar Eclipse

All things considered we were rather fortunate to catch more than a fleeting glimpse of the partial eclipse on 20 March. The forecast did not make for pleasant viewing, but at least from Whitby the cloud fragmented just enough, and at the right time, for the greatest show ‘off earth’ . . .
(read more here).

Saving Junipers on the North York Moors

Peter Woods describes how a simple brief to restore a quarry turned into a quest for juniper. The reasons for the decline of juniper in the North York Moors, and elsewhere, are probably complex, but several are suggested in Peter Woods' paper, which can be read here.

Fryupdale caught in Cloud

Peter Leeming, landscape photographer and climber based in Danby, North York Moors, captured this stunning image of Fryupdale.
"Quite often in winter, if we have wind from the south or south west, we get cloud spilling over from the southern Dales into Danby Dale or the Fryupdales. I still seem to miss it, usually by being in the wrong place, though I managed this recent image from the Oakley Walls more by luck than judgement . . ." (photo © Peter Leeming Photography)
As a Biologist by training, a mountaineer by way of life, and as a photographer searching for depth, Peter creates images that reflect his sense of place in wild landscapes. Read his journal about his recent Alps trip here.

Castleton School History

This year sees the 140th anniversary of Castleton School. Just three years after the Education Act of 1871, the school was built on land given by a former Lord Downe. On Monday 17 November, the present Lady Downe launched a new book to celebrate the school’s anniversary. Our Village School: the saga of the stove by Carol Wilson, headteacher at the school between 2000 and 2007, is based on the School’s log book records, and includes many personal anecdotes and more than 150 images. The book traces the history of the school from its uncertain beginnings to the successes of the present day.

Moorsholm wins Gold

The small moorland village of Moorsholm has won a Gold award in the UK finals of the ‘Britain in Bloom’ competition. A team of volunteers has worked tirelessly around the year to bring home this amazing result.

Potash Mine Plans

On 30 June 2015 members of the North York Moors National Park Authority resolved to grant permission for the York Potash planning application to build a potash mine and mineral transport system near Whitby subject to the finalisation of the Section 106 Agreement and final wording of conditions. Members made the decision at a special planning committee meeting at Sneaton Castle, Whitby. Click here for more information about the project.

Whitby Hospital Plans

Members of the community were invited to have a say in plans for a new build of Whitby Hospital. For more information about the results of the survey and the future of health services in the Whitby Area, see the Fit 4 the Future website here.

Lights Out, Lealholm

More than 60 people gathered at Lealholm’s War Memorial on the night of 4 August 2014, to mark the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. The Royal British Legion encouraged people all across the country to participate in their Lights Out campaign, which was inspired by the famous remark attributed to Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary at the outbreak of war: ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.’

Esk Valley Theatre Success

The Esk Valley Theatre celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2014 with the production ‘One for the Road’ by award-winning playwright Willy Russell. The Esk Valley Theatre brings professional theatre to the rural community and draws theatre-goers from far and wide. Watch out for other events by the Company throughout the year: they are always a treat. More information at www.eskvalleytheatre.co.uk and in this short film of one of their summer plays:

Threatened Closure of Public Toilets

Scarborough Borough Council is planning to close the public toilets in Esk Valley villages including Castleton, Danby, Egton Bridge, Glaisdale, Grosmont, Lealholm; also in Ruswarp, Robin Hood’s Bay and Runswick Bay. At the same time the Council seeks to increase the number of visitors to the area. If you are concerned about the removal of public toilets in the villages, there is a petition you can sign here.

James Cook Station open – Esk Valley Railway

James Cook Station has opened for service on the Esk Valley line – giving rail access to the Middlesbrough hospital for anyone living or staying in the Esk Valley. Four trains a day, in each direction, connect the stations along the Esk Valley as far as Whitby. The Esk Valley Railway Development Company advocates a more frequent service. To voice your support, please email EVRDC saying why an improved service is so important to the Esk Valley and Whitby communities.

Lewis Hunton – Project Go-ahead!

The North East Yorkshire Geology Trust has secured £60,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and partners for a two-year project to explore and celebrate the geological and industrial heritage of Loftus, birthplace of Lewis Hunton (1814–1838) who made a critical advance in a sub-discipline of geology that is still relevant today.

Lost Sheep in Pink Jerseys

If you visited the North York Moors and Yorkshire Coast between 20 June and 20 September 2014 you may have seen some pink sheep. From toy lambs to life size sheep, more than 200 woolly animals made by local people, school children and businesses were dotted around the National Park.

Mountain Rescue Award

Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team has received a prestigious community award. It is one of just 40 groups to be awarded The Duke of York’s Community Initiative which is presented annually to Yorkshire-based organisations.

Apprentices in the National Park

The North York Moors National Park Authority is proud to be named as Yorkshire & Humber’s best medium employer of the year in the National Apprenticeship Awards in 2012 and 2013, and listed in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers in the country for the last three years.

Loss of National Park Champion

Derek Statham, who was instrumental in shaping today’s North York Moors, has died aged 76. Derek was National Park Officer at the NYM National Park for 20 years, presiding over a time of great change for the organisation.

The Night Sky

Where has the year gone? The nights are slowly growing dark once again, great for observing ...

Ryedale Folk Museum Award

The Ryedale Folk Museum at Hutton-le-Hole was crowned the 2013 winner of the White Rose Tourism Award for Small Visitor Attraction of the year! A fantastic way to kick start their 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2014.

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