Whitby Museum (£) in Pannet Park has the most extensive marine dinosaur fossil collection of its kind with intact dinosaur skeletons embedded in the walls and even a real dinosaur footptrint. They also run fossil hunts and local walks up and down the coast, see the Whitby Museum web site for event details. Entry is charged for non residents. There is a tea shop and a huge array of other articles including model ships, stuffed animals and other local exhibits including a Chess Board made from Jet that used to be situated in The Old Manor House itself (below), it was donated to the museum by the previous owner of the house. Conveniently it is set in Pannet Park which has recently received a lottery grant and completed building of a brilliant children's playground.    Pannett Park Children's Playground (£Free) the best in Whitby and great fun by any standards - there is a picture below:   Pleasure Boat Trips in Whitby (£) are plentiful and include Whitby's old Lifeboat - Mary Anne Hepworth, a replica of captain cooks HMS Bark Endeavour and three other pleasure craft by Whitby Coastal Cruises which include the high speed Velocity, the purpose built Esk Belle II which runs throughout the day and runs an evening cruise - it also has a bar on board! Finally the Speksioneer - a Dutch motor sailor. Please see their relevant web sites for special events. All boats run throughout the summer and trips are surprisingly reasonably priced. All trips can be arranged and paid for by the harbour side. At the time of writing (Aug 2011) the Esk Belle II is available at £3 per person and under 5's go free.    Steam Train (£) operated by NYMR now runs several times a day to and from Whitby - please see their site for timetables and prices. The Esk Valley line follows the river Esk and is one of the most prettiest rail journeys you are likely to see. Alighting at Grosmont you can see the engine shed where all the trains in the collection are kept, also Grosmont station is famous as Hogwarts Station from Harry potter. Grosmont itself is a pretty village with tea rooms,a pub and some nice walks around.    Steam Bus & Sharabanc (£) are operated by the same group and can be picked up on the street by the band stand at the end of the West Pier.  Whitby Abbey (£) is a short walk from the house and is the remains of a seventh century co-monastery(nns and monks). The Whitby Synod held at Whitby Abbery determined the present Easter dates. The Abbey was dissolved by Henry the VIII and has slowly decayed to it's present state. The abbey is very close to St Mary's church which itself dates back to the 12th century. Some grave stones around the back of the church have pirate emblems on them and in fact as in Bram Stokers 'Dracula' some of the graves are empty due to men being lost at sea but a grave was prepared anyway!  Falling Foss (£Free) & Midge Hall Tea Rooms (£) A wonderful 3/4 mile walk through the forest from Maybeck to Falling Foss reveals a magnificent waterfall (Foss is old Norse for waterfall). Midge Hall was a derelict building and has now been converted to beautiful tea rooms - their web site is here. The walk is part of the coast to coast walk but can be accessed by car on the B1416 by following the sings to Maybeck or if you don't fancy the walk you can drive directly to Falling Foss and walk down the bank to access it.  Whitby & Sandsend Beach (£Free) - more to follow - Old Railway Tracks (£Free) Great cycling and walking between Whitby, Ravenscar, Robin Hoods Bay and Scarborough passing old alum mines, going through spooky tunnels and following the coastal path. If walking only you could walk up to Robin Hoods Bay (about half way along the cinder track) and come back along the cliff path revealing the dramatic coast line - it would be about 25 miles round trip. The full length of the old track to Scarborough is 23 miles. It was opened in 1885 by the Scarborough and Whitby Railway Company and was bought by North Eastern Railway in 1898. The path can be picked up at the old viaduct, at Hawsker or near Whitby School. A map of the path can be found here. Cycles including trailers can be rented at Trailways. The 23 mile railway line from Scarborough to Whitby was opened in 1885 and owned by the Scarborough & Whitby Railway Company. It was then bought by North Eastern Railway in 1898. Finally it was closed in 1948 as part of the Beeching cuts. There are no worries of meeting a train along the way as the last one ran on 6th March 1965! The railway tracks were removed and In the 1970s Scarborough Council acquired the trackbed for use as a footpath & cycle path and with its constant renovation the whole line is very popular with walkers and cyclists of all levels.  Going the other way from Sandsend towards Kettleness a coastal / cinder track walk is documented here. |
