Whitby ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 2.5 miles   Time to complete walk: 1h 30m

Safety Tips: The climb up the 199 steps is a steep incline however take a few pitstops and you will be fine

A walk which includes all of the landmarks of this gem of a coastal town, including the Abbey, the 199 steps, the whale bone arch, Captain Cooks statue and museum, the harbour and not forgetting the fish and chips!

 

The Whitby Walk

 

 



 

Getting There

 

From Middlesbrough, go up Ormesby Bank and at the first roundabout turn left onto Guisborough Road. Follow the A171 to Whitby over the North York Moors. Parking can be found to the east of Whtby. Follow the signs for the Abbey and this will be the start of the walk.

 

The Walk

 

 

Map of the Whitby walk

 





Leave the car park at the bottom corner through a gate below the Abbey entrance.

 

 

Gate at bottom of car park

 



Follow the path down alongside a field. When the path splits take the lower path, half right. Descend more steeply and go through another gate. 

 

 

 

 

Go right for a few paces and then left to descend flights of steps. At the bottom go through a narrow gap between buildings onto a busy road. Turn left and then cross the road after about 46 metres to reach the Captain Cook Museum. This is worth a visit to discover more about this intrepid explorer.

 

 



 

Painting in the museum



After visiting the museum, follow the path to the left until you come to the swing bridge.

 

 

View from the bridge



 

Turn right when you cross the bridge and follow the road along the quayside. Now would be a great time to stop for fish and chips. Follow this road as it bends left then right.

 

 

Left Turning



 

Following this road look for a left turning which is hidden away and a narrow passage. Look for the sign Bakehouse Yard to the right of the Star Inn.

 

 

Bakehouse Yard

 



At the top cross over to some steps and then then turn right to a terrace with views of the town. Follow this road until you reach the Whale Bone arch and Captain Cooks statue.

 

 

 

Captain Cooks statue



 

Descend throught the arch and down the steps to the road. Turn left and follow the road back to the quayside. Follow the quayside road back to the swing bridge. Now when crossing you need to turn left into Sandgate. Theres plenty of shops to peruse selling chocolates and even the towns specialty- jet. Turn right and go past the little Town Hall.

 

 

Little Town Hall

 



Turn left here and follow the road until you reach the 199 steps.

 

 

199 steps

 

 

At the top of the steps you will reach the church graveyard. Leave the grave yard by the iron gate and go past the Abbey entrance taking the road on the left. Follow this road until you reach the car park on your right.

 

Whitby

 

Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough and English county of North Yorkshire. Before local government reorganisations in the late 1960s, it was part of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has an established maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cliff is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey, where Cædmon, the earliest recognised English poet, lived. The fishing port developed during the Middle Ages, supporting important herring and whaling fleets and was (along with the nearby fishing village of Staithes) where Captain Cook learned seamanship.
Tourism started in Whitby during the Georgian period and developed further on the arrival of the railway in 1839. Its attraction as a tourist destination is enhanced by its proximity to the high ground of the North York Moors National Park, its Heritage Coastline and by its association with the horror novel Dracula. Jet and alum were mined locally. 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 as Streanœhealh it 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. Another monastery was founded in 1078. It was in this period that the town gained its current name, Whitby (from "white settlement" in Old Norse). In the following centuries Whitby functioned as a fishing settlement until, in the 18th century, it developed as a port and centre for shipbuilding and whaling, the trade in locally mined alum, and the manufacture of Whitby jet jewellery.
The abbey ruin at the top of the East Cliff is the town's oldest and most prominent landmark. Other significant features include the swing bridge, which crosses the River Esk and the harbour, which is sheltered by the grade II listed East and West piers. The town's maritime heritage is commemorated by statues of Captain Cook and William Scoresby, as well as the whalebone arch that sits at the top of the West Cliff. The town also has a strong literary tradition and has featured in literary works, television and cinema, most famously in Bram Stoker
's novel Dracula.
While Whitby's cultural and historical heritage contribute to the local economy, the town does suffer from the economic constraints of its remote location, ongoing changes in the fishing industry, relatively underdeveloped transport infrastructure, and limitations on available land and property. As a result, tourism and some forms of fishing remain the mainstay of its economy. It is the closest port to a proposed wind farm development in the North Sea, 47 miles (76 km) from York and 22 miles (35 km) from Middlesbrough. There are transport links to the rest of North Yorkshire and North East England, primarily through national rail links to Middlesbrough and road links to Teesside, via both the A171 and A174, and Scarborough by the former.
According to the 2011 UK census, the town had a population of 13,213, a decrease on the 2001 UK census figure of 13,594.