My last journey took me from Staithes through to Hinderwell and Kettleness stations. You can catch up on that journey here, Part One of my journey here, or Part Two of my journey here. One week later I continued south from Kettleness station, visiting the sites of Sandsend, Whitby West Cliff, Hawsker and Robin Hood’s Bay stations.
Kettleness
I picked up from where I had finished the previous week, at the site of Kettleness railway station. I had to follow the Cleveland Way footpath for the next few kilometres to the next station, Sandsend, with the privately-owned track bed of the railway off to the right. There are great views from this section – across to Runswick Bay, and out to the North Sea.
The railway engineers tried to build their track along the cliff tops here, but part of the route collapsed during construction, so they opted to drive two tunnels instead, at Kettleness and Sandsend. Part of their original route can be detected on Google Maps. The Cleveland Way ascends above the north portal of the Kettleness tunnel,
then finally descends to the track bed just beyond the south portal of Sandsend tunnel, having by-passed both of them.
Both tunnels remain intact but they are in a dangerous condition.
Sandsend railway station
A short walk brought me close to the former Sandsend railway station, with views across to Whitby.
Sandsend railway station opened in 1883 and closed in 1958.
The North Eastern Railway installed camping coaches at several stations along the line, which proved to be a profitable venture. Sandsend had two, and the current owners of the station, the Mulgrave Estate, have replaced one of them.
Tubular Viaducts
Immediately south of Sandsend station, the Middlesbrough to Scarborough railway had to negotiate four steep ravines on the way to the next station, Whitby West Cliff. All four ravines were bridged by spectacular tubular steel viaducts. The first one of these came immediately after Sandsend station, and the remains of it can be seen in this photograph.
The north abutment of the viaduct was just above and to the left of the Ukrainian flag. The remains of one of the viaduct piers can be seen in the river bed, and the south abutment can be seen to the extreme left of the photograph. Viaducts at East Row, Newholm Beck and Upgang followed. The remains of Upgang Viaduct are part of the course of Whitby Golf Club now, and the southern abutment is extant.
Whitby West Cliff railway station
The railway then entered the town of Whitby but unfortunately, after about 200 metres, the track bed has been built on, and a road diversion is required to get to the site of Whitby West Cliff station. The station opened in 1883 and closed in 1961. The main station building is extant, and modern extensions have been added.
The building on Platform 2 is now a carport. A shuttle train service connected Whitby West Cliff to Whitby Town, down at sea level, to enable passengers to transfer to Middlesbrough and Scarborough trains at West Cliff station.
The Cinder Track
South of Whitby West Cliff station, the track bed is lost again under modern developments and doesn’t emerge until Stakesby Vale. But from here, things get a lot better. This is the start of the ‘Cinder Track’ where the entire track bed of the Whitby to Scarborough railway has been restored as a cycleway and footway. The Cinder Track is accessed via a set of steps at the side of the road.
The track is a linear park
an oasis of tranquillity. I headed south under Prospect Hill. Brambles can be seen reaching down from Prospect Hill bridge.
Prospect Hill Junction was just south of the bridge. Here, the railway diverged into two lines.
To the left, the line ascended south over Larpool Viaduct on the way to Scarborough. To the right, the branch line to Whitby Town station curved under the viaduct, met up with the inland route from Middlesbrough to Whitby, and entered the station. This was the line used by the shuttle trains between Whitby West Cliff and Whitby Town stations.
Larpool Viaduct
The magnificent 37 metre high brick-built Larpool Viaduct was the centre of the four rail routes that used to converge at Whitby Town railway station prior to 1958.
To the left, the line headed south across the viaduct to Scarborough. To the right, the coastal route headed north to Middlesbrough. Below, the inland route to Middlesbrough, also known as the ‘Esk Valley Line’ can be seen next to the river. This line diverges at Grosmont, with the line to Pickering, now known as the ‘North York Moors Railway’, heading south. To the right of the Esk Valley Line, just visible under the telegraph wires, the track bed of the branch line can be seen, curving up from Whitby Town to meet our line at Prospect Hill Junction.
Prospect of Whitby
Looking north of Larpool Viaduct there is a great view of Whitby Abbey.
The abbey was founded in 657 AD, but the current building was built by the Benedictine order in the 13th century. The Synod of Whitby convened here in 664 AD to determine the date of Easter in the Christian Calendar. The line heads south from the viaduct and starts the slow 4km climb to Bay Ness.
Hawsker railway station
I reached the site of Hawsker station, which was in use for the entire existence of the Whitby and Scarborough railway, from 1885 to 1965.
Hawsker is another former station that housed a North Eastern Railway ‘camping coach’, and the current owners of the building have provided a modern replacement.
Bay Ness
Another 30 minute walk brought me to the beautiful Bay Ness, the summit of this section of the line, on the outskirts of Robin Hood’s Bay.
Bay Ness itself is a National Trust site. The coast is particularly rugged and indented here.
After rounding Bay Ness, there is a magnificent view of Robin Hood’s Bay and Ravenscar.
The Cinder Track merges with the Cleveland Way footpath for the run into the village.
Robin Hood’s Bay railway station
Robin Hood’s Bay was the largest station on the Middlesbrough to Scarborough railway. Just as with Hawsker, it was in use from 1885 to 1965.
The station contained extensive goods sidings, a cattle dock, a coal dock and four camping coaches. The goods office is extant and is now Fylingdales Village Hall.
I had intended to continue to the next former railway station at Fyling Hall, but a thunderstorm intervened, and I would have to postpone this visit until the following week.
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