February is a curious little month. Shorter by quite some way than its eleven calendar siblings, not quite winter, not quite spring, and suffering a minor identity crisis every four years when it suddenly gains a day.
It is, we feel, a month for curiosity, for delving into things and places you might never have considered before.
Well, we like a bit of quirkiness on the Yorkshire coast, so here’s a few ideas to inspire you to visit and discover something new. They’re a bit random, but isn’t that the nature of any good cabinet of curiosities?
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In Filey Charles Dickens was intrigued by some of the gravestones in the churchyard at St Oswald’s. (Image: Tony Bartholomew) First, let’s take a trip to Filey, where we’ll follow in the literary footsteps of Charles Dickens. He was intrigued by some of the gravestones in the churchyard at St Oswald’s Church, and wrote about them in his weekly magazine, Household Words. Writing in 1851, he says that Filey is ‘a mere village, well known to thousands of summer tourists for the noble extent of its sands, and the stern magnificence of its so-called bridge [we now know this as the Brigg], or promontory of savage rocks running far into the sea, on which you may walk, at low-water; but which, with the advancing tide, becomes savagely grand, from the fury with which the ocean breaks over it’.
He recounts heartbreaking stories from the gravestones – the fisherman lost at sea whose devoted wife searched for his body throughout the winter, and eventually found him, and the many Filey mariners who died in far-flung places, from Quebec to Constantinople, Russia to Mauritius. It’s a fascinating place to spend a few hours.
![Scarborough's Dean Road Cemetery - a Victorian Gothic wonder - with a Secret Garden and Bombardment Cairn.]()
Scarborough’s Dean Road Cemetery – a Victorian Gothic wonder – with a Secret Garden and Bombardment Cairn. (Image: Tony Bartholomew) Next, let’s head to Scarborough, where we’re suggesting a little trail around some very offbeat landmarks. Let’s start in Dean Road Cemetery – itself a Victorian Gothic wonder – with a delightful Secret Garden. Follow the robins – you’ll see what we mean when you get there! – to find a restored Victorian rock and fern grotto with a small pond. The garden is also home to a cairn commemorating those who died in the famous Bombardment of Scarborough by the German navy in 1914, an event which saw the first civilian deaths in England of the First World War and led to a huge recruitment campaign.
![In St Martin's Church Scarborough, a touching headstone commemorating Sixth Officer James Moody, the Scarborough-born-and-bred sailor who died when the Titanic went down in 1912. Just 24, Moody was the only junior officer to die in the disaster.]()
In St Martin’s Church Scarborough, a touching headstone commemorating Sixth Officer James Moody, the Scarborough-born-and-bred sailor who died when the Titanic went down in 1912. Just 24, Moody was the only junior officer to die in the disaster. (Image: Tony Bartholomew) Nearby is a touching headstone commemorating Sixth Officer James Moody, the Scarborough-born-and-bred sailor who died when the Titanic went down in 1912. Just 24, Moody was the only junior officer to die in the disaster – he should have escaped aboard a lifeboat with his fellow junior officers, but stayed to help his seniors, thus saving many lives. The town, proud of his sacrifice, also commemorates him with a blue plaque on the house where he was born, at 17 Granville Road on the South Cliff and, just down the road, with a memorial in the Church of St Martin on the Hill. St Martin’s is well known for its stunning pre-Raphaelite architecture and art, but Moody’s plaque still shines amid all the Victorian splendour.
If you’re walking from one South Cliff Moody location to the other, take a brief seaward detour and enjoy the Shuttleworth Gardens on the Esplanade. This charming and tranquil little park, laid out in the early 20th century, was very forward-looking, planted with particularly aromatic plants so that it could be enjoyed by the blind and visually impaired. But it’s most famous for its now nearly-90-year-old fairy garden, which has enchanted generations of young Scarborians with its miniature bridge and boathouse. Young visitors are encouraged to leave letters for their fairy friends.
![Argument's Yard, Whitby.]()
Argument’s Yard, Whitby. (Image: Tony Bartholomew) Up the coast to Whitby, now, where we’re going to invite you to explore (respectfully – these are places where people still live) the famous yards, alleyways and ‘ghauts’ which riddle the town. The alleys and ghauts gave access to the water’s edge for residents, while the yards were small, shared courtyards creating some much-needed space for families living in the jumbled-together houses. Whitby seems to have had quite a confrontational past – two of the best known are Arguments Yard and Loggerheads Yard!
Just north of Whitby is beautiful Sandsend, where you can walk (on Wednesdays and at weekends) in the privately owned Mulgrave Woods, an ancient woodland worthy of Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. Look out for Mulgrave Castle, a magnificent ruin of a Norman castle with its very own fairytale: it’s said to be haunted by PadPad, a creature which is part goat, part panther, part human, and patrols the castle. If you hear the soft pad, pad of its footsteps behind you, beware!
Take a look at Sandsend beach, too – it’s reputed to be the cause of the building of the road from Sandsend to Whitby. Why? Because the one-time resident of Mulgrave Castle (that’s the later, early 18th-century mansion, which is still inhabited) was none other than the Maharaja Duleep Singh, last Maharaja of the Sikh empire. Exiled to Britain and a favourite of Queen Victoria (and so far, the story is definitely true – we can’t be held responsible for the rest of it!), it’s said that he was worried that his elephants didn’t enjoy the feeling of sand between their pachydermic toes, and commissioned the road to make their lives more comfortable.
![Lewis Carroll stayed in Whitby six times over a 17-year period from 1854 - a blue plaque on his lodging house at 5 East Terrace marks his visits.]()
Lewis Carroll stayed in Whitby six times over a 17-year period from 1854 – a blue plaque on his lodging house at 5 East Terrace marks his visits. (Image: Tony Bartholomew) So – are you now curiouser and curiouser? One last quick tip then – while you’re in Whitby, check out the Lewis Carroll connection. The Alice author stayed in the town six times over a 17-year period from 1854 – a blue plaque on his lodging house at 5 East Terrace marks his visits, and it’s believed that his walks on the local beaches inspired his great nonsense poem, The Walrus and the Carpenter. Who knows – you might be similarly inspired by the Yorkshire coast!
Find further information on what else is on across the Yorkshire coast and beyond at visitnorthyorkshire.com
