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Sandsend NotesA coast notebook, Staithes to Robin Hood’s Bay

Section · 19 notes

Shore and village: from Staithes to the bay

Six notes on one shore. What each village was built for, how the sea and the becks shaped it, and what is left standing.

Red pantile roofs of a fishing village stacked above a small harbour with fishing cobles drawn up on the slipway

The villages on this shore were not built for the view. Staithes and Runswick Bay were fishing settlements wedged into the only breaks in a cliff wall; Sandsend grew from two hamlets joined by cottages built for alum workers; Robin Hood’s Bay tipped down a ravine because that was the only way down. Whitby is the exception, a port with an abbey above it and a river through it.

These notes take one place at a time. They set out what the place was for, what the sea did to it, and what a reader will actually find when they walk in.

The 19 notes in this section

Shore & Village
  1. Stone cottages along a narrow street beside a beck running under a low bridge towards the sea at Sandsend

    · Village note

    Sandsend and East Row: one village made of two

    Two becks, two hamlets, one row of cottages built for a chemical industry: how Sandsend came to look the way it does.

  2. Flat wet sand at low tide with dark rock ledges exposed at the foot of a high crumbling cliff and gulls overhead

    · Shore note

    Sandsend beach, the scar and the cliff behind it

    The beach that ends against a headland: what the sand, the ledges and the shale wall behind them actually are.

  3. Cluster of white and red roofed cottages climbing a steep green cliff above a curved sandy bay at Runswick

    · Village note

    Runswick Bay, rebuilt after the cliff moved

    Runswick lost most of its houses to a landslip and was built again on the same slope. What is there now, and why it sits like that.

  4. Narrow harbour mouth at Staithes with cobles moored below a dark headland and tightly packed cottages along the beck

    · Village note

    Staithes, wedged between Cowbar Nab and Penny Nab

    One of the largest fishing stations on this coast, squeezed into a beck mouth between two headlands, and later a painters’ colony.

  5. Steep cobbled street of red roofed cottages descending between stone walls towards a slipway and a wide rocky bay

    · Village note

    Robin Hood’s Bay, poured down a ravine to the sea

    The steepest village on this shore, built where a beck cut through the cliff, with a smuggling past and a rock ledge full of fossils.

  6. Whitby harbour at dusk with the swing bridge, moored boats on the Esk and lit houses climbing both banks of the river

    · Town note

    Whitby in two days, from the harbour to the moor edge

    A port split by a river, with an abbey on one bank and a whaling and shipbuilding history on the other. How the town divides its own ground.

  7. Stone cottages along a narrow village street beside a beck running under a low bridge towards the sea

    · Village note

    A village calendar, and the people who keep it

    The unwritten list of days a place shares: how it is kept on this coast, and what the keeping is worth.

  8. Flat wet sand at low tide with dark rock ledges and a grey sea under a wind-driven sky

    · Shore note

    Wind against tide: the sea’s oldest sum

    Why a moderate wind against a strong stream makes rough water of a calm day, and who still needs to know.

  9. Harbour mouth at dusk with moored boats and the open sea beyond the piers under a pale sky

    · Shore note

    The ships off this coast: a working horizon

    The North Sea lane from the cliff seat: what passes, what it carries, and what the traffic still means.

  10. Beck running over stones through deep sheltered broadleaf woodland with mossy banks

    · Garden note

    Palms in a North Sea garden

    A hardy palm in a cottage garden is a map of where the village’s warmth actually lies.

  11. Wide sweep of sand at low tide running to a headland under a clear sky

    · Shore note

    Filming a coastline, on the coast’s terms

    Tides, light and a plan for rain: the work behind the minutes of this shore that end up on screen.

  12. Small desk with notebooks and papers by a window overlooking a grey sea

    · Village note

    Keeping local knowledge, before it goes

    The unwritten memory of a coast: who holds it, who keeps it, and the Tuesday afternoons it survives on.

  13. Second Street in Athens, New York, on a December evening: shop windows lit, a few people in coats walking the pavement, bare trees above, shot from across the street at eye level.

    · Town note

    Athens, New York: street traditions

    Athens, New York, holds a July street festival each summer, runs free Friday concerts at Riverfront Park through the warm months, and marks Community Day with local groups and stalls.

  14. A Georgian stone doorway on Bondgate Without in Alnwick, early morning, low side light raking across the fanlight and a brass door knob, framed straight on from the pavement.

    · Village note

    Staying in Alnwick: B&B or cottage

    Alnwick has both bed and breakfast guest houses and self-catering cottages, and the choice comes down to how much you want a kitchen and how much you want someone else to run the morning.

  15. A single chair and a small table beside a window in a retreat house room, a closed notebook on the table, late afternoon light across the floorboards, shot from the doorway.

    · Village note

    Silent, directed or preached: retreats explained

    A silent retreat is a stay of one or more nights at a retreat house where conversation is set aside so that the day can be given to prayer, rest and reading.

  16. A wet dog on a lead standing on the flat sand at Sandsend at low tide, the sea wall and the row of houses behind it, photographed in soft late afternoon light from a low angle.

    · Shore note

    Bringing a dog to Sandsend: what to plan

    Sandsend beach allows dogs all year.

  17. Late afternoon light on the seafront promenade at Sitges, a row of hotel balconies facing the beach, shot from the sand looking back at the buildings.

    · Shore note

    Where to sleep in Sitges: areas and seasons

    Sitges has three broad places to sleep: the centre around the casco antiguo, the paseo marítimo facing the sea, and the quieter north zone towards Aiguadolç.

  18. A low-ceilinged Reykjavik listening room before a set: a melodica resting on a folding stand under warm ceiling light, empty chairs in the foreground, a door and a ventilation grille visible at the back wall.

    · Town note

    Small rooms, low ceilings: chamber music in Reykjavik

    Chamber music in Reykjavik is mostly played in small listening rooms rather than concert halls.

  19. A shaded courtyard in a Senegalese village at mid-morning, a metal teapot on a small charcoal stove, three glasses on a tray and a plastic chair, shot from a low angle in hard sunlight with a mud-brick wall behind.

    · Village note

    Field life for a long stay in Senegal

    Daily life for a long-term volunteer in Senegal settles into a rhythm of early mornings, shared meals and slow errands.

The other sections of the notebook: Stone & Trade, Paths & Rails, At the Table.