Why I love Whitby and want more tourists to share the experience - Yorkshire Post letters

From: David Slater, Wakefield.

I HAVE visited Whitby now for more than 50 years and have treasured it as a place of character and sensitive development amid so many soulless resorts that, quite frankly, blight the UK coasts and, more particularly, the Yorkshire coast.

Unlike those other resorts, Whitby benefits from the charm of its streets and harbour, the excellent shops and restaurants, the marvellous Whitby and Cook museums, the newly-arrived Endeavour and many other things.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

While I and other regular visitors have (often by pure chance) discovered the hidden location of the current Tourist Information Centre, many others wander the streets aimlessly because they never encounter it.

What can be done to boost tourism and visitor information in Whitby?What can be done to boost tourism and visitor information in Whitby?
What can be done to boost tourism and visitor information in Whitby?

A Tourist Information Centre’s users will, in the main, be ‘just passing by’, so it really ought to be in a central location (like it used to be) with a constant flow of potential users walking past the door, and not hidden away in a backwater where very few people will ever see it, like the current one is.

As a mere visitor, I can’t help but think that the answer to the problem of the badly-sited Tourist Information Centre and the then-unwanted NatWest Bank building was to have put the Tourist Information Centre in the NatWest building, with the rest of the building being used for a small shop(s), flats or offices.

I am aware that Whitby has suffered in recent times as a result of being ‘governed’ by and from its larger neighbour and, to some extent, its competitor, Scarborough.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As someone who comes from Wakefield, which has suffered in recent times from its closeness to Leeds, Whitby has my sympathy, but at least we have our own council and do not suffer the problems of being governed by (and outvoted by) our larger, more powerful neighbour.

Don’t change school day

From: Lorna Macdonald, Holmfirth.

I AM in complete agreement with Gillian Anderson (The Yorkshire Post, February 28). Do young people think that future employers will do the same and say “If you are feeling tired you can start work an hour later dear?”

I don’t think so! Why on earth do the Government and the powers-that-be want to change or alter things that have worked perfectly well for hundreds of years? I passed exams for grammar school, but didn’t choose to go.

When I was 12, my dancing teacher arranged an audition for me to be one of the babes in the Babes in the Wood pantomime.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sadly Dad thought I was too young to be away from home for such a long time (20 weeks or so).

However I knew I would have the opportunity again at 14, and I did. We were still treated as children, we stayed in digs together with a matron to care for us.

We walked to the theatre, had three weeks of rehearsal from 9am until 4pm, then a long run of doing two shows a day.

We were still up in the morning by 8am and it was 10.30pm before we left the theatre to walk home, but I don’t ever remember feeling or saying we were tired.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sundays we spent outdoors, weather permitting, usually exploring Glasgow and its lovely Kelvin Park. Of course we weren’t sitting in front of a TV or computer screen until all hours.

Better ways to stop speeding

From: Michael Green, Baghill Green, Tingley, Wakefield.

I AM sure that Rachel Reeves MP is right when she says (The Yorkshire Post, February 28) 
that 95 per cent of people 
who responded to her survey often see speeding in residential areas.

But she is utterly wrong in her belief that more 20mph limits will make any difference. If drivers aren’t bothered about doing more than 30mph in a 30 zone, then they aren’t likely to be bothered about doing more than 30 (let alone more than 20!) in a 20 zone.

If Rachel Reeves wants to do something constructive about the problem, then let her mobilise more enforcement of the exiting 30mph limits.

Stable needs mucking out

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

FOLLOWING the latest crass ‘anti-Semitism’ outburst, Chris Williamson MP apologised belatedly for his “choice of words” (The Yorkshire Post, February 28). On BBC News, the applause from his Momentum members confirmed that they saw nothing wrong with it.

If Jeremy Corbyn wishes to restore Labour’s reputation, isn’t it time for a thorough mucking- out of the stable?

PFI fiasco

From: Judy Goodwin, Altofts.

INSTEAD of complaining about funding of the NHS, we would be better served if Jon Trickett MP told us who signed off the appalling PFI contracts when Labour was in power.

Safety first

From: Sylvia Williamson, Wakefield.

MOTORISTS fear they may be fined if they give way to emergency vehicles, I’ve gone past a red light in heavy CCTV areas and have never been fined. So long as it’s done safely, there isn’t a problem.

Wrong move

From: Carol Rollinson, Cromwell Terrace, Scarborough.

REGARDING recent correspondence, the Post Office going into WH Smith in Scarborough in my mind is not practical, it will get really busy, and don’t forget wheelchairs and people with walking frames.