RNLI LIFEGUARDS have begun their vital safety patrols on Whitby beach.

This service was handed over to the charity by Scarborough Borough Council this week.

18 trained lifeguards will be on the beaches in Whitby, Filey and Scarborough throughout all 16-week summer season, offering safety advice and assisting water users.

In March, the council became one of the first authorities in the north of England to join forces with the RNLI, handing over responsibility for the seasonal lifeguard service to the charity.

The seven-day-a-week service provided by the RNLI lifeguards matches the service previously provided by the council, which continues to provide financial support.

Two lifeguards and a supervisor will be stationed at Whitby at any one time.

Carl Harris, RNLI deputy divisional lifeguard manager, North, said that the new lifeguard service in the north reinforces the RNLI’s aim to provide a seamless rescue service from the beach to the open sea.

He added: ‘The RNLI launched its Life First campaign last year, which highlights the charity’s development from a lifeboat service to a lifeboat and lifeguard service. Lifeguards are an integral part of the RNLI’s commitment to saving lives at sea and this year, RNLI lifeguards will provide safety patrols on beaches in the north east and along the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coastline for the first time.’

Brian Bennett, head of Tourism and Culture at Scarborough Borough Council, said:

“The beach lifeguard patrols provide a very important service to help prevent and respond to incidents on our beaches. We are pleased to work with the RNLI and are confident that its lifeguards will provide a first class service for the benefit of all beach users.”

Whitby's West cliff awarded the European Blue Flag

It is very good news that WHITBY West Cliff has again been awarded the European Blue Flag, the most prestigious beach award.
ENCAMS, the Keep Britain Tidy charity, has just announced which UK beaches have made it onto the list.

Brian Bennett, the council's head of tourism and culture, said: "I am delighted West Cliff beach has once again been awarded a Blue Flag.

"The Beach Manage-ment Centre and the high standard of beach cleaning underlines Whitby is a high quality resort which values its visitors and residents.

"With all the signs this year that more people are choosing to stay in the UK for holidays, this award will enhance Whitby's reputation as a great place to stay."

Quality Coast Awards went to Runswick Bay, Sandsend and Robin Hood's Bay in the Rural Beach Category.

Uunfortunately there have been recent concerns about the state of the beach and the Beach Management Centre, but despite that, the Blue Flag has still been awarded

Street fayre in Whitby is scrapped after objections and very

The MAY Bank Holiday street fayre is not to go ahead because of only three objections to it.
Following the success of its Easter fayre, Skinner Street and Friends Trading Together had masterminded the second one to boost trade over the busy Bank Holiday Monday and encourage more people to shop there.

Organiser Teresa Hodgkinson of the Cella Gallery had already spoken to highways, police and licensing to get the go-ahead to close part of the road off again.

There was scheduled to be stalls selling clothes, jewellery, artwork and CD and DVDs were planned and it was hoped the Whitby Jets would perform.

Also this time a stall was set to cost only £39, a saving of £16, thanks to Wilf Noble Building Supplies which was only charging half for the traffic management.

Organiser Teresa Hodgkinson said she was "upset and disappointed" the event will not go ahead.

"We will have another meeting and see where to go from here and see in the future if there is going to be this much hassle every time.

"The police were okay with it and the licensing authority.

"Everyone was excited, talking about it and looking forward to it.

"We were going to try having more of a flea market this time.

"I just got an answer phone message off North Yorkshire Highways. I rang them back and they said they had had three written objections and were not allowed to tell me who they were from. Forty seven traders and three against – it seems very unbalanced.

"The Easter one was such a success and all the traders reported an upturn in trade.

"Highways say the whole point is to keep highways open and the only way they will close one is by a popular consensus."

Previous objector Richard Buxton of Collectables Past and Present in Skinner Street insists he is not one of the objectors.

The association has lost money as it was in the processs of buying signs worth £400 from Wilf Nobles.

"Three of the signs have Skinner Street on them costing £120 and they are no good to anyone else so we have lost the money on them.

"Stalls were selling well and I have had to refund them. We need to keep momentum going and spirits up, it's a shame we never got to trial our flea market."

Les Parker, improvement mananger at county highways, said: "We had three written objections and I took anecdotal evidence into account.

"I heard taxi drivers weren't happy and there was chaos in Silver Street – a very narrow street for a diversion.

"There was support from 47 people in that locality only, not the rest of the town.

"Wider consultation is needed to address the problems."

He added the weekend is busier than Easter as the weather is warmer and said he would not rule out giving the go-ahead in the future

North York Moors gets a £2 million grant

Government agency Natural England worked with the North York Moors National Park, landowners, common rights holders and Danby Court Leet to secure the cash for Danby Common.
The money will be paid over the next 10 years and its benefits will include ensuring that sheep flocks, vital to maintain the moorland, can continue to be kept and increased.

It is hoped it will be the first of many such grants to safeguard moorland areas.

Fraser Hugill, head of conservation management at the North York Moors National Park Authority said: "It's a great credit to all parties involved that this scheme has been agreed to ensure the long term future of Danby Common.

"It involved nine graziers and was a huge challenge taking a lot of work to negotiate but it's a great credit to them that they all came into it.

Moorland flocks have been hard hit in recent years.

"The National Park Authority will do all it can to help Natural England, moorland graziers and estates to ensure this is the first of many agreements to secure the long term future of the North York Moors landscape."

The scheme will also fund improved information for visitors through leaflets, displays, guided walks and demonstrations of moorland management skills.

The huge 4,500 hectare expanse of Danby Common sits in the heart of the North York Moors National Park.

The moor is managed by landowner, the Viscount Downe, and the Danby Court Leet, a centuries' old commons system where local people have a stake in the future of the moor.

Martin Foord, Lealholm farmer and bailiff to Danby Court Leet said: "This scheme will really help with the future management of Danby Common."

Robert Sword, agent for the Dawnay Estates, said the scheme was a real opportunity for graziers and land managers to join forces and over a 10 year period improve the management of the Danby Moors as a sustainable environmental, sporting and agricultural resource as well as enhancing the landscape quality of the North York Moors National Park.

He added: "This is a very last chance to retain the hill-flocks and improve the management and quality of sheep production which will help to reduce levels of tick and increase production of grouse and the numbers of other moorland birds."

The Dawney Estate has been owned by the direct descendants of Viscount Downe since 1656.

The court and jury rooms at Danby Castle dating from the 15th Century remain the home of the medieval Danby Court Leet as the administrative centre for the management of Danby Common.

North York Moors Railway cash injection

THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway is going to receive a £300,000 injection to its £1m Bridge and Wheels Appeal to restore a vital bridge between Grosmont and Goathland.

The money has been approved by North Yorkshire County Council's executive on Tuesday, which has agreed to spend £18m on 18 priority transport proposals across the county, including the bridge, over the next three years.

Around £650,000 is urgently needed to replace Bridge 30 below Beck Hole and safeguard the future of the railway, which brings in £30m annually to the area's economy.

If the 140-year-old bridge, which has reached the end of its life, is not replaced in the next 12 months, the railway would be faced with running a skeleton service and may eventually close as a weight restriction would have to be placed on trains using the track.

Press and marketing manager for the NYMR, Phil Bustard, said the "big boost" means they are halfway towards raising the £650,000 to repair the 80ft bridge as they have also received £70,000 of donations from the public.

The target needs to be reached by this winter so the work causes the least disruption during the busy tourist season traffic.

It's hoped the rest of the money raised from the £1m appeal will go to restore railway engine, 80135.

Mr Bustard said: "This is about the half way mark for the money we need for the bridge. We're very pleased with that. It's very good news."

He added they are also in talks with the North York Moors National Park Authority about sourcing other funding pots, including a bid for £100,000 from the LEADER programme.

North Yorkshire County Council's executive member for tourism, Greg White, said: "Taken together with contributions from other agencies and private donors, this allocation should be sufficient to ensure the bridge is fixed quickly and the threat to the continued operation of full-sized locomotives is lifted.

"Of course the railway is also keen to return locomotive number 80135 to steam, to reduce their reliance on borrowed and hired in engines, so I am sure their appeal is still very much in need of further donations."

The money has been allocated to the county council from the Regional Transport Board for priority local schemes and will come in two phases.

The first slice of funding has already been approved and the second amount of £9 million, which the county council hopes to be confirmed by the Government later this summer, will include the county council's £300,000 contribution to the railway's bridge replacement.

Richard Flinton, North Yorkshire County Council's corporate director for business and environmental services, added: "The railway plays a critical role in supporting the local economy through tourism and we are pleased to be able to support it in its ventures in such a vital way