The Lost Scarborough & Whitby Railway - Part 1/3 

Absolutely fascinating walk through some beautiful scenery, and the drone footage was exceptional. Can't wait for next episode 👍

It amazes me how those structures were built yrs ago the sheer height of that bridge and the spectacular brick work is amazing. Id be scared walking across it though im scared of heights.

A history lesson that's easy on the eyes and ears.

Thanks for producing this video. I saw the cinder track in 1982 and vowed one day to return to walk or cycle the whole length. Then in 2009 circumstances finally made it possible. My favourite cycle ride on a disused line, and second favourite cycle ride anywhere. Second only to a lap of Kielder Water. Fascinating to learn about the history of the line.

Great work. In years ahead we won’t have to look at out of focus cine films ( although they are fun) we will have this gorgeous camera work to look back on. We have to document what was around before it’s completely lost. Keep up the good work.

Great video, we have walked this line a few times, I remember Whitby Westcliffe station when it wax derelict which it's been restored very tastefully into housing now .

Really pleasant format, easy on the eye and the ear, informative with good back history and supporting photos, keep it up!

The drone shots of the Larpool Viaduct are fantastic. One of my favourite places in the world. I walked part of the line on a family holiday 30 years ago, but didn't get get chance to do the full route. Came back in 2019 and cycled the full route south to North with my wife, son and dad. Was a memorable day out after taking 20 something years to get round to it!

Another great video Andrew, as always very well presented and professionally done. The footage is fantastic. Once again thanks and I’m ready and waiting for the next one. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍

That was just superb,looking forward to the next instalment.

Brilliant, my old play area while growing up in the 70's and early 80's, I went to Caedmon School and played on Larpool Viaduct all the time, great memories

Cycled the whole cinder track in early 2019. Scarborough to Whitby and back. I was knackered by the time I got back to Scarborough. The gradients around Robin Hoods Bay and Ravenscar are killers, and the formation was very bumpy in places!

what a fantastic video and some great ariel shots I live in Middlesbrough and travelled to Whitby and Scarborough loads of times in my work

"phew, that was a little longer than I expected" 😂😂. Yeah, right. We all know you just ran straight across the tracks, off camera....! 😮😮

Compelling watching! Absolutely fascinating walking tour of Whitby's old lines, with some excellent archive material, superb photography, helpful research and great narration. Bring on the next episode!

Stunning video, especially the information given and that drone footage of Larpool viaduct is breathtaking. I love the history and architecture of the railways. It fascinates me how they built the line on such challenging terrain. This video certainly gives you an insight, without a doubt. Keep up the great work 👍

Very interesting video, especially with the old photos. I've walked or cycled all of the path between Whitby West Cliff and Scarborough at some time or other. The Cinder Track is a great visitor amenity and the owners (Scarborough Borough Council I believe) can be proud of what they've made of it. It seems amazingly steep going up to Ravenscar from the north, so it's no wonder trains used to struggle a bit. It seems to be one of those railways that was built during the railway building boom but never really made any money for its investors. The cost of the Larpool viaduct must have been immense: I doubt if the line ever paid back the costs of building it. With having to reverse the train at both ends of the line in order to get into Whitby Town and Scarborough stations, it must have been a somewhat slow journey end-to-end. Wonderful scenery though, especially on a sunny day. Thanks for making this video and putting it on RU-vid.

What an absolutely brilliant video! I've not been to Whitby in around 30 years sadly but would love to return (hell, I would love to live around that way, such a beautiful part of the country with wonderful people!) - it was so good to see it, and the quality of your footage is astounding. Thank you. I look forward to the next one!

Hi Andrew. Thank you for creating this superb vlog. Brilliant videography, drone footage, photo transitions, commentary and music selections - absolutely superb. I've loved this part of the North Riding since walking the Cleveland Way as a schoolboy in the early 70s. In the early 80s I was privileged to have been involved in the decommission & demolition of Whitby Gas Works, whilst working as a Chemist for the North Eastern Gas Board (NEGAS). We used a specially chartered locomotive on the Esk Valley line, from Larpool to Whitby Station, to move some equipment & chemicals from the site, and used the very same footpath via Bog Hall for day-to-day access to the works. Your vlog brought back many happy memories of this time; thank you. Just a few days ago, I was on the Cinder Track & Cleveland Way between Robin Hood's Bay and Hayburn Wike, via Ravenscar, so I'm really looking forward to the next installment. Thanks again and, please, keep it up.

Born in Harwood Dale, travelled around the world and left this town many times. Come back May times I’m back in Scarborough now and your channel popped up on my feed I’m only back a week, then back to spain again Ive told many people about you since being here The RU-vid algorithm is very cool I have subscribed and will get my local history through you Thanks for this

What a planning mistake to build houses under the south end of the viaduct. A great video.

Thank you for an exceptionally well produced and informative video. I have just walked the section between R H Bay and Ravenscar - absolutely stunning. The line was still in situ here in 1968 when we visited from Scarborough. A remarkable feat of engineering; its closure was a criminal waste . . .

Have you done your DNA study ? You look to me like you have quite a bit of that Viking blood left in that region.

Stumbled across your videos and found them fascinating - you really should be on TV ! Your knowledge and presenting skills are top-notch.

Wow could you imagine the amount of passenger trade that rail link would make today. Sad really. Great footage with the drone and very informative, subscribed.

Excellent commentary from you Andrew

Another great video and helpful explanation of the rail network around Whitby from the past. It has helped me understand and appreciate both the historic network and the current day use.

a absolute shame the line cant be reopended

I am so pleased I found your vlogs👍 They are brilliant particularly this Scarborough Whitby part 1&2 cannot wait for ep3👏 So interesting & giving me impetus to visit the area 😘Thank you sir keep up the excellent work😉Tip Top

Great video, really informative and the drone footage was outstanding

A great video with some cracking drone footage. Lovely historic photos too - wonderful stuff. I've travelled the line from Pickering to Whitby by steam & also travelled the line up towards Middlesbrough.

Also Andrew I read a bit about Mr Beeching previously , and he's really a fall guy for the people who were really pulling the strings and push for line closures. I think he was just doing a job, however with mothballing some lines but obliterating others with short sightedness of future transport requirements. I think it's also worth mentioning, that the Minister for Transport at that time had ties with a major Tarmacadam producer, talk about "conflict of interests"!!!!

Thank goodness their are people like you and RU-vid who can relate the history of this line. Many thanks for taking the time for producing this video

Grand, great to wander around here, bonnie Scarborough 😀

We have been to Whitby by train and had fish and chips, I would love to walk over the viaduct .thank you from New Zealand

A very informative and well presented video thanks ,This series is very handy for us as we intend to walk the cinder track very soon, Best wishes Graham

My aunt and uncle lived in Cloughton, the line ran close to the bottom of their garden. I remember as a boy watching the old steam trains climb out of Cloughton towards Hayburn Wyke. Later, after the line was closed (but before the rails were removed) I walked much of the line myself. An absolutely beautiful route, a pity it will never re-open.

Awesome video, I’m really looking forward to the next 2 parts. The way you intertwine the archive, drone and handheld footage is to behold! I’ve walked the cinder track many a time, and was completely unfamiliar with the routing around Whitby, looking forward to taking another look. Would be great if you’d do a tour sometime! Thank you!

You've provided us all with a wonderfully presented and important document, sir. I rode this track on my bike yesterday as an excellent day's workout as part of the Thornton Dale-Whitby-Scarborough triangle.

Another great video Andrew, superb work and such an interesting visit back to my teen-ages. Love the drone work. I can remember going to Battersby station on a field trip from school in the late 1950s, but I can’t remember whether this was going to or coming from Whitby. Keep these excellent rambles in this lovely area coming please. 👍

I was looking for the hawsker to robin hoods bay part, wasn't there a tunnel(closed for ages) close to the coast somewhere ?

Absolutely superb! Loved the drone footage. I have actually managed to cycle from Scarborough to Robin Hood's Bay. Age and the fact I had to return the same day prevented me from going any further! I always find old railway tracks a little sad; to think what we had back then, only for it to be taken away. I have an old railway to cycle on where I live (Haverhill) but certainly not as beautiful as this one. Covid permitting, hope to be up in lovely Yorkshire later this year!

Super video of a truly outstanding area of natural beauty although I am local so somewhat biased!! North Yorkshire rocks and this showcases the area superbly.

I’m from Scarborough myself. I’ve done the Scarborough to Scalby leg of the Cinder Track but no further yet. Looking forward to doing more of it especially from the Whitby side. It looks like amazing scenery from that end.

Excellent video, especially with the old photos and films of the running trains. Did this walk a few years ago and will be repeating it soon. A joy to watch and will check out the rest- just love this area.

well produced. I'm in the mist of making my model railway based on "Sandsend" with tunnels and viaduct. as you know this line was 16.5miles long and the history of this line is incredible. one day i'll pay a visit to the area.

It's really interesting. Funnily enough, I travelled across the viaduct on a train from RHB. 1963/4 I also saw the last train pull out from RHB on its way to Whitby - sad!

I have walked some of this railway but I also live on the NYMR which meats the main line at Whitby and it is a heritage railway but from Grosmont to Goathland (filming site of a Harry Potter movie scene) there is a trail called the rail trail and it follows the old railway and there is a lot of old iron works and quarry’s round the nymr and between Levisham and Goathland there are multiple old houses that Levisham staition group have cleared for better sightings of them just thought I could give you some walks and train rides but it is worth mentioning most of the houses next to the railway are impossible to get to whiteout trespassing unless you go to some of the other ones because if you legally cross the railway at a crossing point you can walk through some woods and find an abandoned farm with 1 but of equipment I have found some clams that there is one in a tree suspended in the air

Totally captivating can't wait for the next one!

Great video of the old railway, love the larpool Viaduct and the old pictures of the working railway 😁

I remember travelling on the Scarborough to Whitby staying in a Camping Coach Robin Hood's Bay in 1964.

Brilliant footage and old pictures! I had wondered what those junctions look like when they existed. It's a great cycle ride from Whitby to Scarborough on that trial but there are long climbs and after Hawsker it is very bumpy!

Well, you never know!! If they can restore a Union Pacific Big Boy to operation they could well restore the Scarborough &Whitby railway!

In the early 1950/s - I was in the Boys Brigade and traveled on a special train to Staithes via Beverly, Bridlington, Filey, Scarborough, Whitby then Staithes from Sheffield. Stopped in the WW2 Radar Camp on the right before you go down into the village, now a car park. Had a great time, swimming in the harbour, and Runswick Bay after hiking there and back. Must have been about 11yrs old ?

I walked the Whitby to Robin Hood’s Bay section of the Cinder Track last summer (2020) during a rare break in lockdown. Fantastic route - thanks for bringing back the memories :)

Hello - I'm searching for a video, seen on RU-vid some years ago - a long journey along abandoned and disused lines. if you skip to 6:56 on this one this is what it looked like. I don't remember the details now but I *think* it went from a station in London (perhaps imitating the famous old 1953 film of a steam train, "London to Brighton in 4 minutes", speeded up of course), and ended up in the water at a beach somewhere, presumably in Essex or the South East? (Just before the end it even went through walls and - apparently - people's houses.) Can anyone please direct me back to that video?

Awesome video! Very interesting stuff. I’ve got a new video coming soon where me and friends walked the railway line from Kildale to Whitby through the moors. Also about 20 miles or so!

In Europe, the electric pedal assist motors are kept at a 250 watt minimum because they translate to only 20 m.p.h. on flat ground. This allows them to be used more safely on these public trails. Thank you for highlighting this BIKE HIRE option. But I would like to see a TRIKE HIRE option as well. I am heavy and suffer SCROTUM HELL when riding a regular upright bike for any length of time. Many seniors also have balance problems and riding a regular upright bike is not an option. Thanks.

That bastard Doctor Beeching butchered the locals lines in the 60s. I'm an exile Mancunian who has lived in Scarborough since 2015 love the area I'd love it even more if they would reopen the Scarborough to Whitby line, even if they just did it for summer say from May to September.

Great video mate. Only made it as far as Hayburn Wyke on my explores to date. Nice to see the old signal box at Scarborough still stands. Keep it up with this!

We walked down from Hawsker to the viaduct on Jubilee day 1977. At that time the viaduct was fenced off. But the cinder track was good for walking. I have always loved the Whitby/Robin Hoods Bay Area. I need to come back soon.

Introduce yourself to the world of RECUMBENT TADPOLE TRIKES. They are the absolute bomb for travelling parts of this trail. Especially for seniors. Two world class recumbent trikes are from your area of the world. One is HP Velotechnik from Germany and the other is ICE Trikes in Falmouth, England. Try to test ride one and you will be hooked. They have pedal assist electric motors that are quite useful going up hills and extending the range of your ride. I can see many group rides using them on this Cinder Trail and would love to see a tourist business arise around them. The world of recumbent trikes opens up an entire world of exploration you are great at keeping alive. Thanks for these excellent videos.

Thank you so much for this. I will complete walking the Cinder Track next week for the second time in recent years, each time doing it as a series of circular walks incorporating the Coast Path. However each time I've started / ended where the Cinder Track starts / ends and had never thought about going beyond that to Whitby / Westcliff stations. Obviously I'll have to do that now!

I'll be sixty three this year, hopefully! Been visiting Whitby .Robin Hoods Bay nad Scarborough all my life.Only now do I find out about this, off to part two then.

Excellent, well made and informative video. Did a lot of sea fishing at Whitby and stayed at the Duke of York up Church Lane

surely these lines that are low passenger volume could be kept open using small minibus sized trains.....converted minibuses maybe.....they would be light and cheap to run

I love the Cinder track - but sadly disappointed the long suggested tarmacking of it has occurred. I have walked sections of this since the early 1970's, more so between Whitby, Hawsker, Robin Hoods bay and Ravenscar - I wrote an article about it and using a specific camera. FInd a website called Macfilos, and then use my surname to find the articles - if you have the time to read. I enjoyed the journey of the original route - I did not appreciate the Whitby to Whitby West Elevation - as I had always known where Whitby West station was, and the arc on to the line where it starts now. But hadnt fully considered the original start at Whitby Station. Nice to know something new to explore next time I am up and do the walk. Good choice of Fish and Chips. My last visit I tried the Fisherman's Wife, as I am unsure of the ownership of Silver Street Fisheries (been the best for years - ask locals in the town).

Fantastic video. We walked this route in may 2022 the weather was sunshine, rain and sleet and hailstones. Beautiful views from the viaduct though.

I was camping at Robin hoods bay September this year and walked miles along the Cleveland way and also the cinder track , definitely going back next year. Thankyou for this informative video.

I’ve been to Larpool Viaduct 2 or 3 times I believe, great view of Whitby Abbey and the railway line to Grosmont.

Also is a great bike ride. We parked in the supermarket car park in Scarborough and cycled to Whitby and back - which meant we got our fish and chips half way through! About 40 miles in total.

What's not to like about this video? Been to Whitby a couple of times in more recent years and traveled on the NYMR. I think you're right about the volume of people visiting this part of Yorkshire, last time I was here Whitby was jam packed! Lovely town though and, as others have said, great to see the historical photos as well.

Absolutely awesome video mate, I love history and walking so this video really did it for me. I’m moving to Whitby this year as well so this has got me excited for exploring some new walks. 👍

Great video. Great shame the routes were closed. Especially to Malton on the main line to York!!!

Fabulous views. I love the mix with the old photos and I also like the backround music.

As a child ( probably around 10 years old) my friends and I would open and close the gates at hawsker near and between two caravan parks we earned a few pennies those days I was always sorry when I heard that the line had closed …Peter Sutton originally from Sadberge near Darlington now 76 and retired in Armadale Western Australia

Great vid! im from ashton under lyne part of greater manchester (USED to part of lancashire and i still say it is 😉) its on the border between cheshire lancashire and derbyshire and a short drive over the pennines to south yorkshire then onto north yorkshire! i now live dow in Bristol BUT have fond memories of day trips out to the surounding areas as a kid in the 70s when going abroad was still not atainable for most of us working class folks so a hoilday at home or a weekend day drive out to various towns / spots around the pennines in the summer was a thing to do ..up on the moors, blue john mines, ect or a day trip to blackpool ( as that was closer for us) sadly i never got as far as whitby and Scarbough 😥 my partners cousin lives in Malton though ad aim to get there to visit but think she is moving to Scotland of all places in a few months into one of these retirement caravan / cabins that seem to be all the rage ect! I love vids on the old railway lines around the country that are now closed and turned into walks or cycle paths ect ...i still cant belive though that if you want to go from whitby to Scarborough now it takes so long and have to go via middlesbourgh and york ...its obv easier to drive or just walk / cycle the cinder track ! absolutly crazy!

It was a wonderful journey sadly Bastardised by Beecham. I had the joy as a young boy of traveling on this trip about 4 times which it was still there.

Nearly five hours to get from Whitby to Scarborough by train. WOW!

Watching today from a wet and windy Sussex, your video has brightened my day. Thank you!

Very classy video, have Channel 5 come knocking at the door yet?

Brilliant video. We have went the other way from rhb to whitby. You could still see sleepers in the ground when we went a few years ago. They have resurfaced some now so gone forever I guess.

Wonderful. So many great memories of holidays on the Yorkshire coast as a kid with my family. Sadly only me left now. Also really strange how much you look like me!

Brilliant, thank you for this

Absolutely brilliant films can't get enough well done hope there's going to be more all the best for 2023

Thank you ! I’ve never visited the area, you have inspired me to do so. I’ll come by train!!

I have indeed enjoyed this first video of, is it three or two. I still love my home county but glad i moved from tory run Scarborough when i was still quite young, so its great to see this videos of Yorkshire

Wow I didn’t know the line even existed! Wouldn’t it be cool if they reopened the line? Anyway great video Andrew

Fantastic last scenes, could never understand why the Larpool viaduct was closed to public until about ten years ago

Well done very good, walked the whitby to robin hoods bay track 48yrs ago & stayed at rhb youth hostel lovely memories

Going to walk from Whitby to Hawsker in the summer on this old line 👍

If only what a ride it would have been today have walked down rocks lane Burniston to the railway line back to whitby or you can go a bit further to the sea both are a stunning walk

when i was last in scarborogh there was a bus from there to whitby, no changes...i dont know if this was just in summer tho.

Superb I want walk that next time icome to moors later this year love mymr and been whitby

Top draw and great editing 👍

liked and subscribed, who needs tv when you can get brilliant content like this,can't wait for the next episode, keep up the good work.

Excelent photography, commentry and information on hostory, and backing music. First class keep it up. Looking forward to seeing parts 2 and 3.

Let us hope that the line never reopens or that would be the end of the fantastic cinder track walk and cycle route

I did the long way around from Scarborough to Whitby in the early 1990s. Cost me just over £25 for a single. I remember when asking for the ticket in the ticket office, and being told that I cannot do that route so had to explain which way I was going. Took half a day, then just over an hour to get the bus back from Whitby.

Thats brilliant journey very interesting to go back and see how it used too be