Robin Hood's Bay

Robin Hood’s Bay is a fairy-tale fishing village clinging to the North Yorkshire cliffs. It is located about five miles south of Whitby
and 15 miles north of Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast.

For a small village, Robin Hood's Bay is well served by several excellent pubs, The Laurel Inn, The Dolphin and The Bay Hotel, and The Victoria Hotel, which all serve real ale.

My family outside The Dolphin Hotel in 1996. Greg, Pam & Vicki

Vicki outside The Laurel Inn in 1996

The Bay Hotel in 2004. The end of the Coast to Coast walk which starts at St Bees in Cumbria, 192 miles away.

The Laurel Inn in 2004

Ye Dolphin in May 2007 with my son, Greg, expecting a pint.

A dramatic sea rescue, possibly one of the most epic and heroic in the history of the lifeboat service, occurred at Robin Hoods Bay on the 18^th of January 1881.

A brig named "Visitor" ran aground in during a winter violent storm. The Robin Hood's Bay Lifeboat was unseaworthy and no rescue ship was available in Scarborough. It also proved impossible to launch the Whitby Lifeboat because of prevailing winds. The only way to save the crew was to pull the Whitby lifeboat 6 miles overland to Robin Hoods Bay. This was achieved with the aid of 18 horses, with the 7 feet deep snowdrifts cleared by 200 men. The road down to the sea through Robin Hood's Bay village was narrow and twisting, and men had to go ahead demolishing garden walls and uprooting bushes to make a way for the lifeboat carriage. The lifeboat was launched two hours after leaving Whitby, with the crew of the “Visitor” rescued at the second attempt.

The coxswain of the lifeboat was Henry Freeman, a well-known lifeboat man from Whitby. This rescue proved to be the height of his fame. He was the sole survivor of a lifeboat disaster in 1861 as he was the only man who wore a cork lifejacket. (Reference: Scarborough Heritage Maritime Centre)