Robin Hood's Bay

It’s fair to say that there’s little evidence that Robin Hood had much to do with the Bay beyond an old ballad about Robin and some French pirates who had been terrorising the village’s inhabitants. In classic fashion Hood regains the loot and gives it to the citizens. Maybe the name comes from Robin Hood’s Butts: three burial mounds on nearby Brow Moor where the great archer is supposed to have practiced. Maybe its just that Robin Hood’s Bay is a romantic name for a romantic place.


The main street runs crookedly down through the town, accompanied for a while by the King’s Beck, and a maze of lanes and alleys wind between the houses on either side. A long time ago the town was more important than neighbouring Whitby and a clutch of great stories are told which testify to its rich history.As a child I was enthralled by stories of smugglers, pirates and highwaymen (Moonfleet was an especially favourite book) but most of the places I’ve hoped to find traces of these characters have been underwhelming in the extreme, but not here.

In the Georgian era the staples of the substantial local smuggling industry were tobacco, tea and spirits. Underground passages, including the channel of the King’s Beck, allowed a cask of brandy to travel from beach to cliff top without seeing daylight. All sectors of the community seem to have been involved, from the gentry and the church, to the farmers and fisherfolk. And this was no small-time operation. In 1773, for example, three smugglers’ vessels attacked two excise ships forcing them out of the Bay. And in 1779 a battle was fought in the harbour between the revenue men and the smugglers over hundreds of casks of gin, tea and brandy.

One of the Bay’s most heroic stories tells of the wreck of The Visitor - a brig which ran aground in a violent storm in 1881. To rescue the crew a team of 18 horses was used to haul the Whitby lifeboat 6 miles overland. And because the main street was too narrow to get the boat down, a group of men led the way demolishing walls and uprooting trees to form a passage. Two hours after leaving Whitby the lifeboat was launched - on the second attempt - and the crew saved.

Built in a gap between two cliffs Robin Hood’s Bay is a magical place, full of secret corners and surprises. The beach is long, curving and ridged by the scaurs - ancient reefs of limestone and shale - where rock pools and fossils wait to be discovered at low tide. From every angle the town looks picturesque - a gift to an artist. The challenge is not to lose yourself in its prettiness.

It has everything the perfect seaside town should have - a great setting, beautiful views, a pleasing variety of pubs and cafes from which to gaze at the endless drama of the sea and a terrific backstory.
From Moor Stories by Ian Scott Massie
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