Robin Hood's Bay

Coordinates: 54°26′04″N 0°32′04″W / 54.4345°N 0.5344°W / 54.4345; -0.5344

Robin Hood's Bay
Morris dancers in Robin Hood's Bay
Robin Hood's Bay  Robin Hood's Bay shown within North Yorkshire
OS grid reference	NZ950053
District	Scarborough
Shire county	North Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WHITBY
Postcode district	YO22
Dialling code	01947
Police	North Yorkshire
Fire	North Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Scarborough and Whitby
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Robin Hood’s Bay is a small fishing town or village located five miles south of Whitby on the coast of North Yorkshire, England. Bay Town, as it is known to the locals, is in the ancient parish of Fylingdales and in the wapentake of Whitby Strand.

The origin of the name is uncertain, and it is doubtful if Robin Hood was ever in the vicinity. The bay may be called Robin Hood's Bay, because of the English ballad said according to legend, Robin Hood went out in his fishing trip and he encountered pirates who came to pillage the fisherman's boat. He got the French pirates to surrender and returned the goods that the pirates have robbed during the plundering of the northeast coast of England to the poor peoples. Robin Hood return home to his Merry Men from his trip of fighting the pirates and gave the pirates' loot to the poor people of the village of the bay that is now called Robin Hood's Bay.

The town, which consists of a maze of tiny streets, has a tradition of smuggling, and there is reputed to be a network of subterranean passageways linking the houses. The main legitimate activity had always been fishing, but this started to decline in the late 19th century. These days most of its income comes from tourism. Robin Hood's Bay is also famous for the large number of fossils which may be found on its beach.

Robin Hood's Bay is the setting for the Bramblewick books by the author Leo Walmsley, who was educated in the schoolroom of the old Wesleyan Chapel, in the lower village. Robin Hood's Bay is a poem by children's poet Michael Rosen.

The town was once served by Robin Hood's Bay railway station however this closed in 1965 and now the nearest railway station is in Whitby. The town connects to the A171 allowing access to Whitby and Scarborough. Robin Hood's Bay is the terminus of Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk.

The Bayfair newspaper contains news and local information on the town. Wireless internet access is provided for visitors all around the town by The Bay Broadband Co-operative.

The Wine Haven-Profil near Robin Hood’s Bay is Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of Pliensbachian Epoch (183,0–189,6 mya), one of four chronographic substages of Early Jurassic Epoch.^[1]

A plaque in the town records that a Brig named "Visitor" ran ashore in Robin Hood's Bay on 18 January 1881 during a violent storm. In order to save the crew, the lifeboat from Whitby was pulled 6 miles overland by 18 horses, with the 7 feet deep snowdrifts present at the time cleared by 200 men. It was launched two hours after leaving Whitby, with the crew and the Visitor rescued on the second attempt.^[2]

In 1948 Life Magazine ran a story of a unknown Poison Penman who had been writing spiteful anonymous letters to the inhabitants of Robin Hood Bay since 1928. ^[3]

Robin Hood's Bay

Robin Hood's Bay from the Cleveland Way.

Notes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

1. ^ GSSP for the Sinemurian-Pliensbachian Boundary, www.stratigraphy.org
2. ^ Plaque located at the top of Robin Hood's Bay.
3. ^ Life Magazine May 31, 1948 .pp.45-46

References

• M.K. Howart: The Lower Lias of Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire, and the work of Leslie Bairstow. In: Bulletin of The Natural History Museum. Geology Series 58/2002, S. 81–152 Cambridge University Press, The Natural History Museum, 2002, doi: 10.1017/S0968046202000037 (abstract)

External links

• Local information website
• News, pictures and holiday accommodation for Robin Hood's Bay
• Local Robin Hood's Bay Mini Guide
• Page on Yorkshire-Tour
• Wireless Internet Access for Tourists
• Lost BrigThe brig Elizabeth Jane, launched at Guysborough, Nova Scotia, in 1817, was abandoned off Robin Hood's Bay in 1854. Her crew were picked up by the Samuel of Grimsby and set down at Bridlington Quay on the evening of July 8^th. The vessel washed ashore at Ravenscar and was built into a house at Robin Hood's Bay. Her timbers, including nameboard and port of registration board, were only discovered when a ceiling was removed in 2003.