Reighton memories
Here are memories of Reighton and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Reighton or a Reighton photo.
Reighton. Sea View Store.
I lived at Reighton Gap from early 1948 to 1951. The picture of the shop brings back many memories as I worked in it aged 11 during the summer school holidays.
My jobs were to handle the dirty jobs, handling of potatoes, paraffin, and fetch the soft drinks from the back of the store. It was a very busy cafe in summer so I had to also wash up and dry the dishes, my reward was 2 meals a day and 7/6 per week pay, I worked 7 days a week 6 am to 9 pm. The 7/6 helped my mother pay half of the weekly rent to live in a bus called "Linga Longa", no water, no fire, just a bus shell, it was a hard life. The 2 meals a day were a blessing as we often had no food. The store was only open from 11am to 1pm in winter during the week. Groceries had to be brought from Filey via walking along the sands in both... Read more
Happy Days
I was born in 1968 and I was on my first holiday about an hour after I was born, my grandad built his own caravan and it was in a field near the farm (I think the farmer at the time was called David), they were happy days.
Reighton Gap - Fond Memories
My Dad was brought up at Reighton Gap where my Grandad built their home. From the time I was born up until 1988 we had our family holidays as Reighton and we loved every minute of it. We very much remember the Sea View Stores when we were young and spent many of our pennies buying ice-cream. We are most sad when the bungalows had to go as we had many happy memories there. We never returned after 1988 but last year I returned after 21 years with my own children to show them the sort of holiday I had as a child. I have always said that reighton Gap had the best beach in the world and the Kids agreed. I also remember with fondness Mrs Pilley who ran the Cafe and our Grandad ( John Henry Sykes ) used to clean the fryers for her.
Memories at The Crows Nest Bungalow
During the mid 1960s I spent many a happy childhood holiday staying at the Crows Nest Bungalow at Reighton Gap. This bungalow was sited near the cliff edge, by the gorge overlooking the distant caravan site. (One of the farthest bugalows pictured in the view towards Filey).
Each year we would notice that part of the garden had disappeared due to cliff erosion. Gradually, by the 3rd year, the garage had completely gone.
I remember as I lay in bed, wondering if we would all disappear over the cliff during the night.
On a recent visit I got to the end of that bumpy road & was sad to see that virtually the whole village had been taken over by a caravan site. Must all good things come to an end ?
Reighton Gap. Speeton Cliffs.
Re this photograph, I recall the scene in 1948 when I lived there. Everything was still wrapped in barbed wire as there were many mines in the area The life saving hut was restored about 1950 and was very smart with the St Johns Ambulance logo on the side. The part that intrigued me the most was the brass bell used for raising the alarm for a swimmer in trouble, which was from the ship HMS Indefatigable. I tried in recent years to find which ship it came from as there was more than one ship with that name, but with no success. I wonder who souvenired it from the old hut. Frank Archer.
Holidays in 'Sunny Dawn'
My family used to rent a bungalow just off Boat Cliffe Road called 'Sunny Dawn'. It had a big verandah all around it and flies used to stick to the windows after it had rained! We always went to Reighton for holidays and my brother always went to the Sea View Stores to buy his Marvel comics. The shop was owned by two very distinctive ladies! I still go to Reighton and own my own caravan now - things have changed drastically - not always for the better but we still enjoy the lovely coastline and scenery. A wonderful place.
Speeton Cliffs With Cafe in Foreground
The road down to the shore was built for gravel extraction with the washing plant on the level ground just below where this shot was taken from.
The building shown was a cafe. On the other side of the road there was a small hut with lifesaving equipment, blankets and telephone erected by parents of a boy who died in the sea there. It was destroyed by vandals. I remember the gravel being taken by Toulsons of Doncaster in lorries with a specially low first gear to get up the steep slope. The broken remnants of the WW2 pillbox are visible where the road bends, having already slipped down the cliff some yards.
Local Shop
My grandparents (Alan and Doris Hartley) used to have a bungalow on Boat Cliffe Road, this shop was at the bottom of the road. We used to go to Reighton Gap every school holiday and had some fantastic times there. I think I recall a couple of ladies owning the shop and they had a black and white sheepdog called Meg. It is great to see the photo of the shop and some old photos of the bungalows and surrounding area. Unfortunately the bungalows and shop are no longer there but the memories still remain.
Best Regards, Richard Hartley.
Bungalow at Reighton Gap
My grandparents, Jack and Gladys Carter, took me and my brother for a holiday at Reighton Gap in the early '70s. I think they rented it off a friend (probably from the Horsforth area of Leeds). I remember the garden was right on the cliff edge and it had a mini golf course on the lawn, but we weren't allowed to play out there! I have been back there in recent years and it's obvious the bungalow went over the edge years ago. I would love to know the name of the bungalow or the folk that owned it or any other details of what happened to it.
Bungalow Holiday Rentals
I spent many happy weeks at Reighton Gap in the early 1960s. My grandparents, John and Pat, lived in Sandsdown on Boatcliffe Road. They also owned four further bungalows at Reighton Gap which they rented out to holidaymakers in the summer. Many people returned year after year, rebooking immediately after their week's holiday ended. The four bungalows were Brineton, Cremond, Windcliff and Goosecliff. I remember my grandmother cleaning the bungalows on a Saturday morning and I would hope to find empty pop bottles which had money back on them. New people would then arrive on Saturday afternoon, usually paying cash. In the 1960s (aged under 10) it was the only time I saw £5 and £10 banknotes.
The photo of the village shop brought back memories. I used to buy Matchbox cars and I-Spy books from there as well going with my grandmother to buy provisions. I remember the two spinster sisters owned it at the time. Later that shop burnt down in a fire and a larger,... Read more
Reighton Gap
In the 1950s we had relatives who had a bungalow on the cliff top at Reighton, this was an old railway carriage that had been converted into a holiday bungalow, I can still remember the leather seats. I believe my parents, Tom and Edna Watson of Bradford, had the first ever caravan at Reighton. Dad built the caravan himself, and as far as I know he asked Mr Bayes, the farmer who owned all the land if they could put the caravan on his land, and I believe this is how the caravan site was started.
I can remember helping with the harvesting of the corn with the old horse-drawn binder machine, putting the stooks into piles and eventually stacks. I also remember the threshing machine coming to thresh the corn. As the stacks were used up, the rats (as big as cats) would make a dash for it, to be caught by the cats, dogs, or shot by the farmer, all great fun, and a far distant world.
Regards,... Read more
Memories of North Yorkshire
Memories of The Close, Primrose Valley
My father built a caravan just after the war, we took it to Primrose Valley in 1946 and sited it in The Close after negotiating the rent with Mr Smart who was the manager, also the same family as the shop owner. I am sure it was the first new caravan on the site after the war. As a young boy I had my early morning wash at the tap in the middle of The Close. We used the Smart's shop and the small amusement arcade. The swimming pool was not in use in the early years. There were no caravans on the cliff tops. What memories!
Creamery Cottage
My uncle, aunt and cousin used to live a ramshackle cottage just off Bridlington Street - called Creamery Cottage. Probably to the left of this photo and further back. It had a patch of grass in front, quite close to what was the village institute. It may in fact have been thatched (this is the late 1950s). The story was that it was built on an old graveyard for monks and that bones would sometimes be dug up in the garden. There was a butcher over the road who would kill the pigs early in the morning, with quite bloodcurdling squeals.
My Mum's Side
My Mum's side of the family came from Hunmanby. A place called Stonegate. My Uncle worked at Butlin's I heard and Mum left there just before the war of 1939.
Her parents before her etc lived there too. Postal's Yard, If anybody knows more please contact me via Justanumbernow@aol.com Thanks
Fox's Riding School
I'm from the USA but my mom is from Yorkshire and we spend many happy summers in Filey with my grandparents (every is living here in Southern California now). They had a home near the beach and we would spend the weekends in Filey. I took riding lessons at Fox's. My husband and I took a trip over to the UK in 1998 and stayed in Filey a few nights. We took a drive based on my old memories and we found the Fox's, now just a private home with empty stables and an overgrown riding arena. The owners were very kind and took us inside their home and let us photograph the grounds.
Any Info?
I dont actually have a past memory of this building. I recently visited Filey and stumbled across this building in one corner of a modern caravan park. The building has just been abandoned and seemed to be empty for a while but had a strong sense of once being a busy place. Does anyone know anything about it?
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