The Village
'There was no such village on all the English shores - a place and a people apart' said Victorian artist dame Laura Knight who made her home in romantic and historic Staithes around the turn of the century.
With her husband the painter Harold Knight, she set up studio in various cottages around the seaside village and attracted a colony of artists who became known as the Staithes Group. Their work featured land and sea scapes of North Yorkshire, but is mostly famed for portraying the hard lives of the fisherfolk living there - many original paintings can still be found for sale up and down the coast.
And the Knights were not the only famous people to settle in Staithes. In the mid 1740's the village was home to explorer Captain James Cook who, whilst working in a shop on the front at Staithes, first fell in love with the sea - 'There he worked all day in an atmosphere of haberdashery and groceries, slept under the counter at night, and in his scant free time listened to the tales of sailormen down by the tiny harbour, or outside the pub Cod and Lobster (Guy Pocock 1941).

Staithes today
These days, famous faces in the village are more likely to be in casts of the variety of films and television dramas which use Staithes as their setting. Recent programmes include the BBC's Holiday Programme, telly chef Rick Stein's fish series and TV detective Hetty Wainthrop. And that's not to mention the odd actor or camera crew en route to the moors to shoot the latest Harry Potter film or ITV's Heartbeat.

So what's so great about a holiday in Staithes? It's a natural harbour where Roxby Beck meets the sea, surrounded by breathtaking coastal scenery - a couple of miles north and clearly visible, is England's highest cliff Boulby Cliff (666 feet) . It's on countryside trail the Cleveland Way with stunning walks either along the cliffs or inland. There's a sandy beach, a stony shore and piers for fishing. And it's within striking distance of Whitby (9m), Scarborough (30m), York (48m) and the beautiful North Yorks Moors National Park which boasts its own working steam railway

Staithes itself is picturesque - higgledy-piggledy cottages with red pantiled roofs grouped around tiny yards, up steps, down winding cobbled streets or through a maze of alleyways - and clearly steeped in history. There's not much that hasn't sprung from the sea and fishing - even the houses are named after boats - Blue Jacket House, Star of Hope Cottage, Mizpah Cottage, Confidence Cottage, Unity House and Wavelet. You can even hear the sea shanties of generations of fishermen still ringing round corners. And if you're really lucky, during your holiday you'll catch one of the Staithes Fishermen's Choir's spiritually uplifting concerts.

Today's visitor to Staithes is well catered for by three local pubs all within five minutes walk, including the famous Cod & Lobster which has been washed into the sea three times. There are two cafes and two restaurants. A great butcher is open six mornings a week, the post office/general store sells basic food and gets fresh bread deliveries every day, an Aladdin's cave of a gift shop stocks everything from gloves to flip flops to lightbulbs, and Staithes Antiques is well worth a browse. There's also a large Co-op foodstore at the top of Staithes which is open 9am-10pm.

The old traditions persist - and visitors to Staithes will still see working artists and hear the chug chug of fishing boats in the beck.


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