Loftus
About Loftus by Marta Eleniak
Loftus, previously Lofthouse, sits atop rolling hills just 1.5 miles inland from one of Britain's most majestic coastlines. A small friendly place (population c4500) with an attractive older part of town centred around what was once a thriving market place. Today’s visitors are notably coming for the cafes a la The Capital of Cake, and the many splendid walks.
It is on the North East coast of England, located between Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Staithes. It falls within the North York Moors National Park remit and they have provided Visitor Experience Grants to local organisations, including the Read and Rabbit Bookshop. Historically Loftus was in North Yorkshire and still is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. The predominant feature of this area is the sparsely populated attractive rolling landscape making it a wonderful place for a relaxing holiday.
Unlike its more famous neighbours swarming with tourists, steep parking charges and equally steep hills, Loftus is more accessible with free car parks and though not devoid of hills, the hills are gentler. This make Loftus a great base from which to explore North Yorkshire and Whitby etc. by bus or by car.
It developed from a tiny farming community into a major hub for commercial extraction going for nearly four centuries, being one of the country's first chemical processing plants. It started with alum in 1656 - there was a great demand for alum, used to fix natural dyes, drawing workers from all over the country because after Henry VIII and the reformation, the English no longer wanted to buy it from the Pope. Ironstone for iron was the next industry to take over and there is still a steelworks at nearby Carlin How. Now potash and polyhalite are mined to be used as fertiliser at Boulby.
However the first important industry was salt processing from sea water around 3800 BC, the earliest known saltworks in Western Europe. Evidence of it was found by archaeologist Dr Steve Sherlock in the same area as he found the Saxon Princess bed burial from the 7th century.
You might not have heard of Loftus before but the emerging industry is tourism with an increasing number of eateries and holiday lets. The town has benefitted in recent years from millions in funding for regeneration. It boasts an award winning new library design, a chapel converted into studios for artists with an exhibition space, additional car parks and facelifts for some of the main street's shops. The other very loved, and from farther away too, award winner is Willow Cake Shop. A public vote placed it 2nd in the first year of the Capital of Cake competition, and first place in the two subsequent years. An impressive sports village is currently being constructed on the North side of Loftus by Middlesbrough FC Foundation - a £3.2m investment in a 3G pitch, sports pavilion and multi-use community spaces.
It was once a bustling market town with three butchers, two cinemas and an annual wool fair. People from all around came to do their shopping - shops and pubs lined the length of the main street. It was famous for its sword dancers too. Now it is much quieter but that is also what makes it the ideal holiday destination with many returning every year once they have discovered its joys.
There are local legends going since yesteryear - Loftus has the Handale Wyrm/Serpent/Dragon and Skinningrove the Merman. A place of myth and legend would not be complete without a witch. Molly lived in the end cottage in the road leading from behind Pear Tree House in the market place and Molly would shape shift into a hare to avoid capture. Carlin How a village preceding Loftus, takes it name from Norse words of kerlin (hag) and haugr (hill) therefore the 'hill of witches'. The rights of women have been sold and fought for in Loftus market place. Next to the Coop supermarket on the right is a building that was The Angel, a coaching inn, and a man sold his wife in front of it when it was still legal to do so. On the other side of the Coop there once was a bank and in front of there Emmeline Pankhurst's daughter Adela addressed a major suffrage rally in 1909. The suffragette movement was very active in the North East and in Loftus.
It is fair to say the people of Loftus for centuries have not been shy to fight for what they believe is right. The town hall is on the site of a school that was only a school because pre1763 the land owner's daily attempts to build were thwarted by locals dismantling it at night, until he said he was building a school and then he had to build a school to keep face. Latterly parking charges for the local car parks were flat out rejected and parking is free in Loftus. The community is close knit, friendly, generous and helpful. Many holiday makers remark on this, are repeat visitors and impressed also by the beauty of the local area, snap up houses in the area to retire to. The extraordinary affordability coupled with lower prices to eat out attracts many young families to become residents too.
A beautiful walk along the coastal path, which is also The Cleveland Way (a national trail stretching out some 109 miles (175km), with Boulby Cliffs/Hummersea being the highest on the NE coast, will lead you to the interpretation board at the burial site of The Saxon Princess at Street House, a small hamlet. From Loftus doorsteps, with no need for a car, are walks inland through woods along a beck full of cascades to the remains of Handale Priory’s Walled Orchard - one of six circular walking routes in printed guides from Accord Walking Group. A few free group walks take place every week so any solo traveller never need feel lonely. You can also pretty much just stand at a bus stop if you would like someone to talk to you.
Buses from Loftus will take you to Staithes, Whitby, Runswick Bay, Saltburn and Skinningrove which boasts a hidden gem of a beach which is now a secret that has been let out. Cattersty Sands is a long stretch of golden sand flanked by sand dunes and interesting cliff formations. You will find it to the left of the first beach you come across, just after the jetty. In the opposite direction toward Staithes are plenty of rock pools. The whole coastline here is ideal for fossil hunting and rock pooling. If you head up half way along Cattersty Sands you can follow the coastal path to Saltburn passing the charm bracelet sculpture. Go the other way and just before Staithes you will be able to eat your lunch with a lifesize miner at his table in bronze.
And what about our claims to fame?
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Micklow Taps Restaurant was owned by former International Show Jumper Daniel John Neilson
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Faye Marsay an actress who has been in Game of Thrones and much more was born and raised in Loftus
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The town was also home for a while to steelworker turned folk-singing star Vin Garbutt