Staithes is a tiny fishing village located on a rugged stretch of coast just south of Saltburn by The Sea. There really isn’t much to the place and you would be hard pressed to keep the kids entertained if you wanted to spend a day there. However it is one of the most picturesque locations along the North East coastline. In the 19th century Staithes was an important and popular harbour with more than 80 fishing boats using it to put to sea on a daily basis. These days however the fisherman number just a handful and most of these are part time.

The Village sits in the shadow of cliffs which rise to either side. To the North the cliff is known locally as Cowbar Nab and it is from a vantage point atop here that I took the photograph you see below. This is a classic view of Staithes and you will find plenty of similar images if you were to search the internet. However the reason for this becomes self evident as soon as you arrive in Staithes proper. This Northern Clifftop dominates the village and as much as I had a near perfect view of every house, coble and car below, so too could they see me as I hunkered down against an ice cold Northerly wind and waited to see what sunset would bring. As it turned out, not a lot – but never one to be put off I was aware that I had a second option and waited until shortly after sunset when the lights started to come on and then took my shot.

I could have waited a few more minutes, there could be more lights on after all, but with the setting of the sun the temperature (which was already hovering around 1 or 2 degrees) began to fall and to be honest I thought I had better head home before hypothermia set in.

How to get there: Follow the A174 passed Redcar and Saltburn, you will pass through Brotton, Loftus and Easington on your way there.

Where to Park: Parking in Staithes itself if next to impossible, so don’t bother trying to take your car into the village proper, you will only wind up wasting your time. Your best bet is make use of the two car parks available on the outskirts of Staithes. The largest is the Bank Top car park on Staithes Lane. This is the carpark you will get to if you follow the car parking signposts after you turn left off the A174 into Staithes itself. This is a council run car park, with toilets and a children’s play area. Parking charges do apply though, so check the latest rates here. Post Code for Satnav is TS13 5AD.

The other car park is on Cowbar Lane and is located on the other side of Staithes. To find it take a left when you see the Cowbar Signpost, before you reach Staithes. Postcode for SatNav is TS13 5DA. (Lat, Long: N 54.55871, W 0.80026). The approach road to this car park has signs up saying Not Suitable for Motors. I’m not sure what that is about since its quite smooth road with plenty of passing places so just ignore that. The road is effectively a dead end, but you’ll reach the parking point before that.

Note the that postcodes above will take you too the nearest delivery address which may not be the actual car park. The Lat Long for the Cowbar Lane car park worked on my Tom Tom.

From either car park its a fairly steep walk into the village, so be warned if you have dodgy knees!