Outrage in popular UK seaside town over plans to transform historic former ironmongers into Viking-themed bar
One of Britain's most charming coastal towns is under siege from throngs of stag and hen parties - amid plans to transform a historic ironmongers into a Viking-themed rock bar.
The cobbled charm of Whitby's Grape Lane, once steeped in seafaring history, is now the site of a brewing battle between tourists and townsfolk over the Norse-inspired drinking den.
A Grade-II listed 19th-century former ironmongers is set to be transformed into the latest outpost of Valhalla Ltd, whose themed ale bar in York boasts of 'mead aplenty' and 'rock 'n metal music day and night'.
Locals set to live in its shadow - across an 600-year-old thoroughfare just 12 feet wide - say they fear an invasion, not of longboats but of marauding visitors.
Gillian Blessed and her husband Keith, both 72, have lived opposite the proposed bar for 25 years and fear noise from the planned rock den could force them to sell-up.
She said: 'I just hope we don't have to move. I worry that the noise will force us out of our home. I know other people are already thinking of selling up because they can't face what is coming. They don't want to live next to a themed bar.
'I've got nothing against people making a living but they got to be considerate of us. From my door to theirs is only 12 feet. I don't want to have stag and hen parties rolling out onto the street.
'People are going to come out smoking and it'll go through my door and up into our flat, and I have asthma.
'My husband is not well and he's in bed by 9pm. If he doesn't get his rest, then he's going to be worse.
'Our house was built in 1640 - it's not built to repel noise. We have single-glazed windows, so the noise from the bar will bounce straight in.
'It's just not something Whitby needs, is it? There's not a shortage of places to go for a drink.'
The controversial scheme includes a themed pub on the ground floor. The first and second floors will become three one-bedroom flats and a two-bedroom holiday accommodation will be on the third floor.
In objections to the planning application, residents warned of worsening noise, antisocial behaviour, and 'inappropriate use on a narrow street'.
Richard Peake, 50, who will look across at the bar's smoking shelter from his rear patio, also denounced the project.
He said: 'Our outside space will be shared with their smoking area, which is not ideal.
'I just don't understand why the council feels there is a need for another bar or pub in Whitby. We've already got more than 40.
'Around the corner, there's The Quirky Den. Over the road is The Endeavour. There's not a shortage of places to go if you want to.
'We may not be invaded by Vikings, but we'll be invaded by stag parties basically.
'People come here for a boozy weekend and then they're out of here. It's just another bar to add to their list.'
Mark Gregg, 63, stormed: 'How many pubs do we need in Whitby? It's just ridiculous. We've gone from being a wonderful family holiday destination to somewhere where people go because they can't afford a booze cruise.
'It's a terrible place to open a themed bar. You'll have stag and hen parties pouring onto the street, while people are trying to sleep.
'How would you even get a fire engine down here?'
David Wharton, 80, said the coastal town's transformation into a mecca for day drinkers had gone too far, and warned Whitby was at risk of 'turning into Benidorm'.
He told how just two of 17 cottages on his road are occupied by residents full-time.
Mr Wharton said: 'It's turning into a real problem. It can be the middle of the day and you'll see drunks staggering across the street, people waving inflatable penises among the crowds.
'Many people who live here have frankly had enough. We don't want that kind of tourism.
'We want the families and their buckets and spades, coming for fish and chips, but I'm fed up of seeing middle-aged men lying unconscious in the road.
'At quarter past five on Sunday afternoon, I look out from my yard and there was a man standing there, urinating all over his trousers and all over the yard.
'It's becoming a familiar sight and it's just so unfair on the people who live here.
'They are being persecuted.'
Whitby - where Bram Stoker found inspiration for his horror novel Dracula - has been flooded by second home owners and holiday lets, with one in three properties now having no permanent residents.
The frustration is so great that North Yorkshire Council has doubled council tax for second home owners.
Despite the protestations from locals over the lack of housing for residents, councillors also this month approved plans to carve up a former five-star hotel into a dozen more holiday flats.
The Langley Hotel, a six-storey Victorian landmark, will now be converted into 12 self-contained flats aimed squarely at short-term visitors.
Martin Evans, 66, who has lived in Whitby for 10 years, said the town's charm as a bucket-and-spade resort had changed irreparably.
He said: 'The number of pubs and bars, and holiday lets, has rather become part of its identity. I think that boat has already sailed.
'It's got noisier here and the tourist season is much longer than it used to be. Now there might only be a month or so where it gets quieter.
'I just do not think this is the right place to open a themed bar.
'There are plenty of empty properties that could be converted in on the high street.'
The council approved planning permission for the themed craft ale pub, with permitted opening hours of 11am to 11pm from Sunday to Friday, and 11am to 11.30pm on Saturdays.
Vincent Roberts and Matthew Beddingham, co-owners and founders of Valhalla York, recently said: 'Valhalla York has been a real success story and we always dreamed of one day having another venue.
'We love the town, its people, its history and feel of the place and it'll be a very similar recipe to what makes Valhalla York tick but not quite the same.'
They added: 'We've got a concept. It's a historical concept as opposed to a historical theme. We don't imagine many people will quite see it coming.
'But if you like what makes Valhalla tick – good craft beer, a friendly place with an alternative vibe, rock and metal music, then you'll love what we're going to deliver in Whitby.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Vodafone and Three complete £16.5bn UK mobile megadeal
Vodafone and Three have completed the £16.5billion tie-up of their British operations, creating the UK's biggest mobile phone network. The enlarged business, named VodafoneThree, is 51 per cent owned by Vodafone, with the remaining 49 per cent held by CK Hutchison, the Hong Kong-based parent company of Three. It intends to invest £11billion over the coming decade creating one of Europe's most advanced 5G mobile networks, including £1.3billion in the first year. The combined group additionally hopes to deliver £700million of annual cost and capital expenditure synergies within five years. Vodafone UK's current boss, Max Taylor, is the new company's chief executive, while Three UK's Darren Purkis is chief financial officer. The mega-merger was initially agreed two years ago and given the green light by the Competition & Markets Authority last December. However, competition regulators insisted that both firms invest billions in the UK's 5G network and cap prices on their lowest-cost mobile plans for three years. For the same period, they also require Vodafone and Three to offer pre-set prices and contract terms for wholesale services to virtual network providers, including Giffgaff and Sky Mobile. Critics of the transaction, which reduced the number of UK mobile phone operators to three, have expressed concern that it will lead to poorer service and higher prices for customers. Margherita Della Valle, chief executive of Vodafone Group, said: 'The merger will create a new force in UK mobile, transform the country's digital infrastructure and propel the UK to the forefront of European connectivity. 'We are now eager to kick-off our network build and rapidly bring customers greater coverage and superior network quality.' Under Della Valle, the Newbury-based firm has undergone a massive transformation, particularly in Europe, to help slash its debt pile and streamline operations. It has offloaded its Spanish, Hungarian, and Italian divisions, as well as holdings in Indus Towers and Oak Holdings, the partnership that co-owns phone masts provider Vantage Towers. In the company's latest annual results covering the 12 months ending March 2025, its net debt slumped by more than €10billion to €22.4billion even though it reported a £346million operating loss, compared to a £3.1billion profit the prior year. Yet the FTSE 100 business said its net debts are set to rise by £1.7billion following the Three merger. Vodafone Group shares were 0.4 per cent down at 76.6p on Monday morning but have still risen by around 11 per cent over the past year.
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Hilarious moment Yorkshire grandmother tries matcha for the first time - and gives a very brutal assessment
This is the hilarious moment a grandmother tried matcha for the first time - and was less than impressed. Caroll from Yorkshire declared the drink a 'waste of b****y money' after being offered to try a sip from her granddaughter's iced beverage. Matcha - a form of powdered green tea whisked and mixed with milk to make a latte - has become Gen Z's drink of choice. The trendy health drink has become popular with teenagers and young adults after being promoted by social media influencers - to the extent that Japan has started to see shortages. In the video, posted on TikTok, Caroll immediately could not hide her disgust, going 'Oh, oh!' as she tried the disagreeable flavour. When her granddaughter, who was filming, said the drink wasn't 'bad', Caroll didn't hold back as she gave it a brutal assessment. 'It is bad, it's horrible,' she exclaimed, looking at the green drink beside her in disdain. 'And when you look at it, it looks as though somebody's puked in there. It's right weak!' 'I don't get you young'uns,' she added in the video caption. 'A proper diva wants a cuppa with six sugars, a good stir and a cig in me hand.' The video has gone viral on social media, racking up more than 700,000 views. And it appeared most people were in agreement, as one wrote: 'Matcha is disgusting.' A second added: 'Proof that hype distorts your tastebuds, that was a purely unbiased opinion.' 'Confirmed for me Matcha fans are basically gaslighting us into thinking it's nice,' commented a third, while another added: 'She's so real about matcha it's like dirt.' One person said: 'Her smacking her lips at the bitterness of the matcha has me cracking.' For another, the video brought back a fond memory, writing: 'Haven't had my Nan since I was 13 but this is exactly how she would react, just the east London version. thank you for the laugh.' The tea, made from the finely ground powder of green tea leaves specially grown in shade, has been loved by Japan in particular since the 12th century when Buddhist monks introduced the nation to it. Over the past decade, production has nearly tripled, with Japan producing 4,176 tonnes of matcha in 2023. Consumption of the antioxidant-rich green tea 'reached a record high last year', according to Fumi Ueki, the chief of one of Japan's largest tea companies. And soaring demand, largely driven by online trends, has prompted warning of further shortages this year. Major influencers like Sophie Habboo and Kourtney Kardashian have espoused the benefits of matcha. Matcha tea is made by combining fine matcha powder and hot water with a special matcha whisk, which is used to form a creamy foam that sits on the tea. Proponents say the tea can boost the brain's health, due to its high concentration of polyphenols, chlorophyll, caffeine and L-theanine. The demand largely comes from outside Japan - while matcha and leaf green-tea consumption has fallen inside the country, global sales are expected to nearly double from £2.2bn in 2023 to £3.9bn by 2028. In the past year alone, sales of matcha products have doubled in the UK. The arrival of the US cafe Blank Street to Britain's high streets in 2020 is thought to have led to a surge in the popularity here, with its range of matcha teas combined with other flavours such as blueberry and white chocolate. What are the health benefits of matcha? - Rich in protective polyphenols - Boosts brain health, function and alertness - May relieve stress - Can support healthy heart and lungs - May be good for bone health - Can aid weight management - Can balance blood glucose - May improve gut health The spike in demand has become such a problem that last year two of Japan's biggest tea companies, Ippodo and Marukyu Koyamaen, announced unprecedented purchase limits on matcha products. But mounting evidence suggests too much can trigger iron deficiency. Left untreated, this can raise the risk of severe infections as well as life-threatening heart failure. Iron, found in red meat and a variety of vegetables, is crucial for the production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen to the organs. It is also vital for a healthy immune system. Experts now say that drinking just one matcha tea a day could cause problems. Research suggests teenage girls, pregnant and post-menopausal women are at the highest risk of a matcha-related iron deficiency. 'People need to be aware of the potential risks of this drink,' says Dr Jeannine Baumgartner, an expert in nutrition and researcher at King's College London, who has studied matcha. 'There is a real danger of a deficiency, particularly for younger women who have higher iron needs. It has long been known that green tea can, in some cases, trigger an iron deficiency. This is because it contains high levels of tannins – a compound which gives tea its bitter flavour. Research shows that tannins attach to iron molecules in the digestive system and prevent them from being absorbed. A major review of over 150 studies in 2010 published by the Journal of Chinese Medicine found that consumption of more than three cups of regular green tea a day reduced iron absorption. However, it is believed that matcha has an even greater effect, as one cup has nearly seven times as many tannins as a similarly sized green tea. As well as the tannins, caffeine has also been shown to reduce iron absorption and, per gram, matcha can contain up to four times as much caffeine as coffee. Experts say this means that even one matcha a day could have health impacts. 'Matcha is much more problematic than green tea, as it is more concentrated so affects iron absorption even more,' says Prof Baumgartner. 'Even one cup, if it is poorly timed, either during or up to two hours after a meal, will affect your iron levels.' Iron deficiency is already a problem. Three per cent of men and 8 per cent of women in the UK have the iron deficiency condition anaemia, and it is on the rise. Symptoms include a yellowing of the skin, dizziness and depression. Last year there was a tenfold rise in the number of people hospitalised with iron deficiency, with nearly 200,000 being admitted. But there are steps that matcha drinkers can take to protect themselves against this complication. 'If you add milk or lemon juice, it can neutralise the tannins, which can help with iron absorption,' says Sarah Carolides, a London based nutritionist. 'It's also best to avoid using oat milk in your matcha latte as oats contain phytates, an acid which can also interfere with iron absorption.' Timing is key for those considering a cup of green tea. Prof Baumgartner recommends against drinking matcha within three hours before or after a meal. A 1983 study revealed a cup of green tea while eating a hamburger meal reduced iron consumption by 68 per cent. As drinking habits change experts are calling for the guidelines to doctors looking out for iron deficiency to be updated. 'Doctors and GPs are not aware of the link between drinks and iron absorption and that really needs to change,' says Prof Baumgartner.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Quarter of Brits skip breakfast due to lack of time, options and wanting a bigger lunch, survey shows
A QUARTER of Brits skip breakfast most days – citing a lack of options, limited time, and a preference for a bigger lunch. A new survey shows that people are more likely to skip their first meal on weekdays, and that Millennials eat breakfast the least out of any generation. 2 2 A poll of 2,000 adults found 34 per cent of those who skip breakfast do so because they don't have enough time in the morning. While 13 per cent go without because they opt to have a large lunch instead and 12 per cent because they have nothing in their cupboards to eat. And when they don't manage to eat first thing, on average they won't eat until midday. However, 43 per cent are less likely to avoid breakfast at the weekends, with 29 per cent of those eat breakfast admitting they like to go all out at that time of the week. This is especially the case for Millennials (44 per cent) who do this more than any other generation – just ahead of Gen Zs (35 per cent). A spokesperson for McDonald's UK, which commissioned the research and has launched its first-ever Breakfast Saver Menu trial across 332 restaurants, featuring Sausage Sandwich and Saver Bacon Roll options, said: 'It's widely regarded as the most important meal of the day, yet it often gets neglected. 'This is understandable as we might wake up with good intentions only for them to fall by the wayside. 'Life moves fast – especially it seems, first thing in the morning when you need to get out and away without delay.' It emerged 57 per cent have woken up with the intention of having breakfast but failing to do so. Again, lack of time is a factor (47 per cent), along with not feeling hungry (34 per cent), not wanting what's in their cupboards (14 per cent). As many as 37 per cent eat the same thing for breakfast everyday – with 28 per cent enjoying a variety. However, 44 per cent 'like' the idea of switching things up. Overall, the most popular options are cereal (48 per cent), toast (47 per cent), and fruit (26 per cent). And the overwhelming majority of those who eat breakfast enjoy it – with 47 per cent of the opinion it's the most important meal of the day. While 43 per cent went as far as describing their meal choices as 'exciting', although 47 per cent feel differently, describing their go-to breakfasts as 'not exciting.' Carried out through OnePoll, the research found 58 per cent typically have breakfast at home but 22 per cent 'crave' a breakfast they can't make at home. A spokesperson for McDonald's UK added: 'Breakfast doesn't have to be something you mindlessly eat just for the sake of it. 'Even when you're in a rush it can still be something nice – and it doesn't need to cost the earth.'
