Whatever Happened to Whitley Bay? Before the redevelopment

[@NewcastleLocalInterest]

North Tyneside needed to learn from South Shields which still has a fairground kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYWzlHqGjKqVbtU South Shields Is now what Whitley Bay once was ...

[@SensibleMoniker]

The transformation is remarkable - I love my annual visits to my former home town.

[@ib1617552798]

What can I say well done North Tyneside Council you really did deliver your promise 👍

[@braddazztravels6004]

I wish I had a time machine and could have one last visit to the Spanish City.

[@mrjthamster9452]

See it today...as a native of Tynemouth, Whitley Bay is now Fabulous.

[@ElectricPharmacy]

Home sweet home...As a kid it was a great pace to grow up I dont live there any more but I still regard it as home.

[@aliasdeputydog]

As my Mam was a West-Ender from Benwell, I used to spend 6 months of the year with her living with my Grandparents in Atkinson Road, from a baby until I was 12. When we went to Whitley Bay it was always on the old Electric trains running from Newcastle to the Coast( or the occasional Bus which was cheaper but took a lot longer ) and a bit of a walk from the Whitley Bay Station to the Town and then the fun began playing on the beautiful sandy beach, that was from 1950 until 1962. We would visit the Spanish City but I don`t recall spending much time in the Fun-fair, I wanted the sea and sand. It was always enjoyable getting friendly with the other kids and being questioned about my South Staffordshire accent, although I usually went home with a slight Tyneside lilt to my voice.

[@douglashelliwell3347]

When the Spanish City went, the soul went.

[@SubBot-wt9gu]

It was refurbished like last year and now it’s a lot nicer

[@TheWacoKid1963]

@@SubBot-wt9gu Douglas means the rides

[@shahsheikh541]

I hope Whitley bay is the place to go today…10 years on!

[@itzmiiggy3136]

I’ve always grown up in Whitley bay, my family has always grown up in Whitley bay, I went to the school on top of where the fair was, it’s creepy you still hear the laughs of everyone at the fair.

[@vulgivagu]

Used to visit my Aunts in Gateshead and I always took them to Whitley Bay. It was a lovely place then and they loved watching the many ships go up and down the Tyne. Have not been there for 50 years, probably best left as memories.

[@NewcastleLocalInterest]

It has had a revival in the last few years.

[@zeddeka]

It's really quite nice these days. It's been very much tidied up and relatively posh now.

[@jamesdecross1035]

"Oh what happened to you? What ever happened to me?"

[@colinmccarthy7921]

I was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1950.My parents always took us to Whitley Bay(Spanish City) and Blyth,Etc.I am one of six children.I am proud to be a Geordie.Howay my Lads and Lasses.❤️🌹❤️.

[@DJI-SI]

Came here for a holiday in 2023 , 1 thing i did notice about this place was , How clean the streets where , zero garbage on the streets , such a clean tidy place , me and my kids thought the place was lovely , Though there could be more things going on , its a very nice place 👍👍👍

[@jnieurzyla]

I used to be a barrow boy at Whitley Station, and remember the heydays, when the hotels could not accommodate everyone, so many had to sleep on the beach, especially during Scotch Week and Glasgow Week. But I was told by a local bank manager in 1986 that the the council had decided that WB was going to be made into a dormant holiday town, and nothing would be spent on it. And to be honest he was totally right, forget what the politicians are saying, they are just talking the talk, because its on TV, in reality they will do nothing.

[@mikeb6385]

You got that wrong bud...

[@zeddeka]

That hasn't aged well.

[@fava7753]

Nothing there now . Couple of amusements , , Patrinis , , ice cream , fish shop and cafe still there . Other than that . Nothing . They totally killed the place , what was a good fun day for the local families and decimated the tourist trade and traders , hotels etc etc . . Just a ghost town now . . . Will never be what it was ever again . . Even the improvements , which really aren't that good , Poshed up a bit with really inflated prices , other than that nothing spectacular . . Dead . Finished . Done . Gone . .

[@deebrannon585]

Cant wait to see whitley bay next year still love it because it was a magical place when we were kids

[@planetrockford]

***** and lots of bookies... what a dump

[@planetrockford]

@@JordanCarr44 Yes they are because of covid.... 7 years on it's an even bigger dead beat town

[@bigste5771]

Being a proper geordie its hard for me to say id rather goto sluth shields or roker beach than tynmouth etc 😞

[@jayeevee1693]

massively improved now folks

[@R4NDOMUS3RNAME]

Still crap tbh

[@MUSICBLASTROCKS]

Someone should start a petition to restore whitley bay to its former glory

[@zeddeka]

The basic problem is that society has completely changed. We can start as many petitions as we want but we're still stuck with the same basic problems. People do not go for holidays to Whitley bay like they used to in the 50s. The current redevelopment has been really nice I think, and has struck a good balance. It has been restored, but in a way that meets the demands of today's society, not yesterday's.

[@mrjthamster9452]

visit now - it's so very different,

[@davidrobinson2776]

I can remember waiting outside The Rendezvous waiting to get a seat and then on to Duncan’s Amusements with Mickey Duncan flirting with the lasses and the granny’s on the bingo.

[@prpwnage9296]

she was so much in shock after her drive with Alan, that she walked away leaving the car door open!

[@TheWacoKid1963]

Titterly Way was killed off by the pubs allowing drinkers to crowd outside on the pavement, especially on bank holidays, kids & pissed up drunks don't mix, that's why families stayed away.

[@Matty12333]

Tynemouth a short drive from Whitley bay, is much nicer than here. It's sad really that the council has let it gone into this state.

[@jamesjackson7844]

Labour Councils took over and the whole area went backwards and has been in doldrums ever since. I lived their in the ‘50s and ‘60s we moved out and never went back.

[@vic5594]

You should see the state of Gateshead,another Labour controlled council The kindest thing to do with the place would be to bulldoze the place and start again

[@Michael43713]

The guest house looked like it was in Tynemouth.

[@TheGreatest1974]

Cherie still gorgeous as usual!

[@michaelmorley9725]

They've done a great job restoring the dome but I'm afraid they've killed the rest of Whitley Bay and it's now a total dump in the town centre

[@jonathansimmonds5784]

Late 60's, teenager, brilliant memories, the beach, the girls, the Spanish City rides Mark Knopfler mentions in Tunnel of Love..... However, if there's one lesson I've learned the hard way, never go back, keep your memories intact.

[@johnmiller112]

need to do a update even worse now than it was in 2008

[@chrish3639]

At 5:10 "when the sun's going down" lol- it's the East Coast pettle. The sun rises here and sets in the west

[@joebutlersnr7017]

Yes Chris but it still gives some beautiful Sky's in the east.

[@shavepup]

This was six years ago and almost nothing has been done! Just a bit more falling down now! Since the abolition of Whitley Bay Borough in 1974 (and it's absorption into North Tyneside), the town has deteriorated into a squalid, shameful mess. Strangely enough, at the same time, Wallsend (historically down-at-heel) and North Shields now BOTH outshine the once lovely town. Politicians of all sides should hang their heads in shame...

[@lesleyallinson8738]

shavepup I spent days out at whitby bay as a child it's such a shame

[@stormytempest3907]

Always wanted to go there, visit SPANISH CITY, always go to North Wales! getting abit fed up after 40yrs!😁

[@mariacornwallis1602]

North Tyneside council is not fit for purpose. Last week I emailed them to report that there were at least 6 red traffic lights in Whitley Bay and Tynemouth which have not been working for at least 6 weeks, naturally giving them the locations. Today, 12th November 2016, nothing has been done, they are all still an accident waiting to happen. Instead of paying goons to go out and torment law abiding citizens with stupid parking tickets, they should pay somebody to check all traffic lights at least once a week

[@Nalski2007]

Lower Prom just been demolished to make way for "a grassy slope". Spanish City had been re-painted but now looks just as shabby as it did before they started the so-called refurb.

[@KathleenConnor-xg9nd]

Love whitley bay

[@andrewarmstrong8651]

The residents got what they wanted no holidaymakers 👍

[@MrMacca1951]

still a shameful dump will never recover whereas cullercoats only small but a nice place to visit for a day

[@SuperRichie200]

Worked there on the rides a couple years before they closed for good.

[@karenm12161]

I worked on the stalls as a child. The soul has gone out of whitley bay.. bring back Spanish city ..🙁

[@j.d6368]

It's not that bad, yes it doesn't have as many tourists, it's just shown the bad bids

[@chipbuttytime3396]

Avalon hotel is permanently closed, that bloke saying Whitley Bay would be 'the' place to go... he was deluded. Unless he thinks charity shops, minging kebab shops and a large influx of 3rd world wasters are desirable

[@djsiimz]

The council destroyed Whitley on purpose a lot of back handers

[@Ayns.L14A]

2019 update sat night 830pm the vic three people in two bar staff and me Whitley is dead ................why come here anymore??? the poor cousin South shields now rules.....

[@doonhilla]

Getting rid of the one way system ruined it :D For me it seemed to go downhill not long after they did. But they have done a great job in renovating it, especially the Dome, just a shame it took them so long. It will never get back to it's glory days, it's cheaper holidaying abroad now, and obviously better weather abroad 🤣

[@fuoco13]

Whitley Bay is still a dump. Visited there in March of this year. Looked run down and neglected. Even the main shopping strip was a disappointment. And they have the hide to charge you for parking.

[@fuoco13]

@@JordanCarr44 Did you just wake up from your drug induced coma from 5 years ago?

[@Jeffybonbon]

still very little has happend its still a crap place and getting worse

[@mattyirving2339]

Because you exist g

[@david-lt9wj]

I think since the coal mines went....this happened..

[@ToOSk3tChY]

Tynemouth's where its at now

[@kopynd1]

after the 70s people started to go abroad, the foods crap, cant get a decent meal abroad, nee decent curry at the med, south shields is the best, plenty parking and its on the flat, nice beach, need a better selection of food, fish and chips is nothing like it was in the 60s, it cheap over priced tasteless yuk, ice cream is well over priced, suggest a family take a picnic basket save a fortune, the food just dosen't cut it