The walks along the Cleveland Way offer some delightful views of Staithes. Today we wandered around the area, sampled local produce and read up on the Staithes Group.

Staithes Group ….

Ref : https://www.davidduggleby.com/departments/staithes-group.aspx

The Staithes Group was a thriving group of artists working in the fishing village of Staithes around the turn of the 20th century. It comprised nearly 40 artists, some of whom lived permanently in the area, with many more visiting for several months a year. They lived in amongst the fishermen and women of Staithes, often lodging with them or living in their attics. This gave them first-hand experience of the harsh lives of the villagers; as a result, their paintings lend a unique insight into
a long-forgotten lifestyle.

Painting in Staithes was pioneered by William Gilbert Foster, the ‘grandfather’ of the Staithes Group who bought a cottage in Runswick in 1890, and Thomas Barrett, Master of the Nottingham School of Art who is known to have visited Staithes as early of 1880. It was Barrett who encouraged the young Laura Knight to “Go to Staithes! There is nowhere quite like it for painting.”