The first prize is dinner, bed and breakfast for two at the White Lodge Hotel on their opening night of Saturday 4 July. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate the start of the summer season!

The second prize is a round of golf for two at Filey Golf Club. The picturesque course overlooks Filey Bay, the perfect setting for a memorable round of golf.

Third prize is a bottle of Masons Dry Yorkshire Gin, Lavender Edition. Award winning gin from the Yorkshire Dales.

To have a chance of winning one of these fabulous prizes you must:

1. Like the Filey.co.uk Facebook page
2. Like the White Lodge Facebook page
3. Bookmark this website
4. Tag the person in the comments on the Facebook page who you would like to bring with you!

The closing date for likes and submissions is 2pm Sunday 28 June, so be quick! We will announce the winner on our website on Sunday evening giving you enough time to pack your bags and book the dog into the kennels!

The post A Fabulous Filey Competition appeared first on Filey.

We asked Bill, what he loves the most about Filey? Why is it so special?

‘It’s perhaps a cliche, but Filey is unspoilt, it’s a place where my mind can unwind, and I’m totally at peace, well perhaps until I bought a hotel in the middle of a pandemic!

‘But seriously, I first came to Filey as a four-year-old on a family holiday from Sheffield. It was the beginning of a life-long love affair with the town. I brought my own daughter on holidays and eventually became the owner of Langford Villa, just two doors up the street from the White Lodge.’

Had he ever stayed at the White Lodge as a guest?

‘Only once. I used to have an apartment at The Bay and had sold it. I promised the furniture to a friend, but we got the dates mixed up. I arrived to an empty house, so had to find somewhere to stay and quick! 

‘A girlfriend once stayed here, she was obsessed with Elizabeth Taylor. So at breakfast she ordered a Bloody Mary. Wayne Sanderson was working here at the time, and being such a great sport, he made her a breakfast friendly version, if there’s such a thing, and a more traditional version. I loved the fact that Wayne rose to the challenge, even at 9.30am and perhaps that epitomised what the White Lodge is all about.’ 

The White Lodge certainly has ‘kerb appeal’, standing as it does at the end of Filey’s graceful Crescent, does he feel a responsibility as a custodian of one of the town’s historic, indeed landmark, buildings? 

‘Absolutely. I’m very much a custodian and I definitely acknowledge the responsibility that comes with the tradition and history of the hotel. However, the hotel also has to be relevant to changing tastes and the present day. It’s a balancing act.’ 

The previous owners, Kim and James Hodgson, did a fabulous job bringing the hotel into the Twenty-First Century, how will you build on that legacy? Is it evolution or revolution? 

‘Evolution. There’s a great foundation to build on and it is important to recognise the work that Kim and James put into reviving the hotel. I know that they are delighted that the hotel is staying in local hands, it’s important to them.’ 

The views from, particularly the restaurant, are unsurpassed. Is it an aim to make the White Lodge, and indeed Filey, a dining destination? 

‘Given the context of the times, more than ever I have to walk before I can run. However, in the longer term, all I can say is watch this space …’

In one year’s time, what will be the one thing we will all be talking about? 

‘I hope you are all talking about the fabulous atmosphere of the place, wherever you are a visitor or a local. Also a great selection of food at all times of the day.’ 

Did you always have an ambition to run a hotel? 

‘Like most people, as a customer of hotels and restaurants you can’t help but think “how might I do things?” The proof will now, quite literally, be in the pudding.’ 

When we eventually emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, how do you think that Filey, and British tourism, will recover?

‘In the short-term I think there will be a boom. People have been on a long lock down, there will undoubtedly be a suppressed desire to travel and visit the coast that will be released. For a few years people might be reluctant to travel abroad. In the longer-term British attractions have to make a real effort, things like alfresco dining, I hope there might have to be a relaxing of bye-laws to help that. Also, recognising that British tourists have a global outlook. The well-travelled Brit might expect tapas and an Aperol spritz, every bit as much as fish and chips and a pint.’ 

We can only but wish Bill, and the staff of the White Lodge, all the best once we return to something like normality. We cannot wait to announce the reopening of the White Lodge, and indeed Filey, in the very near future! 

The post A New Dawn at The White Lodge appeared first on Filey.

The current owners of the White Lodge, James and Kim Hodgson, worked alongside the Scarborough & District Civic Society to bring the project to fruition. The plaque was unveiled by Filey Town Mayor Cllr Jacqui Houlden-Banks, whose father was a previous owner of the White Lodge Hotel.

Dame Madge Kendal, alongside her husband William, owned the White Lodge when it was a private villa. The couple managed the St James Theatre, London, but Dame Madge also trod the boards for fifty years in the West End. She was friends with luminaries such as George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker, who visited Whitby to research his Dracula novel and John Merrick, better known the Elephant Man. As a consequence, Dame Madge was featured as a character in Bernard Pomerance’s 1979 play and in the 1980 film of the same name, where she was portrayed by Anne Bancroft. Dame Madge died aged 87 in 1935. She is featured in the National Portrait Gallery. 

The two other blue plaques in Filey are for Charlotte Bronte, author of Jane Eyre, and Herbert Liddell Cortis, the first cyclist to achieve a speed of 20mph on a penny farthing, in 1882.

The White Lodge Hotel

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