The Lake

Heading south towards Guisborough Road near Whitby.

In the decade following the death of Maharajah Ranjit Singh in 1839, the Punjab was thrown into turmoil with several successions to the throne and a threat of annexation by the British East India Company. In 1843, Duleep Singh, just five years old, was crowned King of the Punjab and head of the Sikh nation. He was now extremely rich and ruled under the regency of Ranjit Singh’s youngest widow, Jind Kaur. His wealth included one of the largest diamonds in the world, the Koh-i-Noor, weighing in at 21.12 grms. (105.6 carats). War with the British East India Company broke out, and, in 1848, the young Singh, now aged ten years old, was forced to sign papers that sacrificed his kingdom and forcing him to resign ‘for himself, his heirs, his successors, all right, title and claim to the sovereignty of the Punjab or to any sovereign power whatsoever, the confiscation of all state property, and the surrender of the Koh-i-Noor diamond’. The Punjab was now British territory. In return, he was to be given a pension of £40,000 and granted the honour of the title Maharajah (I guess the equivalent to His Royal Highness). He was sent for exile in England where Queen Victoria was apparently quite taken with the young man. She wrote in her diary: ‘Osborne 22 August: A most beautiful morning. We breakfasted in the Alcove with the truly amicable young Maharajah, who is so kind to the children, playing so nicely with them’. I am sure she wasn’t at all influenced by the latest addition to her crown jewels: the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The Maharajah grew up into the life of an English squire, with a love of shooting, hawking, and other country pursuits and, in 1858, took up residency at Mulgrave Castle which he rented from the Marquis of Normanby, who was serving as British Ambassador in Florence. Queen Victoria was one of the many guests who dined with Singh during his tenure at Mulgrave Castle. But he wasn’t happy, and frequently clashed with the Government over his financial compensation. His money slowly dwindled, he spent lavishly on his estate at Elveden, Norfolk, which he had brought after vacating Mulgrave in 1862. He made many fruitless attempts to regain the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and grew ever more disillusioned with Britain, developing an intent to reclaim his homeland in the Punjab, a direct threat to the Empire. On a trip to India in 1886, he was arrested and subsequently settled in exile in Paris from which he journeyed across Europe and to Russia in the search of allies in starting a rebellion in the Punjab. The Maharajah Duleep Singh died in 1893 in Paris at the age of 55 and is buried at Elveden. During his thirteen years at Mulgrave Castle, the Maharajah would often be seen fishing from a boat at Sandsend, using the Chinese method of hunting with specially-trained tethered cormorants. These had a ring fitted around their necks so they couldn’t swallow the fish. He also had a new toll-road constructed between Sandsend and Whitby, which formed the foundation for today’s modern road alongside the beach. Some say he had this road built as his elephants did not like walking through the sand, but sadly there is no evidence that there have ever been elephants at Mulgrave. For sources and references see my blog: Out and about ... (2021). Sandsend and The Maharajah of Mulgrave Castle. [online] Available at: Link [Accessed 11 Dec. 2021]. ‌

Steps down to Sandsend Beach.

Sandsend Ness is the headland beyond the bay

Reaching the shore below the A174.

All you need for the beach here

The road bridge for the A174 is behind the footbridge

An attractive and very popular pub at the side of the East Row Beck and close to the beach.

Lots of walkers with their dogs

Upgang is a small beach on the north side of Whitby. It is sandwiched in between Sandsend Beach and Whitby Sands. It is well known for the surf.

As the tide recedes, a shingle shore appears below the sandy Upgang Beach

Whitby pier on the horizon

Dog walker on Upgang Beach