Two large telescopes installed along Whitley Bay promenade are set to bring a new view of the town and its dramatic coastline.
Whitley Bay Big Local, together with North Tyneside Council, has introduced the new telescopes along the town’s sea front which it hopes will encourage both residents and visitors to take a closer look beyond the shore and admire the views of the beautiful coastline.
The Big Lottery funded ten year community led programme has met the cost of the two high quality, free to use, tourist telescopes and has worked in partnership with the council to install them on the promenade at either end of the Big Local area – one at the Spanish City Plaza and the other further south along the promenade at the end of Victoria Avenue. The telescopes are the first new additions along the coastline to exhibit the new Whitley Bay colour palette.
The telescopes have already captured the imagination of local school children from Rockliffe and Marine Park First Schools who have been drawing pictures as part of a competition imagining what people might see when they take a look through the magnifying lenses.
Whilst Big Local volunteers and council officials cannot promise views of the children’s imaginative aliens and shipwrecks, they are confident that people will be overwhelmed by just what is visible through the telescopes and how the coast changes daily.
Helen Frankenburg, local resident and Big Local board member who has been instrumental in bringing the telescopes to the town said: “We are blessed with an abundance of seabirds living just off the coast which we can’t always see with the naked eye but can be seen very clearly through the telescopes. Seals and dolphins are common visitors to our shoreline too and the telescopes, which all have children’s viewing platforms, will allow us to take a closer look at them.
“We want the seafront to be a place we can enjoy all year round and the telescopes will certainly enhance its appeal. Working in partnership with North Tyneside Council we are confident that the seafront will once again be a place we will be proud to call our own.”
North Tyneside Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn helped the children to officially unveil the telescopes. She said: “I am absolutely thrilled about these fantastic new additions to the seafront, which really complement the many other improvements taking place as part of our Seafront Master Plan for Whitley Bay.
“The children have shown great imagination in their ideas for the competition and I’m really impressed by all of their wonderful efforts. We are delighted to be working with Big Local and these free-to-use telescopes will be a real feature for families to enjoy and are just another example of our commitment to making the town a place we can all be proud to live, work and visit.”
A collection of the children’s art work will be on display at Whitley Bay Library.