YHA Boggle Hole

Volunteering with YHA is a fantastic way to have fun, learn new skills, boost your CV and travel to different places. We have a variety of different opportunities to choose from and volunteering roles to suit everyone.  

The tasks are varied and in return you will meet some great people, who both work and stay in our hostels, as well as enjoying your time off discovering the local area and attractions.

Find out more and apply to volunteer at this hostel through YHA Volunteering.

It is believed that the Farsyde family built Bay Mill, the main youth hostel building, to serve the estate's own farms. The first mention of two mills in the parish appears in the marriage settlement of Sir Hugh Cholmley in 1666, where low mill is almost certainly Bay Mill. The other mill is believed to be Ramsdale Mill which has been restored. In 1712 a lease refers to ‘Bay Mill or ‘Low Mill’.

The mill would have originally been a wooden structure and much smaller than at present, with the wheel run directly by the beck. Certainly a later Farsyde rebuilt the mill into something like its present form. An inscription (which is now seriously weathered) over the dining room door reads “This Mill was rebuilt and new machinery put therein at the cost of G. W. Farsyde Esq. AD 1839”.

On August 6th 1857, a tremendous rainstorm caused violent floods which destroyed some buildings at both Ramsdale and Bay Mills. Mr Farsyde’s substantial building of 1839 survived but the miller's house, believed to be situated on the other side of the stream, and some wooden outbuildings were destroyed and washed away. The housekeeper, Elizabeth Knaggs, and a dog were both drowned.

At the time, the miller had two apprentices named Hutton. The son of one of them, Halder Hutton told a story related by his father of how the two brothers rescued a baby from the miller’s house just before it was destroyed. It was probably after this that the miller’s house was re-sited at right angles to the main building. It comprised what is now the main hostel kitchen and the rooms above. The land surrounding the mill on both sides of the beck were farmed, mostly for grazing of cattle and sheep. There was also an orchard and garden for fruit and vegetables alongside the path which leads to Farsyde House.

Farm buildings surrounded the courtyard and these have since long vanished apart from one which has been substantially rebuilt to form the current staff bungalow.

There is no record of when the dam was built but it was constructed on the site of a natural waterfall. It held back a considerable body of water. The lake has long since silted up.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gangs of men were employed from time to time in the dry season to dig out the silt and ensure a constant supply of water for the mill.

Water ran from the dam in an underground passage to the present self-catering kitchen. It entered the building where the present window and extractor are, powering the wheel which filled this room and the cellar below. The water than ran out into the beck.

The main drive shaft extended into what is now the dining room and drove four pairs of stones set into the floor of what is now the toilet and showers on the reception level. 

Near the top of the dam, in the bank side there is still a dry shaft. This was the entry to the sluice gate which allowed the water to be let into the underground passage and power the mill. A secondary gate with a diversion into the back has also been found under what is now the picnic area behind the hostel.

On top of the dam is a large cast iron wheel which allowed the dam gates to be opened. The missing one is actually in the pool behind the dam and is visible  at very low water.

Our lovely crew will look after you if you need anything. Many have been here for a long time so know the area and its charms and best secret spots as well.

Manager recommends: For a real family beach break, spend your free time playing and walking along the beach to Robin Hood's Bay, searching for fossils and Whitby Jet, swimming in the sea and beachcombing for ‘washed up treasures'. Take a packed lunch and spend the whole day away from the hustle and bustle of the real world - and enjoy the delights of a UK coastal holiday!