A 19th Century signal box on the North Yorkshire coast has been given a new lease of life - as the home for a traditional spinning and weaving enterprise.

Raw Fibres has been set up by Rosemary Kitchingman in the restored box at Robin Hood's Bay, on the former Scarborough to Whitby line which closed 36 years ago.

Now, in the spot where the signals operation for the once busy holiday line was masterminded, Rosemary spins wool from a small flock of Shetland sheep she and her husband keep at their farm at nearby Raw, and makes it into a wide range of garments for tourists visiting the fishing village.

The textile industry has been in her family for years. Her father had a bobbin mill at Morley, in West Yorkshire, and her mother was an accomplished embroiderer.

Rosemary studied textile skills at college and became a member of the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. She now teaches the art of spinning and felt-making and gives demonstrations of crafts using wool from Mashams, Jacobs, Teeswater and Wensleydale sheep, and works in silk mohair and alpaca.

She said: "I spent many happy holidays at Robin Hood's Bay and, when I discovered the signal box, it provided a wonderful opportunity to start my own business there. It's got so much character."