Whitby's famous lucky ducks shop to close its doors after 68 years

Whitby Glass, home of the famous lucky ducks, will shut on Friday June 20 according to a sign in its window.

The shop, on Sandgate, sells thousands of tiny glassblown ducks each year in a variety of colours.

Collecting lucky ducks is a rite of passage for many families who visit the seaside resort year after year.

Taking the ducks on travels also became a popular tradition, with shop staff receiving thousands of letters from customers detailing the places thier duck had visited.

But the shop’s owner Dorothy Clegg died earlier this year aged 93, having taken over the shop by its original founder Peter Rantell.

A sign in the shop’s window read: “Whitby Glass will be trading until Friday 20th June. We would like to thank you all for your custom over the last 68 years. This is a very sad time.”

A closing down sale is now taking place at the shop.

Residents and visitors alike have shared their memories of the shop on social media.

Kay Maddison wrote: “Been visiting Whitby regularly over the last 50 years, the glass shop and the lucky ducks are a Whitby tradition, I was fascinated by the glass blowing as a child. Sandgate will not be the same.”

Grace Gorst said: “Visiting here is my family tradition. I bought these with my Dad every visit, my Dad held a Lucky Duck when he passed away, and my daughters have their own collection of them now too. Devastated.”

Janet Stonehouse said: “Going here and watching through the glass to see the lady making the ducks was my Whitby highlight on every visit. She made my duck and used too much glass, it’s oversized but I always loved it for that.

According to the Whitby Guide, the business was started by Peter Rantell after he travelled to the seaside town from Scotland in the 1950s.

He was first based at the town’s Pavilion, where he struck up friendships with local actors.

They asked him to make them charms for when they were onstage, and the idea of the lucky ducks was born.