FILEY was always going to be a favoured resort. Its sweeping horseshoe of sand begs to be turned into sand castles and could there be a finer place to build a promenade?

Or indeed make a TV series?

The BBC doesn’t think so. Sugartown is the corporation’s new three-part-drama about a fading seaside resort and its quirky locals who must fight to save their community when prodigal son, Max, returns with controversial plans for the town’s regeneration.

However, there may be surprise help from another new arrival – a spirited young dancer, Carmen, who falls for the town and its resident bad boy, Travis. While the fictitious plot remains a secret, real-life and less saccharined Filey is anything but a town with faded glory.

True, many think its heyday was after the war when the town offered restful “get away from it all” holidays. Those were the days when Billy Butlin knew a thing or two about holidaymakers and the luxury Filey camp, with its Viennese ballroom, French Bar and Windsor dining hall was his biggest and best, catering for 10,000 holiday makers a week.

Back in the ’fifties, campers arrived by coach – or by train on the branch line built specially to serve Butlins. They came to escape post-war austerity in the decadent ballrooms and to enjoy odd seaside pursuits like the knobbly knees competitions and yo-yo demonstrations.

Then, in 1984, redcoats at Mr Butlin’s pride and joy yelled their final hi-di-hi. It could have spelled disaster for the town, but it’s fabulous location meant in its stead came a exclusive £120 million holiday village.

These days holidaymakers have forsaken the train; now they turn up in 4x4s to enjoy the same spectacular views.

It’s not the first time Filey has gone upmarket. In 1835, one John Wilkes Unett bought seven prime acres of land above the seafront and built The Crescent. It was completed in the 1850s and attracted the cream of North Yorkshire’s society. For a century The Crescent was the most fashionable address in the north.

It still makes a glorious sight and holidaymakers return to gaze at the terrace year after year. They also come for the unspoilt seafront, the welcome absence of tackiness and a genteel air of bygone affluence.

The bay is a magnificent stretch of sand with Filey Brigg and its rock pools to the north, while cliffs run down to Flamborough Head on the south side. The Brigg also marks the end of the Cleveland Way and offers far reaching views making it well worth the hike.

Unlike many seaside resorts, Filey still has an active fishing fleet with cobles sitting incongruously by an amusement arcade on the slipway.

A good way to explore the town’s fishing heritage and local history is the award-winning museum which is housed in a 17th century cottage.

There are eight rooms, all with their own themes including the Filey Room which traces the growth from small fishing village to popular seaside resort. A selection of gansey fisherman’s jumpers are on show, as well as a lifeboat room and photography room featuring examples by local photographer Walter Fisher.

The town has a nostalgic feel of the ’fifties about it, with as many stick of rock and souvenir shops as you could wish for. And here fish and chips are still king.

Another timewarp is the kitsch Buccaneer pub which used to be a cinema, but works surprisingly well in its new role. Perhaps the most civilised watering hole in town is Bonhommes Bar, just off the crescent, which is a fine place to while away an hour with the morning papers.

Take a stroll along Belle Vue Street for more upmarket shopping and then its time to visit the town’s pride and joy.

Sterchi’s has been making fine confections and chocolates since 1919. It’s Filey’s version of Betty’s and was also created by a Swiss. Walter Sterchi came here before the First World War and started work in Alvin’s tea room. When he found a Filey lass to marry, Walter opened his own store in town.

Ninety-two years later and the handmade chocolates are still based on his original recipes, even using ingredients from the same supplier. The most famous is the Sterchi shell and if you are a chocoholic, a week’s vacation in Filey could well be spent in this little shop.

But things have changed. The chocolate shop remains a Filey favourite, but it has moved to Hope Street. When Sterchi’s was based in Murray Street it also had a revered bakery and cake shop which is sadly no more.

People came from far and wide just to buy a Sterchi cake and devour it in the Crescent Gardens while gazing out to sea. The last vanilla slice was baked in May and the loss of this fine cake shop will be long felt by loyal holidaymakers.

But there is solace to be had. Bronte House serves a fine afternoon tea in a conservatory filled by what a sign proclaims as “Yorkshire’s famous Bronte Vinery”. It’s said to be more than 200 years old and pretty impressive it is too.

The tea shop has another claim to fame. Charlotte Bronte stayed here when it was a house between 1849 and 1852. However, Filey isn’t just a place to enjoy the sedate pleasures of luxury chocolate and sunbathing. The town has one of the best golf clubs in Yorkshire and its sailing club has regular “come and try it” days, as well as an annual regatta. Adrenalin junkies have also discovered the bay which has become a firm favourite with surfers. Webcams keep addicts informed of the latest weather and wave conditions in town.

But to be honest, you don’t really need a reason to visit Filey. This town has retained the unspoiled, traditional feel of an English seaside resort; just being here is enough to rejuvenate the soul.

Sugartown may well look glorious on the telly, but a stroll along The Crescent will dispel any notion of faded glory the series might give.

No surprise for one of the smartest addresses in the north.

• BBC comedy series Sugartown, filmed in Filey and Scarborough, begins on BBC 1 at 10.25pm on July 24.