Whitby might be small but he's got a big action packed past   by Alan Davidson

in Travel / Destinations    (submitted 2011-07-03)

Whitby is a remarkable small seaport, which for centuries was relatively isolated, but it holds recognition in maritime history has the place that Captain Cook sailed from these various sea voyages of discovery.

In actual fact Capt Cook actually started his apprenticeship in Staithes which is 9 miles down the coast from Whitby, but he later moved into Whitby where the museum is in his honour today.

During mediaeval times Whitby was quite a small collection of is houses clinging to the cliffs, overlooked by the Abbey. There were prominently set out into yards which were collections of cottages which were sheltered from the sea winds by their narrow entrances, which usually had its sturdy entrance gate for protection against seaward inversions.

As far as roads were concerned they was virtually non-with just a few tracks coming in over the moors so really the only main access to Whitby itself was by the sea.

In the 16th century the first bridge was built which spanned the two sides of Whitby, because prior to the bridge the only way to get across was over the river using fords. The first bridge was a wooden type of drawbridge structure which was in a style resembling Dutch design. Later in 1766 to bridge was rebuilt again and this lasted till 1835 when it was then replaced by Stonebridge. The current bridge was built in 1908 and is a swing bridge designed to allow boats to pass through.

The very first inhabitants of Whitby would have made their living under the patronage of the Abbey, by working in the farms and feels that surrounded it. They would have been all kinds of tradesmen like joiners, masons, labourers and also herdsmen and shepherds.

It was in later times at the fishing industry started to grow and become one of the staple forms of labour for Whitby and around the Middle Ages the prosperity of Whitby itself was largely dependent on the fishing industry, prominently catching herring.

So very gradually the town itself started to expand and the East Cliff spread out across the river over to the Westcliffe.

The town itself has always been a very busy trading port comeback in the 16th century alum was a main character which carried on all the way through to the 18th century.

During the 18th century also call was shipped to and from Tyneside and around this time the shipbuilding industry began, with Whitby being the sixth most important part in Britain producing up to 130 ships per year.

Whitby is often associated with the whaling industry which spanned appeared from approximately 1735 all the way through to the early part of the 19th century, when the town moved over to become a very important herring fishing port. During these periods the fishermen would actually construct their own boats and In more up-to-date times the fishing boats which are called Yorkshire cobbles are built into small yards.

Before steam became a prominent way of powering the ships, the ships themselves were on the small side in construction, which allowed Whitby's harbour to accommodate them easily. But during the Georgian times the town had to spread out and became a wealthy through expansion of its shipping trade and whaling industry.

Obviously today things are totally different and the main industry in Whitby is tourism, it has a very healthy calendar of events each year which during the tourists and it is one of the most popular locations on the East Coast.

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Alan Davidson