Whitby, on the north-east coast of England, was at one time one of the most important ports in the country and had a thriving ship-building industry. A number of famous sea-farers came from here and it was a Whitby man who invented the crow's nest to help his sailors search for whales.
Today Whitby is a popular holiday resort, crowded with tourists and pleasure seekers at weekends and during the summer. There are the pleasant little lanes of the old fishing port, several interesting museums, a pleasure beach with the usual penny-in-the-slot amusements, and high above the town the impressive ruins of Whitby Abbey.
We stayed in and can recommend Crescent Lodge (01947-820073) where the beds were comfortable, the breakfast splendid, smokers banned and saying we were vegetarians did not earn us a quizzical look.
In our first film we talk about one of Whitby's most famous sons, a man who had nothing at all to do with the sea, then we visit the monument to the man who had everything to do with the sea