Yorkshire holiday 12
Between 1753 and 1883, Whitby was an important port for whale fishing. Boats would go out to waters round Greenland and it's said that 2761 whales in total were brought back to Whitby harbour. Whale blubber was rendered down to oil in the boiler houses by the harbour. It must have been a smelly place! The oil was used for burning in lamps, making soap and candles. The skin was used for leather, cartilage for glue and the bones for making ‘stays’ in corsets. Eventually, the whale trade dwindled as petroleum products were brought in.
It is still a busy harbour with a small commercial fleet but fishing tends nowadays to be largely a tourist industry. People book sea fishing trips and others fish from the harbour breakwaters with rod and line. A few locals put out lobster pots and mackerel and cod can be caught off the coast.
You can buy seafood around the harbour, including the famous Magpie Café (declared by none other than Rick Stein to be the best fish and chips in Britain). There is a still a smokehouse in the old town, producing kippers (smoked herring).
The white/blue catamaran design passenger boat caught my eye. Cats are supposed to be very stable in a swell and are certainly more pleasant for those on board.
ReplyDeleteFine views!
ReplyDeleteWhen we used to watch Heartbeat they always seemed to be going to Whitby.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a double decker fishing pier...hope the lines don't get tangled often. Love seeing the fishing and pleasure boats.
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