» History Whitby

Whitby Bridge 1871

alan — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:20:03 +0000

I hope you agree this is an absolutely fantastic glass negative picture in1871, from the River Esk bank looking towards the old Whitby Bridge which was re-placed at the present one in 1909.

Amazing clarity in this old rare and special old picture showing the little cottages which are still there on the right-hand side of their washing out. This really does look amazing on box canvas and would make that extra special gift that cannot be bought anywhere else but here.

This is a high-resolution scan taken from an original glass plate negatives circa 1900.

You can see Whitby pier in the background and also the old round watching posts in the background which are still there today.

This striking box canvas print is taken from a rear original glass plate negative circa 1900’s. This can only be bought from this website and makes a classy unique art work.

You can see Whitby Spa and the bathing huts in the background .

To see more old Whitby prints http://whitby-art.co.uk/

Look on the new against the old pictures below and you can see that the old Whitby Spa is now over shadowed by the new one and the people walking on the beech are not quite as posh as the upper-

This is a print from an old glass negative scanninghigh-resolution together breath taking piece of Victorian history. These kinds of photographs are extremely rare and make fantastic classy looking showpiece to anybody’s interior decor.This box canvas at work is printed on an Epsom high-resolution printer using ultra crom inks that are guaranteed not to fad 300 years in direct sunlightYou can see Whitby Spa and the bathing huts in the background . Look on the new against the old pictures below and you can see that the old Whitby Spa is now over shadowed by the new one and the people walking on the beech are not quite as posh as the upper-class Victorians.

36″ x 24″ box Canvas £78

24″ x 16″ box Canvas £58

16″ x 12″ box Canvas £48

For outside UK email for a postage price. alan@whitby-art.co.uk

Payment can also be made to Alan Davidson at 11 Albion Road Idle Bradford BD10 9PY

Telephone (01274) 614650 and Mobile (07813) 779273

E-mail alan@endeavourcottage.co.uk

This has been re-created using stunning quality box canvas in vivid colour will make an impressive showpiece. Only the very best materials have been used with solid 1.5 inch non-warping pine stretcher bar frame, and non-fade 200 year UV screening Epson Ultra Chrome guaranteed inks. Sold only from this website exclusively and sent out to most locations within only four days.Free postage and packing to the UK. For the rest of the world ask for a price alan@endeavourcottage.co.uk

Payments can be made by PayPal direct from the site, or by telephone using a card and of course by bankers cheque direct to our address. Receipts are sent out immediately by e-mail on receiving payments and paintings will be sent by Parcel force 48 hour delivery.

We arrange insurance to cover the paintings in case of damage soa full refund will be available if the unfortunate occurs.

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Endeavour holiday cottage in the very heart of Whitby, only 2 min stroll from the harbour and set in a beautiful old tranquil Whitby yard.

Sleeps up to 6 people with all the modern facilities to make it feel like home from home.

Flat screen satellite television, wireless broadband connection, TVs in each bedroom and pets welcome.

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What it was like to live in the old Whitby Yards of yesteryear

alan — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:37:36 +0000

Living in the Whitby yards of yesteryear

What life was like in Whitby, in the old yards when the town was not a tourist attraction but a working fishing port. I was given permission to photograph and use material from the Whitby Museum which I thank for their help http://www.whitbymuseum.org.uk/

Also drawing the yards of Whitby before they had gone forever ! by Albert T Pile 1882 – 1981

Whitby is one of the few medieval towns, the outline of which one can clearly see, underpinned by later developments. For their own safety people like to live close to one another and from these origins grew Whitby yards and the community life.

First and foremost, it was community life. You were part of group that knew and cared about you, as you did about your neighbours. People tended to live in the one house for the whole of their life, often continuing with a married son or daughter assuming the household responsibilities and caring for their ageing parents. There was a friendliness and a sharing of one’s joys and troubles with the other residents. Perhaps they knew most of your business, but then you would in turn be were aware of their goings on. Loneliness was hardly possible. The widowed man might find his washing quietly done for him, or maybe some kind of baking left on his doorstep. The newly confined mother would have few worries about the care of her other children as they would be with a neighbour. And in due course she would repay the kindness by a like service. It was a disciplined life, for the fear of what others might think often restrained underhand actions. One was part of that community and had something to live up to. Not that the yards people were saints, one had to show a great deal of restraint, particularly if the offenders happened to be related. Canvas Art and Wall Art

A Whitby Yard

One might say it was a hard life, but on the other hand if one was brought up to those conditions then one knew no other. Perhaps the hardest part was the water supply. In the old days there was a pump in a near yard. Much later piped water was led to a communal tap in each yard where one filled the daily buckets. It was often their children’s job to get the water in before going to school. The drinking water stood in a spotlessly clean white enamel bucket and that was for domestic use in a zinc one. On one side of the kitchen range there was a boiler which also had to be filled. This came into its own on bath night when mother would scoop out water with a huge enamel mug and pour it into a two handled zinc tub in front of the fire. And in you went, youngest

Sanitation

Well within living memory the earth closet was an acceptable form of lavatory in the yards. The little houses were called pettys, perhaps from the French petit. Further up the coast they were called nettys. Earth, or sand was used by them and a bit shovelled in from time to time. There were regularly emptied into carts which in their own turn were emptied into the sea or river. Houses in yards which overhung the edge of the river conveniently had their pettys situated directly over the water, all moored according to the state of the tide.

The conversion to water born sanitation started in the late 20s, but it was a very long time until the yards had water closets. Even then, they were all situated outside the house, which necessitated many a cold journey on an evening.

Close up on the heels of water closets came piped water into the actual houses. Great luxury! It was cold water, of course hot water systems remained an aspiration only to dream about.

Heating

The yard houses were warm. Built as they were, the houses were fairly sheltered from the biting winds of the North East Seaboard and not being detached there was not much heat loss from them as modern houses. In previous centuries they were even warmer, since they were divided into tenements and more people occupied each dwelling

As they all had their own fire there was much more heat generated. The principal fuel was coal, for was not Whitby a coal port between Newcastle and London? The coal wharves lined the river and it was a fairly cheap form of heating. It was however, somewhat dirty and the chimney sweep was a regular visitor. His visits were a major event, for the room had to be cleared as near as possible and everything was covered with the sheets. Many people in Whitby today remember Sammy Lambs chimney sweep activities in the days before vacuum sweeps. After the sweeper cleaned up the chimney the resultant soot had to be removed by the careful housewife from every nook and cranny, carpets beaten outside, floors washed, curtains changed, even the very walls swept. All this had to be done in the early morning, for the fire was often the only source of heat cooking.

Lighting

An extra heating bonus was the oil lamp for it gave out pleasant warmth as well as its light. Candles were the only form of illumination and even when gas lighting eventually came it was usually installed only in one room, the kitchen, so one still went to bed by candlelight. Lighting the gas mantle was a very tricky business, for the mantles were extremely brittle and could be broken very easily by the touch of the match.

Electricity was a much later blessing. Can you imagine life without electricity?

Washing

Yes, the washing derives a paragraph to itself. Water you have, if cold. Gas may be. But no electricity. On washday one always had to get up at least an hour earlier than usual. First of all the fire had to be kindled beneath the copper, firmly built with a brick surround. Then the copper had to be filled goes without saying. In later times one had a gas boiler,oh ! very modern. There was a poss and tub and the washboard, sunlight soap and steam. The whole operation took place in the one yard wash house, each housewife had her particular time for action. Incidentally, the clothes were much dirtier because of the grime from the coal and soot laden atmosphere in which one lived.

Poverty

The social history of Whitby is one of comfortable middle-class living alongside those were very poor indeed. But despite the extreme poverty, Whitby people were very good at making the best of things and did not air their poverty publicly. Respectability was important and most people tried to keep some “Sunday best” clothes. In years within living memory there was much parish relief known as “the pan crack” because when one had absolutely nothing else one could always scrape a bit from the crack in the pan. But it was a minimal handout and carried a social stigma with it.

Romantic looking as the artists may have found it Whitby were undoubtedly substandard. Not all the houses had staircases inside; access to the upper floors was often by way of wooden steps and galleries outside. One can go on patching up indefinitely, but the day comes when the structure simply cannot take any more. Roofs leaked, floors rotted, plaster fell off. People would joke about how well their houses were ventilated, and not just by the Windows either. The landlord might come and fill in the cracks and again he might not.

Perhaps the state of the upkeep of the houses left much to be desired, but that was the landlord’s responsibility, not the people who actually lived in them. But for their part they did their best to keep them clean, turning out the mats and scrubbing the floor with vigour every week. Not only that, they also scrubbed the yard steps from top to bottom. Many of them finished the job by donkey stoning the edges of the steps neatly. (Ask your granny what donkey stoning is?)

We have said that their houses were warm. The cockroaches knew and appreciated this. So did the mice. And there were rats as well.

Such housing conditions bred disease. Many children had close cropped hair for good reasons. Even summer saw the isolation hospital filled with children suffering from diphtheria, scarlet fever and allied diseases. When the first houses were built on a council estate the difference in the children’s health was very soon noticeable. Children as well as plants need sunshine. It was the coalition government of the early 30s that brought about slum clearance throughout the country. There were more slums cleared in the first five years preceding the second war than there had been in the Fifties years before that time.

Who, 50 years ago, could possibly foresee the future boom in the tourist trade and Holiday Cottage Industry? We were recovering from the effects of a very costly war and there simply was no money about to convert all properties which were highly insanitary, to put it mildly.

It may be that in clearing the area piecemeal a few houses were sacrificed which might well have been saved, but that is a moot point. The housing that was put up after the demolition is extremely sturdy, and there were no rats now.

Cats

Despite the poverty, Whitby had a large population of cats. The mice and perhaps the rats would keep them occupied and being a fishing port there was always enough fish grabs to keep the pussy is happy.

One wonders if cats always abound here, long before they named ships “coal cats” and there is a connection. It is certain that Captain Cook, aboard his ex-Whitby boat the Resolution, had a superb cargo of around 25 cats.

Sources

I have used three main sources in the addition to the word-of-mouth memories.

The first was A Valuation of the town of Whitby, taken in 1837 just after Queen Victoria came to the throne, ” by the order of the commissionaire’s under the new Paula Law Act” This was taken by two appraisers with John Bovill, block and master maker, acting as referee. Although this list gives the names of the people and specifies the yards in Church Street, it does not mention separate yards in Crape Lane, Bridge Street, Sandgate, Cliff Street, or Flower gate. It does mention the type of dwellings and as they were very largely tenements we therefore find that there are many more people crammed into small yards down later surveys. They give a rateable value for each tenement and this was used in com paring the probable extent of the holding. At the time the township of Whitby was only small and that of Ruswarp impinged on it. Skinner Street was in this latter area it is not included in the survey.

The second source was The Whitby Director, published privately in 1899, at the end of Victoria’s reign, rateable values are not given, but the occupation of the householders is shown. This is extremely informative. A very great proportion of householders are women and this must be because the men folk were at sea. Whitby is and always has been an essential matriarchal town. The tradition was that the women ran the homes and brought the children up while the men went to sea. The women were managers in charge of domestic economy, and very well they did too.

The occupation of some men, who were doubtless at home when the survey was taken, is showing as seaman, whilst others are called mariners. There is a subtle distinction here as the latter were those who had risen in rank, perhaps to mate, or second mate, those who had got their ticket was shown as a master mariners.

For a third source I have to thank Whitby Council, who allowed me to pour through their rate book for the year of 1934. This is a very comprehensive list, although we do not learn the occupation of the tenants. The rateable value is given and from this one can assess a fair idea of the size and value of the property.

Various factors, the war, clearance of alleged slums, and the building of new housing estates outside Whitby have greatly changed the face and the character of the town, and we are not, therefore, attempting to list the yards that still stand today.

The name of some of the yards have changed from that time to time and it is not always easy to identify them. For instance Capplemans yard, in Church Street is clearly shown both in 1837 and 1899, but there was no trace of it in the 1934 lists, its name having been changed to Stanley Place. Often it was the owner of the yard that decided to change the name. I have done my best to identify all of the yards, but I am only too conscious that there will be some that slipped through the net.

Houses which were empty at the time of the surveys have not been included.

As one beavers away at the seemingly endless list of yards and names, flights of fancy takeover and the names become real people. Did Martha Jackson, for instance have 12 children and did she become a scold? Small wonder if she did. Was Henry Burton a good sober workman, or did he like the bottle? Were the six women who lived in Cockpit yard all solitary, or were their menfolk at sea? For an average township of the time there were extraordinary numbers of women householders listed. One hopes that they were not all widows. There were also a great many women who owned properties. Were they easy on their tenants? Maybe they understood how difficult it was to find the rent, even though it was only a shilling or two a week. Did other women have invalid husband’s, perhaps injured at sea? Were some of the men left to look after their bairns when their wife had died in childbirth? May be Mary next door helped out?

These were all real people and the mind has to make them arise from the flat pages of the valuation books. The valuation refers only to the property, but the human souls who lived and breathed in Whitby can never be rightly assessed save in the mind’s eye.

All the best Alan Davidson

: Endeavour Cottage in Whitby

Tephone 01274 614650

www.endeavourcottage.co.uk

Mobile 07813779273

E-mail alan@endeavourcottage.co.uk

Endeavour Cottage two-minute stroll from the harbour Whitby Holiday Cottages

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Whitby Rugby Club

alan — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:44:03 +0000

Membership 2009-10
Social membership is £1.00 per person. Membership is due august/september every year. It is very easy to become a member and when you are issued with your membership card then you can recieve discount at the bar. As Whitby Rugby Club is a private members club you must be a member to have a drink or use the club for any reason when alcohol is being served.
To become a member please see the bar for details.

Players membership!
We must be the cheapest place to play rugby. Players MUST pay their membership of £25.00 and £3.00 per match to have a vote at AGM & EGMs, to get discount at the bar, RFU standard insurance and any kit that we are sponsored with.
Whitby Rugby Club
Pete Stentiford – Fixture Secretary & Webmaster

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01947 602008
http://www.whitbyrugbyclub.co.uk/

Whitby Rugby Club

Whitby Rugby Club are continuing to grow and would like to thank all of our Sponsors for their support. The Club is here for the continuation of Rugby and sees itself as the main venue to be used by the community for any function, event or social gathering.

Whitby Golf Club off the coastal road to the pretty village of Sandsend

Whitby certainly is an old town with a deep history, which still retains lots of character today.

alan — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:49:44 +0000

Dracula

In 656, in Anglo-Saxon times, Whitby was actually called Streonshal. This was when Osway was the Christian King of Northumbria and founded Whitby Abbey under its first Abbess, Hilda.
Over two hundred years later in 867, the monastery was brought to the ground by Viking raiders and was not rebuilt for over 200 years until 1078. It was during these times that the town actually established its current name of Whitby (from “white settlement” in Old Norse). Jumping much further ahead in time to the 18th century, Whitby became a town which was primarily focused around shipbuilding and whaling, as well as trading in Alum and the now famous Whitby jet. Whitby Abbey is one of the town’s biggest tourist attractions and, situated on the East Cliff overlooking Whitby, provides fantastic panoramic views over the town, the harbour and beyond towards Sandsend.
One of the most famous characters associated with Whitby is Dracula, the central character of a book written by Bram Stoker, the famous author who was staying in Whitby at the time of writing. Dracula is widely considered to be one of the most famous Gothic figures ever created. Stoker was lodging on the Royal Crescent in Whitby whilst writing Dracula. In fact there is a blue plaque to commemorate this fact on one of the large imposing Victorian terraced properties. It is well known that Stoker was influenced by the local surroundings whilst writing the book, featuring passages such as the ghostly ship ‘Demeter’ pulling ashore with the huge black wolf pouncing from the deck into the darkness. Stoker based both the ship and the beast from ideas while talking to local townsfolk, who told him of the Russian ship ‘Dmitri’ which, like the ship from the book, had previously been beached in the town’s harbour. Local folklore often told of ‘Barguest’, the huge black phantom hound which was said to prowl the Yorkshire Moors, with a particular preference for the Whitby area. It was in the Whitby library that Stoker first came across the name Dracula, when he borrowed a book with the title ‘An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia’, written in 1820 by William Wilson. This book included in one of its paragraphs ‘Voivode Dracula’ which is the Voivode Dracula character in battle with the Turks. One item in particular caught the attention of Stoker – Dracula in the Wallachian dialect means Devil!
There is also a statue on the West Cliff of one of the town’s most famous inhabitants, Captain James Cook. All four of Cook’s ships were built in Whitby: Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure and Discovery and it was from Whitby that James Cook embarked on his journey to discover Australia.
The Captain Cook Museum is situated in a 17th-century house very close to Whitby Harbour, the location is where, as an apprentice, he had lodgings. It was whilst living in Whitby that Cook trained to be a seaman which ultimately led to his epic voyages of discovery.
So Whitby has much to attract tourists who like history, or merely enjoy the seaside town. It has numerous themed weekends throughout the year, such as the two Goth weekends, which see the town overtaken by people of all ages dressed in their fine black regal costumes. If you would like to see the up-and-coming events scheduled for the town; please look at the Whitby calendar of events.

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Whitby’s Swing Bridge 100 Year Centenary Celebrations

alan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:43:27 +0000

I was lucky enough to be able to watch Whitby’s swing Bridge 100 centenary celebrations on Saturday, 8 August 2009 from a prime location the second floor of the Dolphin Hotel which is right next to the bridge itself. I don’t think it would have been possible to have a better view on this gorgeous sunny day.

It was a very popular event and literally thousands of people turned up to watch the various celebrations.

Below are pictures from the opening Day ceremony in 1909 and then 2009.

Much of the credit for organising the event must go to John Freeman a local well-known artist with a gallery in the square.

The History of Whitbys Swing Bridge and its predecessors

At the entrance to the bridge during the afternoon Susan Harty pictured left (who regularly writes articles about forthcoming events in Whitby to inform tourists) was selling an excellent booklet called The History of Whitby Swing Bridge And Its Predecessors. It had been written by John Freeman in a short space of time so it would be ready for the big day itself, with some great articles and pictures.

If you’re interested in the history of Whitby I would highly recommend trying to find a copy. There was also a 100 year certificate on sale.

There was a PA system next to the bridge which produced an entertaining commentary throughout the afternoon’s events from local Whitby man I’m afraid I didn’t catch the details of who he was but he certainly kept everybody informed and entertained with some corny jokes.
Various entertainment started at 12:30 PM giving your day I carnival style feel. The entertainment was provided by the Cleveland Police band, Stakesby Steel band, Whitby Jets juvenile jazz band, and playlets by youngsters from the The Paul Nicholas School of Acting, Marske Fishermans Choir sang and the Saltburn Victorian Society dressed up for the day to bring a touch of period drama to the festivities.

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Whitby Victorian Society costumes giving the bridge's centenary of flavour from the past

Also a spectacular stunt as the famous Red Arrows flew under Whitby Bridge in formation….. OK I’m fibbing with the last one obviously just a teeny weenie bit impossible Actually the Red Arrows are scheduled to make an appearance Whitby Regatta this year, and if you’ve not seen them before they are certainly worth a viewing especially with the gorgeous backdrop of Whitby.
There were many people from the Saltburn Victorian Society dressed up to the nines making the event extremely atmospheric and giving you some idea of what the original opening ceremony could have been like in 1909.
As the time approached 4 PM the main events of the day were to unfold. Rev Canon David Smith blessed the bridge as there was a sail through by various boats including the current Whitby lifeboat and the 1938 Whitby lifeboat Mary Ann Hepworth which is now used as a pleasure trip vessel by a gentleman called Barry who I believe is a former Whitby lifeboat member.

Whitby Lifeboat from 1938 called Mary Ann Hepworth

Next a group of dignitaries gathered on both sides of the bridge to officially unveil the specially-commissioned plaques marking the anniversary.
Then on the west side, Whitby town mayor Coun Terry Jennison cut the ribbon to reveal the plaque, while on the east side, Scarborough Borough Council mayor Coun Bill Chatt did the honours.

The Lord Mayor of both Whitby and Scarborough and various other dignitaries

They then led their groups, including many in historic costumes, to meet in the centre of the bridge, recreating a famous image from the opening 100 years ago.

In the meantime, huge crowds waited patiently on both sides for the bridge to re-open before the gates were finally unlocked and the massed throngs poured onto the bridge from both sides.

This is a film of eveyone crossing the bridge

Article, pictures and film by Alan Davidson copyright www.whitby.uk.net

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Old and New Pictures

alan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:06:33 +0000

Pictures of places of interest in Whitby, as they were and as they are now

The Langley luxury Guest Whitby

Whitby’s 199 steps

alan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:00:48 +0000

visit one of the most popular attractions in the county

Why would anybody want to climb the 199 steps?

Well for many reasons like the panoramic view of Whitby, to visit one of the most popular attractions in the county Whitby Abbey and St Hilda’s Church or simply just count them to say you’ve been there and done it.

It is very difficult to find a moment when somebody is not walking up the 199 steps, they attract visitors from every corner of the world.
You can start to ascend the climb from the end of Church Street which is on the East Side of Whitby which is generally known as the old part of town with its historic winding cobbled streets and numerous old fishing yards with quaint cottages from bygone years.

There is one train of thought that says there are actually 198 steps because the final step at the top should not be counted it is basically just the top, but the majority of people except there is 199, with the exception of a few that simply lost count while gasping for breath on the way up. Once you reach the top you get a beautiful view across to the west side of Whitby with the Royal Crescent Hotel and famous Whales Jaw bone.

You are now also in the grounds and graveyard of St Hilda’s Church with Whitby Abbey just behind.

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