Whitby Old Town from East Cliff North Yorkshire England
Whitby is a historic town in North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. Nowadays it is a fishing port and tourist destination. It is situated 47 miles from York, at 54 deg. 29 min. 24 sec. north latitude, and 35 min. 59 sec. west longitude, at the mouth of the River Esk and spreads up the steep sides of the narrow valley carved out by the river's course. At this point the coast curves round, so the town faces more north than east. Among the resulting alum producing centres, several were established close to Whitby, including that near Sandsend (now Sandsend Ness), just three miles from the town, in 1615. With this, two new, rapidly growing activities were promoted in the port of Whitby, the transport of the alum itself and that of the coal necessary for its production. With this, the town's wealth increased and Whitby began to grow, extending its activities to include shipbuilding, using the local oak as raw material. Taxes on imports entering via the port raised the necessary finance to improve and extend the town's twin piers, thereby improving the harbour and permitting further inceases in trade. In 1753 the first whaling ship to set sail from Whitby to Greenland. This initiated a new phase in the town's development, and by 1795 Whitby had become a major centre for the whaling industry. Whitby, Yorkshire, England Enlarge Whitby, Yorkshire, England Over the centuries, the town has spread both inland and onto the west cliff, whilst the east cliff (sometimes called the Haggerlythe) remains dominated by the ruins of Whitby Abbey and by Saint Mary's Church. It is quite a distance to reach the east cliff by road, the alternative being to climb the 199 steps, which are famed enough that many who make the climb can be heard counting on the way up. The west cliff has its own landmarks - a statue of Captain James Cook, who sailed from the town, and an arch of whalebone, in commemoration of the once large whaling industry. The whalebone arch is the second to sta
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Photo credit: © Mike Kipling Photography / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: boat, bram, cook, dracula, england, english, fishing, gothic, harbour, james, landscape, mikekipling, port, roof, sea, stoker, tiles, tourism, tourist, town, travel, uk, whaling, whitby, yorkshire
