His description of the location is: "This district includes and runs north and south of the ancient port of Whitby, between the wild, heather-clad moors and the North Sea's edge. It extends northward to Skinningrove, where grim blast furnaces and gigantic steel mills mark the outposts of the Tees industrial area. It reaches southward to the massive promontory of Ravenscar, one-time haunt of the Danish sea robbers, where the moor edge starts to sweep inland, and there is that subtle change which denotes a different geological neighborhood," (p. 197).
Here there is an actual fishing town called Robin Hood's Bay. Legend says that Robert of Huntingdon lived in the forests and "waylaid and plundered the rich ecclesiastical convoys traveling the rude pack road between the old seaport and the holy city of York," (p. 197). In the time of this article, 1933, the inhabitants were descendants of the original Danish and other Scandinavian sea warriors. The author reports, "The sea is in their blood. To the majority of them it is still a profession," (p. 197).
In the town of Whitby, the parish church, St. Mary's, dates from 1100; parishoners must climb all of 199 steps to reach St. Mary's. There are ruins of Whitby Abbey. It "flourished for three centuries, and finally its treasures were removed by Henry VIII in 1540," (photo caption, p. 206).
A mineral called 'jet,' was formerly mined near Whitby. As I've read various references to 'jet,' I wondered what it was: fossilized wood turned to carbon.
Whitby is also known for its extensive fossil beds of ammonite (a new pre-historic animal to me): a relative of the squids and octopuses. Apparently there are frequent fogs at Whitby but they have a lighthouse, "High Lighthouse," perched on top of a tall cliff with a fog horn named "Whitby mad bull."
The fishing industry was wiped out following World War I, what all literature of this period call "The World War," due to German U-boats' presence around the coast and charges dropped in a effort to stop them. In 1933, the industry had largely recovered. Salmon, cod, crab, and lobster were the primary catches.
Robin Hood's Bay is the town where the author, Mr. Walmsley, grew up. It is oceanside, which we could guess from the name of the place, but Bay apparently has no harbor. "In 1816 Bay possessed 35 (of the local flat rowboats, 'cobles'), and at least 130 men were regularly employed in the fishing industry. Today (1933) only two families are exclusively so engaged, and it likely that these will have to give up soon," (p. 222). The young men found ready employment on the large boats in towns like Whitby where there were adequate harbors, or they immediately went to the merchant marine service.
The author proved beyond doubt the truth of his claim that Bay's men were scattered around the world. "During a recent visit to New York the author encountered five men of his native Robin Hood's Bay, all from different ships," (photo caption, p. 229).
Ravenscar is a cliff rising more than 600 feet sheer from the sea. "The summit of Ravenscar reveals a magnificent panorama over Robin Hood's Bay and the farms and wooded vales of Fylingdales. There, as recorded by a tablet unearthed, the Romans maintained a small fortress. The selfsame site during the World War was an emplacement for a long-range naval gun which on several occasions came into action against U-boats waiting for the convoys that passed each day on their way to France. And to-day there is a coast guard look-out hut, where watch is maintained day and night in bad weather for vessels of all nations that may be in distress," (p. 230).
To the west of Whitby is the fertile Esk valley and the moors. Mr. Walmsley just mentions this area in passing. I expect that the moors are sparsely settled due to the nature of moors. When I visited my brother, Don, and sister-in-law, Kathleen, in Ireland, we took daily walks in the country past a genuine moor that was a peat bog. I had never seen one so had to learn what caused peat to form: centuries of a land with poor drainage covered with layers of prehistoric vegetation. This peat bog in Ireland was a working farm in which active cutting of the peat to be made into fuel was in operation. For now, this moor in England is a national park. Don't you like to 'visit' new places!
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