How Whitby's industry was built on the sea

And its sandy beach front is right up there among the best that it has to offer.

The Whitby coastline is an attractive prospect for visitors across Yorkshire and beyond - and especially so in pleasant weather.

So much so, in fact, that tourism chiefs believe the sunny Easter Bank Holiday last year was the town’s busiest weekend ever.

Indeed, historically much of Whitby’s industry and prosperity came from the sea.

As well as its fishing heritage, during the 18th and early 19th centuries the town was a prosperous port with booming shipbuilding and whaling industries.

It became famous for designing and building ‘Whitby cats’, a specialist type of boat with a flat bottom that could take to land, meaning the ships could be easily painted and repaired on a beach.

Perhaps the most famous of these vessels is the HM Bark Endeavour, a Royal Navy research ship, which was captained by Lieutenant James Cook.

Captain Cook started his maritime career in the town. He spent his early seaman’s life on local collier ships, taking their cargos of coal between the Tyne and London.

He later used Endeavour to travel to Australia and New Zealand, setting sail from Plymouth in 1768 on a scientific voyage of discovery.

In 2018, a full scale replica of the ship was given a permanent home in Whitby as an attraction and education centre.

Visitors to the town can now voyage below deck and get a first-hand look at where the crew aboard the original vessel would have lived and worked.