THE PIERS

Here's an old postcard showing the piers in their prime at the turn of the last century.

RESIDENTS OF SANDSEND 2

From the rockpools at Sandsend. 06/07/2009.

The Beadlet Anemone Actina equina belongs to the phylum Cnidaria, being a relative of the jellyfish and corals. It is well adapted to being left high and dry between tides, and it can tolerate fairly high temperatures and dessication without a problem. Outside the water they look like nothing more than lifeless blobs of jelly clinging to the rocks, but once submerged a beautiful rosette of tentacles gives them their flower like appearance.

Beadlet Anemones are the main food source of the Common Grey Sea-Slug Aeloidia papillosa, whose eggs can be seen here. The sea-slug can transport the undigested stinging cells from the anemone's tentacles into the fleshy outgrowths (cerata) on it's back, where it can use them for it's own self defence.


The Shore Crab Carcinus maenas is the most common British crab. It's the one all the kids haul up on their crabbing lines down by the swing bridge. Here is a view of the face of a rather large and fierce specimen found under a rock at Sandsend. Notice the mobile eyes and the antennules with their tiny pincers used to help pass food to the mouthparts.


The brittlestar Amphipholis squamata is an echinoderm related to the starfish and shares it's five fold symmetry. Unlike the starfish it doesn't glide along on a system of thousands of tiny tube feet. Instead it moves by sinuous movements of it's long slender arms, as illustrated in this rather fuzzy video.

BOUNDARY STONES ON SNEATON MOOR

These two stones set on a tumulus on Sneaton moor mark a parish boundary. The boundaries were often marked out along the lines of natural features and ancient man made structures, such as crosses and tumuli.

The stone on the left is inscribed 'SNEATON LIBERTY ASSIZES 1784'. This photo was taken looking in the direction of Pickering.

Looking towards Whitby, the other stone reads 'Goathland Boundary Determined at York Assizes 1818'.

This map shows the parish boundaries as they were before 1832 when the Civil Parishes started coming into being. The approximate site of the stones is marked by a red dot. The large parish that borders Sneaton is Pickering.

MOTH OF THE DAY

The Six-spot Burnet Moth. Loads of them on the Zig Zags.

SAND ART

This depiction of Whitby's west pier was drawn into the sand under the Spa on Sunday July12th by an unknown sand artist. The depiction of the stonework is particularly impressive.

This large and rather perfect sand circle was made on the same day in the same area. It reads 'NATIONAL STREET CHOIR FESTIVAL - WHITBY 2009.' On the right of the circle are the words 'THANX WHITBY.' A podcast of street choir singing from the festival can be found here on The Whitby Independent.

ROBIN HOOD'S BAY

An early 20th century view.

RESIDENTS OF SANDSEND 1

From the rockpools at Sandsend. 06/07/2009.

This is the scale worm Harmothoe imbricata. Scale worms of the family Polinoidae are Annelids just like earthworms, that is to say they have segmented bodies. H. imbricata has 15 pairs of overlapping scales known as elytra.
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On the North East coast they breed during March and April. They come together in pairs; sperm is shed onto the eggs, which are kept under the scales of the female where early development takes place.
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Larvae are released into the plankton two weeks later and they will be mature enough to breed the following year. Lifespan is thought to be up to four years.

Another as yet unidentified scale worm. Much smaller than Harmothoe imbracata at 1cm long. The scales do not overlap and they don't cover the entire body. Hopefully someone at the Marine Wildlife of the N. E. Atlantic group will give me a positive ID in due course.

This object was found attached to the underside of a stone quite high up the shore. It has been identified by Richard Lord via Marine Wildlife of the N. E. Atlantic as the egg mass of the sea slug Aeolidia papillosa.

Known as the Common Grey Sea Slug, it feeds on sea anemones and lays eggs at specific times each year. In Guernsey the adults arrive to spawn in March and May and then disappear again. Presumably with Whitby being so much further north, spawning occurs later. I've never seen evidence of sea slugs in this area before.
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The above picture shows the egg mass out of the water. The picture below shows the same mass submerged with a 1p piece for size reference.

TROUBLE AT t' MILL

This postcard from 1911 shows the aftermath of a fire at Ruswarp Mill. It was started by a bolt of lightning. The mill was built in 1752 for Nathanial Chomley, Lord of the Manor of Whitby, and has now been converted into a block of flats. The mill was water powered, a dam in the river provided the mill race. There had been a mill at Ruswarp since at least the time of the Domesday survey.

FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION: 23:06:09

'My building has every convenience,

It's going to make life easy for me,

It's going to be easy to get things done there,

I can relax along with my loved ones.'

Don't Worry about The Government by Talking Heads - 1977

' I love to go to the playground

and watch the kids jumping around.

They don't know I'm firing blanks.'

Emo Phillips

'And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow

every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;

the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,

and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.'

Genesis: Chapter2, Verse 9

We're standing here,

Exposing ourselves,

We are Showroom Dummies,

We are Showroom dummies.'

Showroom Dummies by Kraftwerk - 1977

'Where there is a virgin piece of ground to work upon,where the canvas is clear,
and where the designer may inscribe upon it
any picture that he pleases,
the opportunity for constructing an up-to-date
and beautiful garden
should be seized with avidity'
F. Hadfield Farthing - 1929

' The quay of the haven of the town [which is] much decayed and broken down,

to the great peril and damage

as well of alien merchants

as of denizens wishing to arrive and rest in that port with their ships

and also of the burgesses dwelling in the town

wanting to pass.'

From a grant of quayage dated 1411

Whitby Woolworth's number on closure list - 196

Members of staff losing jobs - 26

Closure date - 27.12.08

Final closure date for all Woolworth's shops - 05.01.09

Figures from Whitby Gazette

'This Pannet Park
belongs to the people of Whitby
not Scarborough Councillors' Quango Committee.
Who stole our trees? '
Unknown writer - On a sign in Pannet Park

WHITBY WORDS OF 1855

Francis Kildale Robinson was born in London in 1809, but he was not destined to live in the capital all his life. He became a resident of Whitby, and for a period of time he worked at a chemist's shop in Baxtergate.
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He became fascinated by the local accent and the dialect words and idioms that cropped up in customers' conversations all the time.
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Describing himself as an antiquary and topographer, he published several books such as the snappily titled 'Whitby: Its Abbey, and the Principal Parts of the Neighbourhood; or a Sketch of the Place in its Former History and Present State, with the Topography and Antiquities of the Surrounding Country', published by S. Reed in 1860.
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He is best known however for a different publication; ' A Glossary of Yorkshire Words and Phrases Collected in Whitby and the Neighbourhood'.
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Published in 1855 by John Russell of London, it is a dictionary of a forgotten vocabulary that developed in this isolated community cut off by the moors and the sea. 'In recluse districts we may expect to find the greatest number of genuine provincialisms — of Ancient Vocal Sounds' he wrote.
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As an example, if you're suffering from the kincough, or hooping cough as it became known, try this; 'It is the practice to put a live hairyworm into a small bag, which is hung round the neck of the patient, and as it decomposes, the cough will decrease.'

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The whole of this book can be read online by clicking here, or you can download the entire book to your computer by clicking here and saving one of the file formats. I think the PDF is best for regular usage.
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Francis Kildale Robinson died in Whitby on January 6th, 1882.
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