Jet: Specialties of the English port town of Whitby

Hello! My name is Inosho.
I would like to introduce the port town of Whitby in the Yorkshire region of England.

Whitby, a port town in England

Here is a map of Whitby.
To sum it up, it was a small and beautiful port town. Personally, I don’t like England very much, but Whitby is on the same wavelength as the rest of the country.

The population of Whitby is about 13,000. Compared to people in big cities such as London and Newcastle, people in Whitby are laid-back and calm.
Even in the United Kingdom, which is a representative of capitalism, the countryside is still the countryside.

Whitby is famous for its cruise ship tours and fish and chips.
It is also known as the birthplace of maritime explorer James Cook.

Specialties Whitby Jet

The most famous specialty product of Whitby is the jet. Jet is called “Kurodama” in Japanese. Jet is fossilized from trees such as Chilean pine that have spent a long time on the ocean floor.

The black, shiny jet material is processed into accessories and jewelry. Whitby jets already had a history of production as early as 1400 BC.

When Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861, she was so distressed that she wore a piece of morning jewelry made of witby jet throughout her mourning period.

Whitby Jet Jewelry

This led to the Whitby Jet becoming all the rage throughout the UK, including among the masses. The streets of Whitby became crowded with Whitby jet stores.

Although jets are now produced in China and other countries, Whitby is no longer producing jets on a commercial scale.

However, many “Whitby jets” are still sold as souvenirs in Whitby, perhaps as a remnant of the popularity of the jets at that time.

Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey, a tourist attraction in Whitby, was built in the 13th century in the Gothic style. It is famous as the inspiration for the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker.

The abbey was destroyed by the liberation of the monastery by Henry VIII and the German attack during World War I. Since then, the abbey has been devastated by nature and is now in ruins.

Because of the devastation, the site is now under the protection of English Heritage. For this reason, it is necessary to pay to enter the area or inside the building. I didn’t want to pay, so I just looked at it from a distance.

It is certainly a ruin, crumbling in some places, but that is not the point. However, I was glad to see that it gave an air of melancholy to the place.

Whitby, a fishing town

Well, Whitby is and always has been a port town where fishing is the main industry.
Even after the jet fad and the opening of the railroad made Whitby a tourist destination, the fishing industry has always been present.

Along the Eskimo River flowing through Whitby and near the mouth of the river, there is a line of boats that are clearly not for tourism. Perhaps these boats are used for fishing.

These boats are probably baskets used for basket fishing. As the name suggests, basket fishing uses baskets to catch food from the sea. In basket fishing, shrimp, crabs, whelks, hockey sticks, etc. are caught.

A small town but full of attractions

Whitby is small but full of attractions such as the town near the harbor, Jet, and Whitby Abbey.

The center of the town may be a bit crowded with tourists, but I thought it was a perfect place for a relaxing countryside tour of England. But even so, I thought it was a perfect place for sightseeing in a quiet English country town.

Another attraction is the Cleveland Way, a coastal hiking trail on the outskirts of the city.
Please refer to another article about this hiking trail.

See you tomorrow!