Whitby webcam. Whitby Beach
Whitby is a town in the English county of North Yorkshire, UK, on the shores of the North Sea. It is located on the east coast of Britain near the Esk River delta. It was founded by the Northumbrian king Oswiu in 656, in the IX century it was devastated by the Vikings, who built a village in its place. It finally revived only after the Norman Conquest. In the 18th century, the city became a center of fishing, shipbuilding and mining of minerals (alum and gagate), and therefore began to grow rapidly. Today Whitby's main source of income is tourism. According to the 2001 census, the town had a population of just over 13,500.
The main stop on the North Shore of Yorkshire is Whitby, whose historical connections, ruins with a unique atmosphere, fishing harbors and its own unique charm make it a great northern resort. With its seventh-century abbey atop a cliff, Whitby has become a major site of Christianity and a major research center.
For a thousand years, local herring boats used the banks and harbors of the Esk River as their base until the great whaling boom of the 18th century changed the town's fortunes. Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick describes Whitby whalers like William Scoresby very similarly. In 1746, James Cook, who is revered as a national hero, took his first steps at sea from Whitby. All four of Cook's exploration ships, Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure, and Discovery, were built in Whitby.
Divided by the River Esk, the town is cut into two distinct halves connected by a drawbridge: the paved Old Town on the east and the newer (though mostly 18th and 19th century) town across the bridge, commonly called West Cliff, which has a waterfront, hotels and stores, some kiosks, entertainment venues and souvenir shops. Almost everything you'll want to see is in or above Old Town on the east end, mostly the Abbey ruins and the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.
