Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it this week, the most likely answers, seem to me to be

Q1. Saltburn by the Sea

Q2. William Scoresby

(NB for question1 this town is sometimes refered to simply as Saltburn but it is called Saltburn-by-the-Sea on some maps.For question 2 there was a William Scoresby senior and his son William jnr but it was Scoresby senior who allegedly invented the barrel crow's nest)

The initial clues place us in the town of Whitby (first mentioned town), which sits on the river Esk in north Yorkshire. The town some way to the northwest (second mentioned town) which the author says he visited en route, is most likely Saltburn by the Sea, it has a 207ft funicular tramway and a 681 foot pier, which was according to the references I checked, opened in 1869 and had an original length of 1500 feet. A town which lies to Saltburn's northwest (third mentioned town) and which had a pier that was said to be 45 foot long when it was demolished in 1981, is most likely Redcar.

There does appear to be a lighthouse in the vicinity of Whitby and the sources I looked at claim that it is 13 metres or around 43 feet high and was established c1858. Whitby is famous for among other things, fossilized monkey puzzle tree wood aka lignite or jet. Whitby abbey became a ruin after the Danes (ruddy 'ooligans) and old Henry the Eighth  trashed it, in the 9th and 16th centuries respectively. This vandalism was further compounded by Kaiser Bill, who sent admiral Von Hipper of the German imperial navy no less, over c1914 with a battle group to shell the coast of England (their cunning plan was to draw the British navy out to fight and then sink their ships). The abbey was hit by the bombardment and sustained damage. References checked claim it was founded c 657ad by king Oswy and ruled over by an abbess called Hild who later became saint Hild (feast day 17th november). Oswy who was born c611/612 ad may be buried in the abbey.

A shiver might have run down the writer's spine at this eldritch location, as it was here that Bram Stoker set some of the tale of his Jungian shadow 'Dracula' (the Eastender Himself prefers F.W.Murnau's version of this archetypal shade, which he rebranded as 'Nosferatu' and got sued by the Stoker estate for his trouble. A judge ordered the film to be burned but a copy survived and it is still surprisingly watchable today), though the 1863 novel he refers to is most likely 'Sylvia's Lovers' by Elizabeth Gaskell in which Whitby appears under the guise of a town called 'Monkshaven'. A navigator associated with Whitby who invented the barrel crow's nest, is most likely William Scoresby senior. Some of the references indicate that he did reach a latitude beyond 81 degrees north c1806.

link to the competition

Sunday Times Where Was I?