As befits a region with a very long history, a culture has evolved which is recorded in many different ways. Local museums are the best repositories for artefacts which often date from the very earliest settlement. They also present excellent displays based on local history and tradition.

Place names and language also contribute to our story. Village names ending in by link us to the Viking settlement while those ending in ton are of Anglo-Saxon derivation.

Visit Staithes and you may still see local women wearing the traditional Staithes bonnet or fishermen in their ganseys, the heavy, oiled wool jersey with its locally distinct pattern.

Story and superstition are still commonplace. Even today some local fishermen will not put to sea if, while going down to their boat they meet a woman or someone mentioned a pig! Walk to Hob Holes in Runswick Bay to see if the hob who can cure whooping cough is in residence or call at Boggle Hole to converse with the local elf!

Painters and writers, poets and sculptors, musicians and actors have over the years all contributed to the colourful mosaic which is a part of what makes the Yorkshire coast a very special place.

• The Natural World
• Buildings and Architecture
• Working Now and Then
• Historic Routes
• Culture & Traditions