Clock this!

Another view from a terrace above Blackburn's Yard, off Church Street. The clock belongs to Whitby's old town hall. Non-native speakers might be interested in the title, which is, or used to be, slang for Look at this!

To buy a fat pig?

Not in Whitby market! The title line is from a children's rhyme:

To market, to market to buy a fat pig!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

There are stalls under the old town hall too, and sometimes buskers (street musicians).

Black Horse Yard

Turn into this secluded, prettily decorated cobbled yard by the famous Black Horse Inn on Church Street for a choice of holiday cottages.

The Black Horse Inn was formerly The White Horse Inn, but a change of name was imposed by local magistrates in 1828 to avoid confusion with the The White Horse and Griffin, just along the street.

This last-mentioned pub took its name from the coat of arms of the Cholmley family, the local gentry responsible for several architectural features of the town, including the Old Town Hall where you might have seen the flute and guitar duo a few days ago.

Where time stands still?

A view over the town from east to west, taken from the terrace up the steps from Blackburn's Yard.

Locals will immediately spot that this is an archived photograph: Woolworths, clearly visible on the harbourside in this picture, is no more! It has been replaced by an outdoor clothing shop.

Seeing the high harbour wall down below, it's difficult to imagine that the Esk sometimes overflows onto the streets. There is usually plenty of warning so that folk can get out the sandbags.

I'm not sure if the Old Town Hall clock, beneath which yesterday's buskers were playing, keeps good time.

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do

Christmas is coming,
the geese are getting fat;
please put a penny
in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny
a ha'penny will do;
if you haven't got a ha'penny,
God bless you!

The Christmas rhyme is a little late, but the money and the hat are appropriate. This is an old, scanned photograph of a couple of musicians playing under the Old Town Hall between Church Street and the cobbled market. The town was much busier than it looks here, and there were more than pennies going into the (old man's?) hat.

This duo were eventually invited to play in the Shepherd's Purse (now Sanders Yard) restaurant opposite. With my inside knowledge, I can also tell you that the young woman is Swiss, and that she is now a mother and published children's writer.

Busking is very popular in the UK, and is not considered as begging. It is much less common in France, except during festivals and in high density tourist spots like Montmartre, Paris, or Sarlat in the Dordogne.