Staithes: New book tells stories of Yorkshire fishing village's 'storms, spume, dark seas and folklore'

Gloria Wilson grew up in the historic fishing village near Whitby and has now published Staithes – A Place Apart, which features photographs and drawings.

She said: “During rough weather, the sea battered against the houses and stormed up the slipways and along the cobbled High Street, and the air was filledwith spume. On the bridge, and alongside the small river, huddled groups of people watched, anxiously, the plunging boats and hoped that none would break their mooring ropes.“This book is a celebration of Staithes and its relationship to the sea. It is very much an interpretation of Staithes in personal terms, seen from my particular standpoint as an artist, maritime writer and photographer, and sets out to define what, for me, gives the settlement its singular magic and spirit, its ‘thatness’, its specificity, its ‘Staithesiness’.“In this intriguing place I have found a heady mix of seafaring activities, shorelines, inimitable fisher people, stalwart boats, notable marine artists, cats, dark seas and dashing spray, thick sepulchral fogs, the clutter of translucent fishing paraphernalia, folklore and local custom, and many architectural specialities, together with touches of joy, humour, absurdity, and melancholy, all set within a townscape and topography of distinctive and outstanding quality.

"Staithes has always been a working village, rugged and unpretentious, without attitude. Things have an elegance which results from useful function.”

The book is now on sale.