The White Horse & Griffin

The White Horse & Griffin upstairs room. Here it is set fair for a private hire tonight. I suspect for a party of steam punks with Whitby heaving with them ready for Halloween.

The WH&G is just fabulous. Do go if you’re ever in the area. It’s a 17th century inn and one of the oldest buildings in Whitby. It has looked after many guests, including James Cook of course. Here’s a short extract about his association with the inn:

‘Between the years of October 1746 to June 1755, Captain Cook made many voyages from Whitby where he studied navigation and all duties involved with sailing ships. It was here that he truly fell in love with the sea and was born his desire to circumnavigate the globe. In HMS Endeavour he charted New Zealand and circumnavigated the globe from east to west and then a second voyage saw him circumnavigate the globe from west to east in HMS Resolution.

Captain Cook recruited his sailors for these voyages from The White Horse and Griffin restaurant and bar and often stayed in the same rooms of which our guests stay now.’

It’s a queer thing to be typing this in our little cottage just a few doors up from where the young James Cook cut his teeth here in Staithes. Tonight the weather blows foul. It’s wonderful!

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