Highlights in this issue:

• A charming Victorian diary record of the 1887 Whitby and Saltburn holiday of Richard and Bessie Combe Miller from London, including watercolour paintings by Bessie.

• The Lockwood Beck Reservoir manager’s diary during wartime; entries selected by Simon Whitlock depict harrowing months of wartime watches, sirens and local bombings.

• Mementos of Frank Thompson: a letter from inspirational Glaisdale scouts leader, Skip, and a Whitby School Journal report of physics teacher Clarence Preston, who laid the foundations for Frank’s career as a physicist.

• Photos showing Whitby’s musical past and the Lyth family’s long connections with music making.

• A diary held at Whitby Museum recording the inspirational life of Whitby midwife, Mrs Katherine Manley, and offering insights into childbirth in the 1700s.

• Extracts from Mina Murray’s journal in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  

• Anne Press’s discovery of a truly scientific 1800s theologian way ahead of his time – Rev. J. Hawell of Ingleby Greenhow.

• John Hollingshead’s article in Charles Dickens’ journal ‘All the Year Round’, featuring a host of colourful characters at the Loftus Band Contest in 1859.

• Whitby-based writer and film-maker Mark Goodall’s recreations of Arthur Machen’s supernatural tales – using Esk Valley locations to great effect.

• Hand-crafted products at Lizzie Watson’s Off the Scales in Castleton – including beautiful hand-painted postcards of local scenes by Emma Knowles.

• Short stories by local writers Helen Searle and Nathalie Touitou; a comic-strip by Pascal Thivillon.

• Exhibitions at Ryedale Folk Museum and Danby Lodge National Park Centre; a new play by Mark Stratton at the Esk Valley Theatre; music, dance and fun at Saltburn Folk Festival and other summer events. 

• A partial review of the hugely successful Community Earth Festival for the Esk Valley and East Cleveland.