The ironstone mines, the great cliffs, a mysterious fossil, a very peculiar toilet and a heartbreaking family tragedy: in his autobiography Out of the Old Earth, writer Harold Heslop recalls the extraordinary years he spent as a boy at Boulby, looking out over the sea beyond Staithes. Staithes has always been a place best understood through the people who have lived here, worked here and watched the sea from its shores. Their stories are not confined to the narrow streets of

One of our local volunteers has written an article to give you an introduction to Alum. Come and see some real alum at the museum - and a unique urine barrel... Alum was used as a mordant or fixative for dyes in the textile industry, for waterproofing leather, in the manufacture of parchment, glass and candles, and as a fire-retardant. As a fixative for natural dyes it was essential to allow the finery of the Church, the crown or the court to be distinctive from the drab colo