Welcome to another edition of WWG NEWS.

We’ve slipped a little from our original daily schedule, but it’s hard to write even a paragraph, let alone a page, when nothing at all happens – and you can’t get out to make it happen. The national news media are wall-to-wall coronavirus, and you have to look hard to find an article on anything else. So future editions of WWG NEWS will be a little more sporadic, perhaps 2-3 times a week rather than daily.

Since the lockdown closed my gym, I’ve been trying to get at least an hour a day of exercise by walking in the open air. Also to inject a little interest into life I’ve been going to parts of the immediate neighbourhood that I haven’t visited in a long while.

If I read my Whitby Gazette better I would have known that the new footbridge connecting the East Pier with its extension had been opened. As it was I only realised it must be open when I saw it from a distance while out on my walks, but could no longer see the barriers on the East Pier. So today I thought I’d saunter over the swing bridge to the East Side and take a look at it.

It was nearly sundown before I set out. I walked the length of Henrietta Street and down the slope to the pier. Scarborough Borough Council have put up a number of notices, mostly of a warning nature. One of these notices inform me of something I didn’t know: that the Whitby East Pier dated from 1702 – which happens to be the year of the accession of Queen Anne to the throne.

The new footbridge confidently spans the gap. It is tubular steel, painted white, as are the new railings along the west side of the extension. As I walked over the bridge above uneasy waters in the growing darkness, the wind turned the railings into an Aeolian harp, making a spooky sort of cathedral music. A distinct asset to gothic Whitby, as visitors will discover for themselves once the lockdown has been eased.

Throughout the whole of my walk I encountered no more than five people. The harbourside is virtually deserted. Although as I made my way back across the swing bridge, I did hear people singing loudly from the direction of Parkol in the upper harbour, as if there was an outdoor rave going on. A police car passed me, evidently heading in that direction.