involved in the fishing industry (mostly whitefish) which is landed by its own trawler fleet. There is a commercial side to the port which deals in fertilisers, steel and potash as well as other smaller cargoes. Folklore Every year on Ascension Eve (38 days after Easter Sunday), a ceremony is held at 9:00 am on the east side of the upper harbour, to celebrate the planting of the Penny Hedge. This stems from an old folklore tale of how in 1159, three noblemen of the area were out hunting boar in the Eskdale woods. One of the boars took refuge in a chapel and the men tried to effect entry, but an old hermit would not allow them in. They murdered him, but before he died, the hermit forgave his murderers, if every Ascensiontide, they would plant a hedge made of hazel wood in the River Esk at Whitby which could survive three tides. The hedge needed to be cut by a penny-knife and planted as specified otherwise the men's lands would be forfeited to Whitby Abbey, and as it was a penance as part of the hermits forgiving them their crime, if they did not carry it out, they could have faced execution charges. The tradition has been carried out every year since (according to available records) apart from 1981, when the tide was already too high to build the hedge. Settlements from source Westerdale Castleton Ainthorpe Danby Lealholm Glaisdale Egton Bridge Grosmont Sleights Aislaby Briggswath Ruswarp Whitby (flows into the North Sea) The Esk Valley Walk runs along part of the length of the river. See also Ship and boat building in Whitby Yorkshire coast fishery Yorkshire Esk Trail References Sources External links NHLE image from Larpool Viaduct looking eastwards towards Whitby harbour Continually updated image of Egton Dam on the River Esk Rivers of North Yorkshire