'Pier Road, Whitby' Catalogue No.71:
An almost 'stage set' effect is suggested by this sharply evocative photograph by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, which must rank high amongst records from the Victorian period which are at once realistic and yet pictorial. It depicts Pier Road and Coffee House Corner alongside Whitby's lower harbour in the 1890s.

For the technically minded, the photograph was taken on a 6.5in. x 8.5in. glass dry-plate and is a difficult one from which to print, with dense highlights in the sky area and extremely subtle tones running through the rest of the image. Added to this the original negative is a very blemished one requiring hours of hand finishing to obtain a presentable result - but worth it!

Available in LARGE (300 x 400mm; 12" x 16").

'Rustic Idyll'; Catalogue No.73:
This scene of rural contentment was probably taken at Hart Hall Farm, Glaisdale, a village on the side of the Esk Valley approximately ten miles from Whitby. It depicts two of Sutcliffe's children, Horace and Irene fishing for newts.

Available in LARGE (300 x 400mm; 12" x 16").

'Teapot Hill, Sandsend' Catalogue No.77
This photograph depicts a sunlit family group outside a row of cottages in the Teapot Hill area of Sandsend. The first two cottages were together called 'Rockery Cottage'. However, to distinguish them from each other one was called 'big end' and the other 'little end'. They have since been converted into one dwelling. The small images shown here do not do justice to the detail and character of this quaint little village shown on the full sized print.

Available in small (114 x 152mm)

'Runswick Bay' Catalogue No.78
Viewed from the south east looking towards the village. In the mid-distance is the lifeboat shed with its ramp descending to the shoreline. Runswick obtained its first lifeboat,'The Sheffield' in 1866. It was presented to the village by donations from the people of Sheffield and like all lifeboats of that period was a rowing boat. During the 1600s, the entire village was wiped out in a landslip yet nobody was injured.

Available in small (114 x 152mm).

'The Haven under the Hill' Catalogue No. 80
Whitby town and harbour photographed from the East Cliff. The rooftops of Henrietta Street can be seen in the foreground. This is one of the most dramatic and atmospheric photographs in the collection of work by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe. It is from an early duplicate negative and the impressionistic effect is almost certainly the result of Sutcliffe having used a bromoil print as an intermediate from which he made the copy negative. It is easy see to why Bram Stoker set a substantial part of his Gothic novel 'Dracula' in the ancient port of Whitby! The title is taken from an early postcard published by Sutcliffe.

Available in small (114 x 152mm)