Yorkshire By the Sea does exactly what it says on the tin. It shows you Yorkshire – specifically, the bits of it that are by the sea. And it shows you some of the people who live there. We meet the Robsons, a family of fishers in Bridlington; the boatbuilder Jim Morrison in Whitby; volunteers at Bempton Cliffs nature reserve (and then back to Whitby, to visit the wildlife rescue centre that takes care of any other waifs and strays people like them find). We are introduced to Dave Brewin at the music venue the Scarborough Spa, plus sea swimmers from the Hub – who plunge into the waters of the south bay and live off the endorphins until they can do it again – and others parcelled out at a rate of four or five an episode. Presumably, this is so that viewers don’t miss too much of whatever else they are doing while watching this quintessential summer filler.
As a Lancastrian, it pains me to say it, but God’s own country lives up to its name in every shot. Bridlington looks buffed and shining. The kittiwakes flying round Bempton are like a flurry of snowflakes lit by the sun. Spending a day at the Scarborough Spa, with its unchanged mood and the trappings of Victorian gentility, feels like travelling back in time.
