Final push for residents to own historic whalebones

Scarborough Borough Council is urging the seaside town’s residents to take ownership of the historic artefact before it is destroyed.

The bones, which were acquired in 1963 by Whitby Rural District Council as a gift from a Norwegian Shipping Company, were being stored at Wilf Noble, a building firm in the town.

The company agreed to look after the weathered bones after they were taken down in the late 1990s, when an earlier appeal to find new custodians failed to attract any interest following the closure of Whitby Archives, where they were originally on display.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last week how the building firm had listed the bones on Ebay at a starting bid of £100 after being given permission to dispose of them when no one came forward. However, the firm was forced to remove the listing after it was accused of flouting regulations linked to the sale of animal matter and endangered species.

John Woodhead, Scarborough Borough Council’s northern area engineer said: “The bones have become homeless due to their size, it is unfortunate but the council has nowhere left to store them.”

In 2002, after a worldwide appeal, the council acquired a new set of jaw bones from one of its twin towns – Barrow in Alaska – for a replacement 19ft arch on the West Cliff.

Coun Joe Plant said: “It would be poignant if the whalebones could remain in Whitby.”