If I can summarize what I'm being told in this thread and at Steve in Sidmouth's site: the appropriate comparison seems not to be Whitby but the Battle of Passchendaele, 1917.

Passchendaele wins because of:

- less mud
- better sanitation
- less mass assaults involving loud noise
- the Boche were friendlier than Sidmouth Council.

They're about equally liable to cost you an arm and a leg.