Joy. Thanks. I know the Dolphin. In fact I once had a meal in there, walked out without paying, and got over the bridge before I realised what I'd done. Naturally I hared back full of grovelling apologies, thinking half the coppers in Yorkshire would be out looking for me. The two staff I spoke to took the money, but disinterested was hardly the word.

Regarding attitudes of Whitby folk to the festival. I go back far enough to remember when the festival weekend, as it was then, was the signal for every yob in Northern England to ride into town, get drunk, start fights and the devil knows what else. Not unnaturally, the locals blamed the festival goers and there was a lot of bad feeling towards them. Fortunately, the yobs eventually moved somewhere else and, as far as I know, there's never been any serious trouble since.

As I said in an earlier posting, this year will be my first for quite a number of years. However, in the days when I could attend regularly, and subsequent to the disappearance of the louts, I cannot remember seeing anything remotely resembling ill feeling towards the festival or towards festival goers, by the locals.

And why not? The festival brings a lot of cash into the town and local people must surely enjoy the dance displays and any other free outdoor events which the festival lays on.