Staithes Denim Jacket Kit

Staithes is a village built around a tiny harbour.  The houses are clustered together along the steep cliff sides and most of the streets are a series of steps and narrow pathways winding up the hill.  The women here wore a special bonnet which was padded on the top.  This was useful when carrying piles of baited lines on their heads or fresh water in wooden “skeeps” or buckets.  The gansey Miss Verrill made has horizontal bands of pattern which represent birds eyes of the gulls who circled the boats as the fish were gutted. These are separated by narrow bands of ridge and furrow, named after the pattern of the ploughr=ed fields.  Many fishermen had small plots of land to grow vegetables which helped to vary the families diet.