I learned a lot whilst visiting the delightful Captain Cook Museum.
This is is a wonderful little museum dedicated to the history of Captain Cook and Great Ayton itself. It also contains a reconstruction school room that brings to life James Cook's childhood and time at Charity School. The interactive displays also chart his adventures on the high seas.
The museum is run entirerly by volunteers and receives close to 8,000 visitors in the 6 months a year that it is open! It is free to enter. Tourism is an important part of the local economy in the constituency and Captain Cook is a big part of that. People travel from all over to follow his story and this museum is great way for people to learn more. It is a tribute to the local community that the museum can be run entirerly by volunteers.
Having picked up some nice gifts for my wife and kids from the excellent shop downstairs, I headed off to Suggitts nearby to enjoy some of their legendary ice cream!