Whitby jet

Jet is fossilised monkey-puzzle wood, found in the cliffs between Whitby and Ravenscar and carved into jewellery since the Bronze Age. Queen Victoria's mourning jewellery made it a Victorian industry with over 200 workshops in the town. Today a handful of workshops remain on Church Street and in the yards around it; the Whitby Jet Heritage Centre has a reconstructed Victorian workshop. Look for jet on the beach after storms; it is light, warm to the touch and leaves a brown streak on unglazed pottery.