17/08/2026
A few people have mentioned to me that the Whitby Regatta Greasy Pole should be held on the Monday, so I thought I’d have a bit of a dig into the history of it.
I actually thought Monday myself at first, because Monday was traditionally the main Whitby Regatta day going back years.
However, looking through old Regatta information, photographs and programmes, it turns out the Greasy Pole has been held on the Saturday for years. There’s definite evidence of it being a Saturday event in more recent Regattas, long before we brought it back this year.
The Greasy Pole itself goes back a long way — there are photographs of people competing on it in Whitby as far back as the 1940s/50s — although finding the exact day it was held that far back is proving a bit harder!
One brilliant bit of history we did find was a newspaper report from 1979, when my old mate Harry Morrison won the Greasy Pole Cup.
And, by a cracking bit of coincidence, 47 years later the winner of the revived Greasy Pole this year was Harry’s son, John Morrison! 🏆
Father and son, both Whitby Regatta Greasy Pole winners, nearly half a century apart. You couldn’t have planned that better if you tried. 👏
So the people saying Monday aren’t necessarily remembering it wrong — Monday has always had a huge association with Whitby Regatta — but as far as the Greasy Pole goes, Saturday is the established modern tradition.
I’m going to keep digging through the old programmes because it would be great to put together a proper history of the Greasy Pole and some of its past winners.
Either way, the important bit is…
THE GREASY POLE IS BACK! 😂
And after the turnout we had this year, it’s hopefully staying back. 💪
See you on the pole next year! 😂
