Plans are being laid for Filey to host a celebration of the Battle of Flamborough Head in September this year. The famous battle between the US Navy ship the Bonhomme Richard and the Royal Navy, took place in Filey Bay during the American Revolution in 1779. The battle has become emblematic of the pluck of the United States Navy. The Bonhomme Richard, and its Captain John Paul Jones, are as famous to Americans as Nelson and HMS Victory are to Britons. It is often said that the action marked the birth of the US Navy.

A working party is putting together plans for a Bonhomme Richard festival. Various other possibilities are being explored, including the feasibility of having a sculpture actually in the sea that would appear and disappear with the tides! The idea was partly born from a visit to Anthony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ figures on Crosby Beach in Merseyside. Of course, it might prove to be impracticable, but it is certainly causing some debate in the town!