MIDDLESBROUGH mayor Andy Preston is right to defend Captain James Cook’s legacy, which includes his statues at Great Ayton and Whitby, his monument on Easby Moor, and the name of our hospital (Echo, June 12).

Coming from lowly beginnings, the son of a Great Ayton farm labourer, Cook was neither conqueror, imperialist, nor racist.He advanced through intelligence and graft, serving apprenticeships in Staithes and Whitby, before enlisting in the Royal Navy.

His positive contributions to humanity are literally global. During his three great voyages of circumnavigation, he accurately charted the coastline of New Zealand, the Great Barrier Reef and a myriad of Pacific islands; in addition to crossing the Antarctic Circle and naming eastern Australia “New South Wales”. He didn’t use warships, but robust Whitby colliers: Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure and Discovery. During his third voyage, he was tragically killed, on February 14, 1779, by islanders on Hawaii.

Not only did Cook do more to map the globe accurately than anyone previously, he also beat scurvy, the occupational hazard of mariners, by persuading his men to eat citrus fruits, water cress and melons.

Cook was not perfect but his virtues far, far outweigh his faults.

Let’s protect his legacy against misguided detractors!

Steve Kay, Redcar & Cleveland Councillor, Lockwood.