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Whitby Harbour
The harbour showing some of the boats and some bouys and gulls Route to Whitby
Lee & Susan What follows is a series of bizarre events including a rather strange place called
WHITBY:
The jewel of the Yorkshire crown" and "The Gateway to the Moors" are just two descriptions of how artists, writers, photographers, film and t.v.producers view the town of Whitby. The glories of maritime heritage abound. Reading about its distinctive architecture of fishermen's cottages, narrow cobbled streets, lanes, yards and ghauts, many dating from medieval times, was what first attracted us to Whitby and we were really looking forward to "checking the place" out for ourselves to see if it was all true - and we weren't disappointed!
The day started at about 11am after a late night before - our driver for the day Mr Jaymie Quinn and his rather exceptional Honda escorted us down one of the oddest routes we have taken so far - via the A64 and A169 - "The middle of nowhere" is somewhere around here,as is the "Hole of Horcum" which sounds like another planet exists in the area but actually looks like a small one hit the Earth and left a dent in it.
RAF Fylingdales is on the route and a rather nice Little Chef which accommodated
Whitby Abbey
Gothic remains [Remnants of a monumental structure with diminished integrity] us with coffee when we took a rest stop.
We finally reached Whitby at 13.00 and were surprised at how many tourists were around. After parking the car (£5 for 6 hours + in the long stay car park) we quickly made our way to the Tourist Information Centre and as we only had 8 hours to spend in Whitby, asked what sites we should visit as we didn't want to waste ANY time savouring its sights and sounds. Speaking of savoury, from the time we arrived to the time we left, the smell of fish and chip shops filled our nostrils as the harbour at Whitby is still a busy working environment. An iron swing bridge provided us and other tourists with amusement as a bell rung out while the swing bridge lifted to let some smaller boats and yachts pass before being lowered to provide a road which we could cross to have our hunger satisfied by one of the many "Fish & Chippy" cafes and our expectations were met.
In true Whitby tradition, Count Dracula stood at the end of the bridge, in his full regalia waiting patiently to have his photograph taken with us for just
St Mary's Church
199 steps to heaven! a pound!
We decided to ascend to the heights of the Abbey, which now stood in magnificent ruins and dominated part of the landscape of the old town of Whitby (see photo). It was exactly as we had expected - dramatic and darkly moody, in it's gothic splendour. The information centre was very helpful in providing the background information we needed - and a cafe provided us with devon scones, cappucinos and caramel squares - providing a sweet ending to this part of our journey through Whitby.
We briefly looked in on St. Mary's Church, itself steeped in Georgian history, surrounded by gravestones with the sea and harbour beyond (see photo). Before entering the old town, we descended down the "199 steps" which provided us with a spectacular view of harbour, cobbled streets and fishermen's houses frozen in time (see photo). The day was proving to be more and more interesting as more insights were being gained and a further history of Whitby appreciated.
We then went over to the East Cliff in search of the Whale Bone gateway but on route, stopped for icecream and a visit to "the Dracula Experience" for £2 each! (In case you didn't
Looking into Whitby East
View of the East from the West side across the swing bridge know, Bram Stoker used to live in Whitby and penned his well known novel here). It was the equivalent of a 'ghost train' on foot but provided us with some amusement and a sense of Bram Stoker's character. Our next adventure was onboard the
Bark Endeavour - a replica of the boat which James Cooke set sail on all for the price of 2 gold coins arrrhh! (see photo). What a time we had - entertained by seasoned sea men singing sea shanties with the spray coming over the sides and front of the ship!
Leaving the harbour we passed the two lighthouses, the light of one being seen 10 miles away.
Our day was fast coming to an end and when we alighted from the ship we went to see the Whale Gate and paid a visit to the Royal Hotel for a drink whilst waiting for the Dracula/Ghost walk to begin.
We had time to peruse some of the things we had picked up en route - including Jaymie's book on World War II which included an entry from one "
Raymond Cooper" - which was rather a spooky coincidence.
It was such a beautiful evening we
decided to join the gulls on the beach but unfortunately missed the 'lift' as there was a steep drop so we we had to walk 'the long way around' but it was WELL worth it (see photo).
The sea was far enough out to be able to walk along the front of the rocks which hold back the sea and the light had become overcast and cloudy but with the sun hanging behind the clouds - the picture does the scene justice. The gulls were roosting for the evening and we made our way back to the whalebones to wait for the Ghost Walk to begin.
The Ghost Walk commences at 8 pm to 9.20 pm from the Whale Gate and brought an end to our days activities in Whitby, taking us through the narrow passage ways and cobbled street steeped in history.
It was hosted by a rather strange touchy-feely gentleman called
Harry Collett dressed in a black top hat and cape representative of the supposed vampire prince he was to tell us about. It was all very entertaining and he had obviously been doing this for a long time - one began to wonder whether in
The Bay
The Bay viewed from the east side with The Bark Endeavour [Inset] fact he too had been around for centuries and he indeed made the suggestion that one should beware of that possibility!
After leaving us back at the Royal Hotel alongside the picture of Bram Stoker which adorns the wall,Harry seemed to disappear from view and we were unable to locate him anywhere - but later we saw a small Pipistrelle bat in the narrow allyways of Whitby and presumed he was making his way back to the Abbey!
There was only one way to end our short but action-packed day in Whitby, and that was to eat chips in the car and see the colourful lights strung around the harbour and reflect on our day there. Our only regret was that we couldn't stay longer but...tomorrow is another day and we ARE, the tomorrow people!
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Alan Moore
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Dracula in Whitby
Whitby certainly is a fantastic place to visit AND there's so much going on BEHIND the scenes. To find out more and discover the real nature of the Dracula connection, visit www.dracula-in-whitby.com. If you haven't visited Whitby before, you need to do do so ASAP!