16 | WINTER IN WHITBY


A WINTER IN WHITBY


Take in the whimsical delights of Whitby this winter and discover a world of tradition and heritage...


BY ANDREA MCVEIGH


UNLIKE Dracula, we arrived in the historic seaside town of Whitby by car. The famous fictional vampire arrived


in the seaside port on a ship run aground below the town’s East Cliff, in Bram Stocker’s 1897 novel of the same name. The Irish author had visited Whitby in 1890, staying in a guesthouse on Royal Crescent, and was so inspired by the atmosphere of the coastal town, and its ominous-looking Abbey ruins perched on a windswept headland, that he set part of his story there. These days, the usual route to this town


on Yorkshire’s East Coast isn’t by vampire- carrying ship, but by a train that runs on the Esk Valley Line from Middlesborough to Whitby and takes you through some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. Or you can get there, like we did, by car,


after flying to England on Loganair’s Belfast City to Teesside flight. After picking up our hire car from the airport carpark, we were on our way, driving over part of the stunning North York Moors National Park, to get to Whitby. It’s perhaps partly due to the Dracula connection, as well as Whitby’s historically isolated location (before the era of mass transport), that the town has developed its own special culture and personality. As well as being picturesque and friendly, it can also be quirky, even eccentric. There are two Goth weekends a year as well as a Whitby Pirate Festival, which raises money for the RNLI. And it’s not unusual to see members of the Whitby International Pirate Society dress up and hit the pubs of the town. And those who love the supernatural will appreciate the nightly ‘In Search of Dracula’ and Ghost Walks, from Whitby Walks.


But these


t h i n g s only add to Whitby’ s incredible charm. It’s a wonderful ly welcoming place – as all those and


goths pirates


will tell you! Whitby has a long and fascinating history . There was a


monastery, on the site of the current Abbey, as far back as the year 657 and today’s 13th century Gothic ruins still dominate the landscape. It’s traditional for tourists to walk the 199 steps from the old town, with its narrow and


cobbled streets, up to St. Mary’s Church and the Abbey grounds, which are now under the care of English Heritage.


But if you don’t want to attempt the steps, you can always get an open-top, hop-on, hop-off Whitby Town Tour bus. It runs seven days a week, every half hour,


and


conveniently stops at the Abbey, amongst other attractions. The tour begins and ends at a bus stop across from the Whalebone Arch on the West Cliff,


and yes, the arch really is made from whale bones. While Whitby has been a fishing port since medieval times, its whaling history began in the mid-1700s, and while people now prefer to see these magnificent creatures on whale watching trips, there’s no doubt that whaling helped to develop the town into a thriving hub in the 18th century. There’s also a strong connection to Captain Cook and his voyages of discovery. As an apprentice to a local shipping company, Cook lived in Whitby in the ship Master’s family home. Today it houses the Captain


Cook Memorial Museum. Cook


made history as one of the finest sailors and explorers of all time, charting the waters of the Pacific, South Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. But it was Whitby where he learned his craft, and where his ships the Endeavour and Resolution were built.


Also well worth a visit is the privately


owned Whitby museum, a treasure in its own right. Founded in 1823 by the grandly- titled Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, it’s still in the society’s charitable hands. There are costumes, textiles, toys, clocks, model ships and curios, items of Whitby history and scrimshaw engravings on whale bone. Entire sections are devoted


to natural history, fossils and jet, the black gemstone popular in mourning jewellery of the Victorian era.


And don’t forget to also visit the fascinating RNLI Lifeboat Museum with its restored 104 year- old lifeboat and moving history of the town’s lifeboat volunteers over the decades. You can’t leave Whitby without enjoying some fish and chips. And you won’t be stuck for choice – there are at least 20 options to choose from in the harbour area alone. You’ll not just see the variety of potato written on chalk boards inside restaurants and takeaways, but also the names of the trawlers the fish were caught by. One of the most famous eateries is the Magpie Café,


which


opened in 1939 and is renowned for the queues which start to form outside its distinctive black and white building,


long


before opening time.


Head Chef Paul Gildroy stopped by our table to see how we were enjoying our meal at the Magpie on our first night in town. He’s been working there for 36 years, after starting off at age 12 in a weekend job buttering bread. He told us he can serve up to one thousand meals a day in the restaurant alone, never mind the takeaway. Another great place to try is The Quayside, which is also family-run. With its booths and upstairs cocktail bar, its stylish décor harks back to the town’s classy Victorian heritage. It is housed in what used to be the town bath house, while the lounge bar was once


the library where Bram Stoker researched the story that would later become Dracula. There’s no McDonald’s in town and no pizza chains. Locals are proud of the


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independent shopping and restaurant scene, and the jet jewellery shops and independent boutiques are a joy to browse in. It’s always a good time to visit Whitby and its events calendar is full all year round. Even if pirates and vampires aren’t your thing, there are music weekends covering blues, soul or folk and much more.


There’s also an annual Fish & Ships festival celebrating Whitby’s fishing heritage with music, fish craft and cooking demonstrations, tours and talks.


In such a special place, you’ll want a


one-of-a-kind place to stay in and you’ll find it at La Rosa townhouse hotel. With its magnificent views over the harbour and individually themed rooms, with names such as Arabesque and Sacre Coeur, its website describes it as ‘more Steptoe than Selfridges’. Instead of TVs in the rooms you’ll find


thrift shop finds and antique kitsch, and its Cocktail Library is the perfect place to unwind after a day out and about. And if, after a few delicious cocktails,


don’t be too surprised if you look out of your bedroom window before bed, across to the Abbey ruins and see the outline of a tall man in a long black cloak flit between the gravestones like a bat!


‘It’s traditional for tourists to walk the 199 steps from the old town, with its narrow and cobbled streets, up to St. Mary’s Church and the Abbey grounds’


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