Whitby, An Introduction

I fell in love with Whitby the moment our train rumbled under a viaduct and around a curve, exposing the abbey standing watch over the town. 

Below the matriarch on the hill, a bustling harbor town was visible. A narrow inlet and two small lighthouses guarded the entrance, and rowing teams made their way in and out. Stepping out of the train station, I couldn't take my eyes off the dark structure above in all its glory. Next to it stood an impressive church, but my eyes were drawn back to the abbey. Even the giant, blue pirate ship couldn't distract me, despite my fascination with pirate themes.

I'll be doing a series the second week of each month about the town, including the abbey and a series of sculptures one can hunt for, each with a story of its heritage.

I was with a wonderful group of people on a writing retreat around Yorkshire, and Whitby was a one-night stop partway through. We'd taken a historic steam train across lush landscapes full of sheep to get there (which will be a separate post). I was already excited about the abbey, knowing that it had inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula, but I'm also a sucker for a harbor town. I grew up visiting Beverly Beach, Oregon, which involved driving through Depoe Bay, a tiny harbor town with the best whale watching on the Oregon coast. I was no stranger to the complicated feeling of a harbor. At once frenetic with workers who've been there for generations and laid back with tourists strolling through. 

Harbors pulse with activity, with the cries of fishermen as they work together to bring in their catch, with the hustle of buyers considering the fish brought in or the restaurant chefs sourcing their specialty dishes. People in these little towns work hard, get up early in the morning, go to bed early, and follow every path in fish production from the water to the table. These days there are also the folks who lead excursions out onto the water, whether for fishing or sightseeing, who teach kids to fish off the docks. Restaurants and pubs line the dockside, along with various stands and even an arcade. 

You know your fish is fresh when the restaurant is only steps from where the boats dock with their catch.

The ocean beckons to both working types and tourists. While some are putting in hard hours, others are taking a break from their own grinds further inland. They come to eat fresh seafood, to fish themselves, to go out on those boats or walk on the sandy beaches. There are museums dedicated to Captain Cook and lifeboats and Whitby, in general. There's a lobster hatchery and marine discovery center. There's even a Dracula Experience, Then there are the shops, including some great bookstores. One of those bookstores had an ancient set of stairs that swayed when anyone walked up them. A sign at the bottom stressed that only one person was to be on the steps at any given time, due to the age and danger.

There were, of course, shops with ocean- and Dracula-themed souvenirs. The darker themes set Whitby apart from other harbor towns, which don't have the claim to fame of inspiring an author to write the most famous vampire tale. Beyond the directly Dracula-themed places, there were also shops catering to goths, who flood the town annually for a festival. Additionally, Whitby is famous for jet, a dark, shiny stone that's actually fossilized wood from a Jurassic-era tree similar to the monkey puzzle tree. We found candy shops, an outdoor clothing shop with walking sticks, and several antique and resale shops. One resale shop had old WWII-era military items in the window, which I found compelling. Especially appreciated was the Poundland (equivalent to a Dollar Tree or similar), where we kept ourselves stocked with drinks, snacks, and necessities.

Don't get me started on the sweet treats! Botham's is an amazing bakery. We were sold the moment we ordered a cream bun and a lemon bun and watched as the worker reached in and gently scooped up the most pillowy baked goods we'd ever seen. We'd gone there because our AirBNB host had gifted us a container of their ginger tea cookies, but were blown away by the amazing choices behind those glass display cases. I've reached a point where some desserts are too rich for me, which makes many of the baked items in England much more pleasurable to eat. Their use of stabilized whip cream instead of icing on many things is something I find simply magical. But their cream buns rivaled any others I've had in England or here in the U.S. The whipped cream was so perfectly whipped that it had the rich flavor of butter backing it. I crave them ever since that first bite.

On the west coast of the United States, saltwater taffy is an expectation at oceanside or ocean-adjacent shops. It's a given that one will be able to find taffy at the coast. In Whitby, it was honeycomb cinder toffee and nougat bars. My husband and I are suckers for Mr. Whippy, a type of soft serve in the UK (we first tried it in Scotland, but enjoyed finding it around England after our discovery), and Clara's a little coffee and ice cream stand on the west cliff, provided that, as well as divine hot chocolate covered in thick whipped cream, candy, and scoop ice cream. (They also had sandwiches and such, but we didn't try those). It turned out to be one of our favorite places to just sit around and enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean. But I'll talk about food more in another piece.

Notice I've stayed away from Whitby Abbey and the 199 steps? Those will get their own post. But the abbey is what solidified my falling deeply in love with the town. I'll also discuss the La Rosa, a delightful themed hotel.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the many seagulls swooping over the town and letting out their calls. They were perched on the roof of the train station when we arrived, letting us know we'd finally reached the water.

One final item of note is the churches around the town. St. Mary's is directly in front of the abbey, and is actually the more dominant sight in some ways from the harbor below and the rest of the town (other than the houses behind the abbey on the east cliff). From up on that cliff one can look out over the bulk of the town and see the historic churches scattered among the residences. I'll talk about those more, too.

All in all, in Whitby we enjoyed the harbor feel, the fresh fish, the wonderful baking, the gothic beauty and peace of the abbey, the eclectic shops and restaurants, beach combing (I can't forget to tell you about the colorful buildings along the coast!), the lighthouses, the artwork (the whalebone arch and sculptures), and the fact that the entire town was walkable.

If I could move anywhere tomorrow, it would be Whitby. So much so that I plan on leading writing retreats there in the future. I can't wait to tell you more about this town in the upcoming series, though I think I'll scatter in other trips between posts so it's not all about the same thing over and over. This series will be the second Wednesday of each month. The next post in the series will be about the heritage sculptures and other artwork.