UK - Whitby

UK – Whitby and its Abbey

Whitby, after Scarborough, is the major town in this part of the North Yorkshire coast. A very neat old town built around the harbour at the mouth of the Esk River. Tides are quite big here, around five metres, so the local harbours have boats on the mud at low tide.

The old Abbey ruin dominates the skyline above the town, and was Bram Stoker’s inspiration for Dracula. It looks innocent in daylight but is probably spooky on a stormy night. A major Anglo-Saxon church since AD 657, it was later made a Benedictine monastery by the Normans, before becoming a victim of Henry the VIII^th and the Dissolution, then further damaged by German naval shelling in WW1. Sitting at the top of a stairway of 199 steps up from the harbour below, it remains an imposing ruin.

Whitby is also famous for fish and chips – huge portions of delicious cod or haddock with fat chips, deep fried of course! There are some other local pub specialities which might also help account for the well-padded appearance of many Yorkshire folks. These include dishes (described as “starters”) such as “Giant Yorkshire Pudding filled with pork sausages and gravy”, or perhaps you might prefer a “Tower of Black Pudding with Onion Rings and gravy”. Tasty!

The local beers are excellent also – they include an old favourite heavy ale, Theakston’s Old Peculier (their spelling, not mine) and my current favourite, Thwaites’ Wainwright Golden Ale, a new discovery for me and named after the great walker and writer. There are numerous small breweries also producing a wide range of real ales, to help wash down those black puddings.

Is this the place for an Argument ???

Lollies

More lollies

Whitby looking down from the Abbey steps

Whitby from the bottom of the Abbey steps

Whitby Abbey ruins - the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula

Abbey view

Worn stone columns - Whitby Abbey

Abbey interior

Whitby flowers

Quaintly named village nearby

North Yorkshire Moors scenery