Cote De Yorkshire, 2: Whitby

From our days' rest at Scarborough we drove on July 24th to Whitby, a pretty and historic seaside town just a few miles further up the road. The P&R permitted us to visit Whitby leisurely. (Increasingly, British towns are beginning to realize that allowing RVs into P&Rs is good for business, tourism, traffic and parking; we applaud; 'twas not always so). The town has several interests: as an 18th and 19th century ship-building and whaling center, as the center of Cookiana (Captain James Cook, RN; next post), Whitby Abbey, the site of the writing of some of Bram Stoker's Dracula; and more.

Helpful map; the town is on both sides of the river Esk's excellent harbor, mostly the north

Replica of Cook's HMS Endeavor; all three of Cook's South Pacific voyages
were aboard Whitby-built vessels; he learned his seamanship initially in Whitby;
more in the next post; I toured the Cook museum across the harbor

Whitby harbor from the bridge, looking toward the North Sea

Click to enlarge; I thought they were all just sailboats

In addition to whatever else, Whitby is known also for Whitby jet, a kind of semi-
precious stone; Vicki said; and also Whitby gin, which was the 2019 winner of the
national gin-making tournament (see subsequent post on the UK's current gin-craze)

Entrance to Whitby harbor; I am now up on the south bluff, having climbed the
199 steps Vicki's knees needed to avoid

"Get a picture of a tombstone with the name 'Swales,'" she
said; it figures obscurely in Dracula; there were hundreds
of markers; fortunately, Mr. Swales' was among the first
encountered

Interior of Whitby's very interesting double-decker St. Mary's church; nautical
paraphrenalia everywhere

"Get a picture of all the tile-covered roofs in town" she also said

Ruins of Whitby abbey

Attempted artsy-fartsy shot of the distant bluffs

Thus

Radiant wiring scheme

Now on the north bluff, looking back to the church, the abbey, etc.

Thus, including the 199 steps

Whitby was a major whaling center in the 19th century;
mentioned by Melville...

Distant bluffs; it was a warm day, and most of the ice on the beach had melted...

Bram Stoker lived here; see my much earlier learned post,
from Transylvania, for more on Stoker and his beloved
character

And we were there

The Crescent, where Stoker lived

Oboe of my dreams, for a mere 150L; but (fortunately) the shop was closed;
among the charms of touring these little towns are such shops...when open