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 

Interim Real-Time Update...

So the blog is at about July 23rd, and, as I post right now, it is August 21st. We are back in Middle California. I think this is about the farthest behind I have ever been. Oh well. I will catch up, eventually, covering the rest of Yorkshire and beyond, two weeks in Scotland, mostly in Edinburgh for the Fringe, our return to the States, and nearly a week in Yosemite with grand-daughter Penelope.

On our hike to Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite National Park, Penelope,
with a back-drop of El Capitan

Cote De Yorkshire, 1

From Patrington we drove on north to Scarborough, on the coast, for a few days' down-time at a Camping and Caravanning Club campground there. Some administrative time, some rest, and also a nice walk along the cliffs north of Scarborough.

Yorkshire is a wonderful place, but it does get hilly here and there...

But we made it and enjoyed a few days off

The campground was just across the road from a nice walk along the cliffs north
of Scarborough

The remains of Scarborough Castle

A nice Yorkshire sunset

Rudston Menhir And The Rudston All Saints Church

The Rudston All Saints Church is not in Jenkins' top thousand English churches. But, for the last thousand years, it has graciously hosted the UK's tallest menhir, the Rudston Monolith, which goes back to 2,000 BCE, give or take a few hundred years. Contrary to previous travels in this part of the world, we have not visited much in the way of megaliths: very little remains on this side of England. Hence, we felt the Rudston menhir, tallest in the UK, was a must-see. Granted, the Isles are not known for their menhirs, but this is the tallest one, and we also got to see a little parish church that has taken its custodianship seriously and which has excelled in telling the larger story of the area.

Helpful plan of campus outside the gate

Just to clarify...

The font is said date from the original Norman church, c. 1100

Much of the nave north wall is taken up with informative displays of neolithic,
Roman, and other sites in the area

Thus; the church is smack in the middle of the photo of the display

Press a site's button, and, shazzam! it lights up!

Not impressed

This part of England is thought to have been a major megalithic center, although
now much torn down, defaced, removed...look up "Gypsey Race" or this video

Romans, too

Sic transit, Gloria

And there it is; you see things like this in Brittany, but the menhir is usually
"Christianized" or otherwise defaced; not here, thankfully

Remains of Roman sarcophagus

Trying mightily for a shot that would incorporate Roman, neolithic, and All Saints

Thank you, All Saints Rudston