There’s one last sight to see before crossing the Swing Bridge to the West Side of Whitby. If you take a left before crossing the bridge, you’ll be on Grape Lane, a narrow thoroughfare of some interest.

Some say Grape Lane was known of Grope Lane, a place where prostitutes plied their trade among the sailors and shipbuilders who frequented the area. In the 18^th century, Whitby was an important port for herring fishermen who followed shoals of herring down the east coast of England starting at the Shetland Islands in late winter and completing the cycle off East Anglia the following fall. In 1836, about 400 vessels engaged in the Yorkshire herring industry, many stopping in Whitby harbor.

The 18^th century also saw the birth of the Whitby Whaling Trade. In 1753, several merchants formed the Whitby Whaling Company with two ships. The fleet grew to 55 ships out of Whitby. It’s estimated that the industry harvested 2,761 whales, 55 polar bears, and 25,000 seals.

Fishing and whaling encouraged an extensive shipbuilding industry, as did alum processing which requires a large amount of coal. The coal came from Durham. The specially built colliers had flat bottoms.  Whitby had 11 shipyards and built 11,754 tons of shipping in 1790.

Captain James Cook, famous for his exploits in the Pacific, served his 3-year seaman’s apprenticeship under Captain John Walker. In 1755 Cook joined the Royal Navy. Walker’s house was on Grape Lane, and is today the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, an example of 17^th Century construction as well as Cook’s naval career.

On the other side of the River Esk, there is a replica of the HMS Endeavour, which Cook commanded on his first Pacific voyage.

The West Cliff towers above the the shoreline, but the good news is there’s a direct road called the Khyber Pass, built into the cliff. George Hudson, an entrepreneur and Whitby investor, built the road to provide access to the West Cliff estates he owned. Access is one way, going up. The Royal Hotel with its sweeping view of the East Headland is at the top.

Nearby are two maritime tributes. One is the famous Whalebone Arch, first erected in 1853. During the whaling boom, successful ships attached a whale’s jaw bones to the mast to show the ship was full. The bones for the present arch came from Alaska in 2003.

Captain Cook’s Memorial went up in 1912. There he stands, forever looking out to sea, with an occasional seagull on his head.

Whitby had always looked to the sea for its livelihood, but in 1839 the Whitby and Pickering Railway connected Whitby first to Pickering and then on to York. Initially, it was a single-track horse-worked railway with a distance of 24 miles. At Pickering, passengers had to take a stage coach the rest of the way to York.

But in 1845, the Whitby and Pickering joined the York and North Midland Railway. The connection was now a modern, double-track steam railway. Tourism was soon to follow.

Money once invested in shipping was diverted into the construction of large boarding houses and hotels on the West Cliff. Shipowners who held land outside the town, sold it to developers. One of the investors was George Hudson, briefly known as the Railway King. He formed a building company to construct a Royal Crescent. It was half complete when the company went bankrupt.

Today the hotels and guest houses continue in popularity. But it’s a long way down from the top of the cliff to the beach, and the weather is less than ideal. Enter the well-known colorful beach huts that rent for about £600 a year. There’s also an elevator built into the cliff, so beachgoers can avoid the climb.

The Western Headland is also part of the Cleveland Way that circles the North York Moors National Park from Helmsley to Filey. I declined to hike the entire 109 miles, but did enjoy a short jaunt.

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Grape Lane by Darren Haddock.

Captain Cook Memorial Museum by aude.

Captain James Cook by Thomas Wright.

All Other Photos by Author.

Captain Cook Memorial Museum.

The post Whitby: The West Cliff & Beyond first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Just below the Abbey and the last stop before leaving the Eastern Headland, there’s a squat church founded by monks from Whitby Abbey in about 1100.

Most of the present interior dates from the 18^th century, including heat derived from a cast-iron coal burning stove, and candle light from wall sconces and a bronze chandelier.

The original box pews remain in their places. The largest of these, and nearest the altar, is the Cholmley pew which not only blocks the view of the altar, but has an outside entrance so the Cholmleys could keep their distance from ordinary folk. Church members purchased their pews, providing needed funds for the church. Pews nearest the pulpit are larger with cushioned seats. Smaller pews with plain seats are further away. At the time, there were also pews set aside for the poor and for strangers.

The minister gave his sermon from the top of a three level pulpit which allowed him to see the entire congregation, except, possibly, the Cholmleys.

The church is surrounded by a graveyard with weathered headstones dating into the 19^th century when the graveyard closed to new occupants. There were two routes to get the coffins up from the town below. Wealthier families could load the coffin on a wagon and drive it up Green Lane. Those who couldn’t afford a carriage, or thought it was more impressive to use the 199 steps from Church Street to the church, engaged pall bearers to carry the coffin. While make the track up and down the steps, tourists welcome intermittent wooden planks. Their original purpose was the allow pall bearers to set down the coffin while they caught their breath.

The first steps were wooden, which probably required frequent replacement. In 1774 stone steps, now worn smooth, replaced them. In addition to Green Lane, there is a proper road that goes to the parking area in front of the Abbey. From there it’s a short stroll to the church which I suspect the road greatly improves attendance at St. Mary’s.

Erosion on the headland creates land slips that began occurring in 2012. Graves have slipped, and deposited human remains on the street below the graveyard.

Near the steps, but inside the churchyard is a large cross known as Cadmon’s Cross. In the 7^th century, Cadmon was a cowherd who composed a hymn now accepted as the earliest piece of Anglo-Saxon literature. Abbess Hild encouraged Cadmon to continue his compositions.

In 1897 there was a collection to create the present 20-foot cross as a monument to Cadmon’s contribution to sacred literature in English. Participants collected £250 and engaged a sculptor. The cross features the Four Evangelists and the Lamb representing Christ. The plinth supporting the cross depicts Christ, King David, Abbess Hild, and the poet Cadmon.

Church Street intersects with the bottom of the steps. The narrow streets once housed families of fishermen, and were known as a quick way for smugglers to make themselves scarce. Having reached the town, its time to cross the river.

The present 75-foot “swing bridge” across the River Esk was built in 1908 and can swing horizontally to allow boats to pass underneath, connecting the upper and lower harbor.

In addition to working boats, there are any number of pleasure crafts available to take passengers a short way out to sea to view Whitby’s shore. I took one of these, both because it was a nice day, and also to get a sense of how the area might have looked to those early Anglo-Saxon settlers.

Strange to think that at one time, the town was at sea level. The present difference between the height of the headland and sea level is a dramatic example of how much erosion can be caused by waves.

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St. Mary’s Church with Abbey in background by Keith Laverack.

Interior of St. Mary’s Church by minkey8885.

Interior St. Mary’s Church by Agnete.

199 Steps by Bob Embleton.

All Other Photos by Author.

St. Mary’s Church. English Churches.

The post Whitby: Crossing the River Esk first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Thursday is Halloween, which makes today the perfect time to explain Dracula’s ongoing association with Whitby. 

In 1890 Whitby was a popular summer holiday destination. Bram Stoker, business manager for the Lycium Theater and writer of sensational novels, booked a room at Mrs. Veazey’s Guesthouse on the Royal Crescent. He had time to spend any way he wished before his wife arrived to sweep him into the local social scene. Stoker roamed the town.

He spent many mornings in the reading room at the Royal Hotel, [still booking guests over a hundred years later]. From the front window, Stoker had a clear view of the harbor, and the abbey ruins dominating the East Cliff.

Stoker wandered through the graveyard at St. Mary’s church, jotting down names from deteriorating stones. He watched bats flying around the tower. On days when it the weather wasn’t conducive to walking, Stoker went to the public library where he found a book recounting tales of Wallachia and Moldovia. One of them was about a 15^th century prince who impaled his enemies on wooden stakes. The prince was called Dracula — “son of the dragon.”

Stoker also heard about a shipwreck that occured five years before. A Russian vessel, the Dmitry, with a cargo of silver sand* ran aground below the East Cliff.

Stoker wove his Whitby experiences into his most famous novel, Dracula, published in 1897. Dracula wasn’t the first unusual creature to scare unwary readers, but he was the first literary vampire.

In the story, Count Dracula decides to leave Transylvania and relocate in England. He sails aboard a Russian ship, the Demeter, carrying a cargo of silver sand and 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil. The ship runs aground below the East Cliff. A large dog bounds out of the wreck and up the 199 steps to St. Mary’s Church and Graveyard.

Mina Murray and her friend Lucy Westenra are visiting Whitby on holiday. Dracula stalks Lucy, who begins wasting away. Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is summoned. He prescribes blood transfusions and garlic. Garlic flowers are placed in Lucy’s room. She’s given a necklace of withered garlic blossoms to wear. But she continues to waste away. Puncture marks are discovered in Lucy’s neck. Lucy dies. But the story continues until Dr. Helsing vanquishes Count Dracula.

Dracula became a best seller, a stage play, and in 1931 it became a movie with Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Special effects that were frightening in 1931 aren’t so impressive now.

In 1992 Francis Ford Coppola released a more psychological form of horror: Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Gary Oldman as Dracula and Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Helsing.

Two years later, perhaps inspired by Coppola’s movie, Whitby began to host Goth Weekends, held in April and October. People dress up in Goth and Seampunk attire, and roam Whitby’s streets. Goth Weekends are among the world’s most popular Goth music events, known for  live music and lively patrons. Check out the the fun from last April’s Goth Weekend.

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*Silver sand is a fine white sand that can be used in making mortar. Today silver sand is used in gardening.

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, 1931

Whitby from the West Cliff, 1890

St Mary’s Graveyard by Author

Dracula Cover, 1922

How Dracula Came to Whitby. English Heritage.

Grace Newton. “Whitby Goth Weekend 2019.” Yorkshire Post. April 12, 2019

The post Whitby, Where Dracula Came Ashore first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Writing is an exercise in imagination. And one of my favorite places to let my creativity run wild is Whitby, on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk.

This is a photo from the west entrance to the ruins of Whitby Abbey, a Benedictine monastery from the 12^th century. With one important exception, the view encompasses layers of history. 

The monastery sits on the East Cliff. Next to it is Cholmley House, once the abbot’s residence. Looking further, the viewer sees St. Mary’s Church and graveyard, to the left of which are 199 steps down into the town.

In the distance there’s an expanse of sea and the West Cliff. Hovering over the scene are banks of white clouds which literally come and go with the wind.

The Benedictine Abbey captivated me the first time I saw it, as it does many visitors. But I’m far more interested in the original Anglo-Saxon abbey built in 657 in a place then called Streanaeshealh. What’s left of that abbey is a visually empty site. 

A woman named Hild built the original monastery, not the medieval monument. Hild’s name is not known today as a princess, or an abbess (both of which she was), but as the abbess who hosted a church synod in 664. The event marked the dominance of the Roman church in England, an obscure decision from our perspective. Church historians, particularly Bede, remembered Hild because the synod took place at her monastery. Through the ages, Hild became one of the few recognized women.

Legends surrounded Hild. It was said sea birds tipped their wings when flying over the monastery in tribute to the abbess. A more enduring story is about Hild and a plague of snakes. She ordered the serpants to leave or be turned into stone. Ammonite fossils are often found in the area. The  snakestones were said to be the remains of snakes too slow to leave. The genus of this particular ammonite is Hildoceras. The Whitby Coat of Arms incorporates the snakestones, keeping the story alive.

When Hild established her monastery on the headland near the mouth of the Esk River, the topography was entirely different. The land might have extended 200 meters further out. But the cliff edge suffers erosion at a rate of 10 meters every 100 years, vastly changing the landscape.

There’s an Anglo-Saxon plinth near the present parking lot, which might have been erected for an Anglo-Saxon marketplace. Anglo-Saxon graves near the present abbey ruins give some idea how large the Anglo-Saxon monastery might have been.

Viking raiders began attacking the Yorkshire coast in the mid-ninth century, and the Anglo-Saxon monastery faded into history. The invaders named the area Whitby, meaning “White Settlement” in Old Norse. 

Benedictine monks began constructing a monastery on the site in the 12^th century, and the Gothic structure presently visible was complete in the 13^th century. After Henry VIII suppressed the monasteries, the Cholmley family purchased the land, dismantled most of the buildings to reuse their materials, and adapted the former abbot’s residence for their own use.

The house is fronted by a cobbled courtyard with a bronze statue in the center. In 1682, one observer described the house as  ‘a most delicate and stately hall, supposed to be exceeded by few in England for the bigness of it, … the hall is of freestone, with large courts and walks with iron grates, and a curious statue in solid brass as large as life in the midst of the square, with a delicate bowling green, gardens, etc., which are extremely pleasant.’

The statue is a copy of a reproduction of a marble statue of gladiator that became part of Cardinel Borghese’s private collection during the 17^th century. Charles I commissioned a French sculptor to visit Italy to cast bronze copies of various marble sculptures. One of these the Borghese gladiator, which the Cholmley family reproduced and installed at the center of the front courtyard, perhaps to curry favor with the king.

Over the years, much of the Chomley family wealth came from mining and refining alum, which was used to fix dyes in cloth.

Next week’s blog will highlight other historic moments in Whitby history, including Captain James Cook’s apprenticeship and Dracula by Bram Stoker.

St. Hilda at Hartlepool by James Clark

Whitby Town Coat of Arms

“Whitby’s Borghese gladiator is a classical masterpiece.” Whitby Gazette. Nov,. 28, 2018

The post Whitby: The East Cliff Headland first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

And, since it is approaching Halloween, I have taken over this here blog from Sandra Wagner-Wright. She don’t know nothin’ about ghosts, but I can tell you a tale or two.

The Golden Fleece where I reside has been on this very spot, near Coppergate, since 1503.

Aye, they say ‘twas the Merchant Adventurers who founded it. They were wool and fleece traders. Very lucrative it was. Bein’ as old as it is, this pub has plenty of ghosts – so many that in 2005 we were visited by the team from Most Haunted.  ‘Course, ghosts can be very shy when your lookin’ for ‘em. They prefer to arrive without an appointment, so to speak.

Our most visible ghost is Geoff Monroe. He was an airman from Canada stayin’ here 1945 or thereabouts – threw himself out the window in room 4 – some say it was an accidental fall, some say he was pushed. Can’t say, but out the window he went. Drunk probably. But, seems he couldn’t get through the ether. He comes back to his room.  Stands in uniform, he does. Now, some folks come here especially to stay in his room – and then, blow me down, if they aren’t upset when his icy finger wakes them up.

Folk be strange – why do the living want to see the unhappy dead? There’s ghost hunts here all the time – in fact there’s one coming up on Halloween itself. The landlord is decorating the rooms special so they look like a Dracula set. (Aye, you do know Dracula came ashore at Whitby, just up the coast.) Never fails. The gents and ladies swear they don’t believe in ghosts and scream up a storm when they see one – if they can find their voice, ‘a course.

My favorite ghost is the Lady Alice Peckett – lovely woman, she is. The landlord calls her our “resident spirit.” In 1700 her husband John, the Lord Mayor of York, owned this here pub. She wanders about the place. Always stops to give me a kind word.

The entire City of York is stuffed with ghosts – Roman soldiers, a beheaded earl, even the Queen Catherine Howard’s ghost can be found. Poor lass – if she had known she would be queen, I doubt she’d have given her prize to a common yokel. Ye have to think ahead. Ye say ye want to know more. Well, me jaw bone is startin’ to lag, but I been hearin’ folks talk about webs full of information. And I have an address here somewhere – there it is, under my left clavicle. The address is http://www.visityork.org/media/factsheets/haunted-york.aspx More stories there – and information on how you can go on a ghost hunt next time you come to town.

Well, I’ve been goin’ on awhile now. Could you spare a few bob to buy and old fella a drink? My throat is right dry. I’d love to meet ya. Come on down to the Golden Fleece any time – rent a room maybe – find a supernatural friend. The landlord would love to heare from ya. If you have one of them webs, go to http://www.goldenfleece.yorkwebsites.co.uk

And, come visit me – I’ll be sitting here at the bar  

– a very nice bar it is too.

The post York: City of Ghosts first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.