This weekend Whitby is set to be invaded by hordes of ‘goths’
as it hosts one of its twice-yearly Goth Weekends (the other being in late
April). These interestingly attired
folk, sometimes scary-looking but always genial, evidently regard Whitby as
their spiritual home, and they lend a unique atmosphere to the streets and pubs
of this picturesque Yorkshire harbour town.
But why Whitby? Well,
a certain 19th-century author called Bram Stoker probably has a lot
to do with it. His classic horror novel
Dracula, published in 1897, starts off in continental Europe, but in chapters
6-8 the action moves to Whitby. Stoker stayed in a house on the West Cliff in
1890, and it was during this stay that the inspiration for Count Dracula took
hold. Stoker visited Whitby Library
during his stay, where he studied a history book containing a reference to the
name Dracula.
In the novel, Dracula is shipwrecked off the coast of North
Yorkshire on the Russian schooner Demeter as he makes his way from Varna to
England. The approach of the Demeter is witnessed by a multitude of people
gathered on the pier. Certain among them
describe how “lashed to the helm was a
corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro”. When the ship ran aground, “an immense dog
sprang up on deck from below” – the dog in question being a manifestation of
Dracula.
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| Replica Endeavour pleasure boat entering Whitby Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 787533. Photo by derek dye, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Mina Harker, the fiancée of Jonathan Harker, who has the
unenviable task of bringing Dracula to England, describes Whitby Abbey as “a
most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits”. She also tells of the legend of a ‘white lady’
who has been seen in one of the windows.
In the novel, Dracula is buried in St Mary’s Church graveyard. Many visitors come looking for the grave,
forgetting that it is a work of fiction.
However, visitors wanting to immerse themselves fully in the Whitby
experience can always join one of the excellent ghost tours on offer. They might also want to visit the Bram Stoker
Memorial Seat, placed in an elevated position with a view which is allegedly
identical to that which inspired the Whitby scenes in Dracula.
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| Whitby - geograph.org.uk - 661437. Photo by dennis smith, via Wikimedia Commons | . |
Apart from its spooky credentials, Whitby is famous for the quality of its fish and chips, and the most famous fish and chip restaurant in the town is The Magpie,
although it has become something of a victim of its own success, with
queues often stretching out into the street. Those who don’t like
having to queue, however, have plenty of other alternatives to choose
from, as there are several other exceptionally good fish and chip venues
in the town. Best to ask a local for advice on where to go, although
you’ll probably get as many different answers as people you ask. Apart
from the aforementioned Abbey and the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, another activity not to be missed is to take one of boat trips
which leave from the harbour, including sailings on a replica of
Captain Cook’s HMS Endeavour. One of the commercial activities which
used to take place out of Whitby was whaling, and there is a relic of
that time in the form of the whale jaw bone arch on the West Cliff.
Another product of the area is jet, a lustrous black mineral formed from
the fossilized remains of trees from the Jurassic period, which can be
found for sale in many of the shops mainly as jewellery.
Map of the area.
Map of the area.
