Whitby 29 Sept

Whitby Abbey, Eliabeth the steam engine truck, Captain Cook and a ride on an old lifeboat.

Whitby a seaside town which only Britain can create with shops selling Winkles, Cockles and Crab, Gypsy palm readers, rock candy in all shapes and colours and, little wooden seaside huts all in a row. James Cook spent years as an apprentice seaman in Whitby. We visited the home, now a museum, of the Walker family who housed and feed Mr Cook. We read original letters and navigation maps from Captain James Cook and, stood in the very room in which he would have slept during the years of his apprenticeship. Perhaps he too looked through the attic window up the River Esk. However his view would not have been of rusting fishing and tourist boats as Whitby had a ship building yard in his day. In Whitby we enjoyed a plate of fish, chips and mushy peas and took a boat ride on an old life boat that had been built in the 1930s and was in service until the 1960s. Next to us as we sailed out of the harbour was a replica of the Endeavour, ‘endeavouring’ to take tourists for a ride.
A visit to Whitby would not be complete without a tour of the Abbey. Situated on a wind-swept hill the ruined Abbey is an imposing structure. I could see why Bram Stocker used it as an inspiration for his Dracula novel. What was particularly appealing about the Abbey for me were the beautifully eroded stones of the building. There colours were also beautiful.