A visit with Dracula and Robin Hood

For the May Bank Holiday we decided to spend some more time exploring the UK. This time we spent the long weekend in York, and its surrounding area.

We left London straight after work so arrived in York fairly late in the evening. The train was packed, so I'm glad we booked our tickets early and reserved seats. There was a huge rush for the train when the platform was announced, but I was ready to fight anyone who tried to steal our seats! Luckily the journey was without incident..

The plan for Saturday was to catch an early bus across the moors to Whitby. Whitby is a seaside town famous for its fish and chips, and its connection to Dracula and Captain Cook.

The bus ride was long and went through several lovely small towns in the Yorkshire countryside. The highlights were the Top Secret Air Base in the middle of the moors, and the Goathland Railway Station, where Heartbeat was filmed and which doubled for Hogsmeade Stations in the Harry Potter films (we were somewhat more impressed by this than the Heartbeat connection).

The advantage of being up early meant we arrived in Whitby before lunchtime, and before most of the tourists. We were expecting it to be really busy due to the Bank Holiday, so our aim was to explore the town without lots of people.

Though it didn't seem to get too busy, or perhaps we are just too used to London and all the people there, and a nice seaside town was a perfect escape.

After briefly exploring the town centre (mainly just an excuse to find a cup of coffee and warm up), we headed up to St Mary's Church and Graveyard which gave us a beautiful view of the town and harbour.

Whitby was absolutely freezing, and I was glad I'd brought my furry scarf with me! Not to mention gloves and thick socks..

Though it was cold, it stayed relatively clear and we didn't get caught in any rain showers which was nice. Just a bit grey and overcast, which actually suited the town perfectly based on its history!

"But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below ... and running forward, jumped from the bow on to the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier ... it disappeared in the darkness."

from Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

Bram Stoker found the inspiration to write Dracula while in St Marys Graveyard, and it's not hard to see why. The Graveyard is overlooked by Whitby Abbey, a huge crumbling Gothic structure, only made more ominous by the dark clouds overhead. Bram Stoker was inspired by the stories of local townspeople and their folk tales, it's common knowledge that a huge black dog stalks the Yorkshire Moors when night falls.

Unsurprisingly the town is very popular with Goths and they hold Goth weekends in October and the Bram Stoker Film Festival every year.

Wandering through the Gravestones

The Abbey itself is a National Heritage site, but mostly deserted when we arrived. The first Monastery was founded in 657 AD, but destroyed by the Danish in raids in 870 AD.

A second Monastery was built and then destroyed in 1570. The abbey buildings were now in ruins and mined for stone. It still remained a landmark for sailors, and the inspiration for Dracula.

Even with the sun out it was easy to imagine the gothic architecture playing host to all manner of creatures...

We had the Abbey mostly to ourselves and it was lovely wandering around the grounds and looking out over Whitby.

Bradley boning up on his Whitby history

After picking up some certified Vampires Revenge Hot Plum Chutney, we made our way back down to the town with the intention of picking up some of Whitby's world famous fish and chips.

After much debate we bypassed Magpie's Cafe (the best fish and chips in the town) due to lines around the block, and settled for the second best, Mr Chip. We assumed the difference between first and second would be only a matter of degrees, and were not disappointed. 

We took our lunch, and ate with the seagulls, while overlooking the harbour. It was the best fish and chips we had eaten in a long time. Whitby can hold onto its reputation of the best fish and chips in the UK.

There are lots of cool Occult shops everywhere, and even just normal shops have Dracula and witches in their windows.

The lines out the door at the Magpie Cafe

It's a Pirate ship!

Whitby is also famous for its link to Captain Cook. Whitby was where Captain James Cook lived as an apprentice and where he was trained as a sailor, making this the unofficial birthplace of one of the greatest explorers in the world. Most New Zealanders would probably call him the greatest explorer (for obvious reasons!)

The HMS Endeavour (also made famous on our 50 cent coin) was built in Whitby and was sailed by Captain Cook in 1764, on his voyage to discover Australia and New Zealand.

Pointing the way to New Zealand!

We went for a walk along the Whitby coastline, where we could see rows of colourful wooden beach huts, still in use even on a bitterly cold day.

At that time I couldn't imagine it ever being warm enough to actually swim in the waters of Whitby! However, with the current heatwave we've been having, a swim in the ocean would be nice.

After a lovely morning in Whitby, we hopped on a bus and headed for Robin Hood's Bay, further down the Yorkshire coast.

Robin Hood's Bay is a tiny fishing village about 20 minutes south of Whitby. While it's doubtful Robin Hood was ever anywhere near the village, the locals tell a story of Robin Hood defending the town against French pirates intent on plundering the town of all its riches. These were of course saved and returned to the poor by Robin Hood himself.

I'm not sure, that seems a bit far fetched to me..

Either way, Robin Hoods Bay was well worth a stop on our way back to York. The town itself is located at the bottom of an extremely steep cliff. You are strongly advised to leave your car at the top if you are not a resident, and walk down. I think it could easily have rivalled some of the steepest streets in San Francisco.

We came across this amazing looking Dinosaur Museum which was closed, much to Bradley's disappointment.

We headed back to York in the late afternoon by train. A much quicker journey than on the way there, but not as interesting as it was a very direct journey.

We were pretty exhausted after a long day in the English countryside, but luckily we managed to find a nice restaurant that wasn't booked up and replenished ourselves with a huge meal of steak and chips!