Whitby, Yorkshire (an old abbey and 199 steps)
Whitby is one of the north east’s most popular holiday resorts, situated on the coast with a famous abbey and 199 steps to reach it.
Sadly it also has a history of whaling (and it’s inexplicable why the big whalebone still remains – we’ve removed slavery statues, why not this? – the town even used to hunt polar bears). Let’s celebrate the good things!
Out walking? Follow the Countryside Code to keep all creatures safe. Keep dogs away from steep banks, mushrooms (and other toxic plants/trees) and on leads during nesting season (and near barnyard friends and wild ponies).
At the coast, keep away from nesting birds and never walk on sand dunes. Learn how to keep dogs safe by the seaside (check beach bans before travel).
Part of the Jurassic Coast
There is rare jet fossilised gemstone here, from the Jurassic period. Dinosaurs did not just live on the Isle of Wight! In Victorian times, this jet was popularised by Queen Victoria to be used as ‘mourning jewellery’.
It’s formed from fossilised Aracuaria pine wood (simple to the monkey puzzle tree) and is deep black, but unlike stone is not cold to the touch. Today in the sustainable age, it’s left where it is under the sand.
The inspiration for Count Dracula!
Bram Stoker stayed here for a while. And was so inspired by the eerie architecture, that it was what caused him to write the book Dracula. He was actually from Ireland, who studied mathematics at Trinity College, was a top athlete and worked as a civil servant at Dublin Castle, before moving to England where he managed London’s Lyceum Theatre for 27 years.
It’s said that while bedridden with a mystery illness until age 7, he would listen to his mother’s supernatural tales, which obviously stemmed his imagination for his future novel. However he never actually visited Transylvania, just Whitby!
After marrying a society beauty, he became part of London’s literary elite, friends with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes books. But he died almost penniless, his grandnephew writing that he was ‘one the least known authors of one of the best known books ever written’. His death was hardly mentioned in the press, as he died just five days after the Titanic sank in 1912.
What was Count Dracula about?
If you’ve never read the novel (and it’s not a genre for many of us who prefer Maeve Binchy novels!), the story is a Gothic horror novel about a vampire who had an aversion to garlic and sunlight, and had a heavy moustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth.
