Home to legendary Dracula, Fiona Whitty has scare-free time in magnificent Whitby
Whitby’s cobbled alleys and harbour-front cafes hardly seem fitting as the setting for one of the world’s most famous horror stories.
But take a hike up to its haunting abbey ruins and you can start to see why Bram Stoker chose the quaint fishing town as the centrepiece for his novel Dracula, published 125 years ago next month.
The North Yorkshire landmark, recently named in the Top 20 UK spots everyone should see, hovers eerily over Whitby on a windswept headland, grabbing visitors’ attention from approach roads long before they actually arrive in the town (english-heritage.org.uk).
Originally built in the 13th century as a church for Benedictine monks, it’s lain in various states of ruined glory for nearly 500 years, since the religious order fled following Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
You can drive up to the Abbey but for pinch-yourself views you’re far better walking up via the town’s historic 199 Steps, as I did with husband Tim, son Freddie, 13, and daughter Rosie, 16. Said to date back to at least 1340, they sweep up from the old town to the clifftop St Mary’s Church, which lies next to Whitby Abbey.
The story goes that the huge flight of stairs – once wooden but now stone – was meant to test the resolve of the Christians who flocked to St Mary’s to worship.
It certainly tested ours – and no doubt that of author Stoker.
He enjoyed a Whitby family holiday in 1890, seven years before Dracula was issued.
The bleak cliffs, tales of shipwrecks, swirling bats around St Mary’s Church and Whitby Abbey’s sinister ruins are all known to have inspired him to base part of the novel in the seaside town.
Away from the abbey, the main town is based around a pretty harbour that’s cut in two by the tumbling River Esk.
Once a busy port handling locally
produced alum, shipbuilding and even whale blubber processing, it started to welcome tourists during the 1800s thanks to new rail links.
The old town on what’s known as the East Side is perfect for mooching around, its pretty cobbled lanes crammed with home-made fudge shops, old pubs, unique boutiques, art studios and jewellers, some of whom can be seen crafting locally sourced deep black Whitby Jet gemstone into fine pieces.
Here we picked up some kippers from the famous Fortune’s, a fifth-generation family-run firm that’s been preparing fish in the smokehouse next to their tiny shop since 1872 ( fortuneskippers.co.uk).
Later we settled down for a latte in the newly refurbished Mr
Cooper’s Coffee House ( facebook. com/mrcooperswhitby) and come nightfall we tried the Black Horse for some “yapas” – Yorkshire tapas which included homemade kipper pate and a tasty pork pie topped with black pudding made in nearby Fylingthorpe. Its bar, which dates back to the 1870s, is thought to be one of Britain’s oldest (the-blackhorse.com).
On the other side of the Esk the West Cliff is the place to head for ice cream or fish and chip shops, high street stores, cocktail bars and a smattering of fruit machine arcades.
We stayed a 10-minute walk away from the harbour front in a delightful Victorian terraced house called Juniper, booked through nationwide
family-owned holiday home firm Original Cottages.
Decked out in on-trend taupe, navy and white with a maritime vibe, it is situated on a quiet residential street and had a small courtyard and three spacious bedrooms.
Mine and Tim’s – with an ensuite – and Rosie’s were on the first floor along with a large bathroom while Freddie’s was tucked away in a cool converted attic with three singles.
A painted-wood kitchen and separate dining room and lounge were great chill-out zones and a washing machine, dishwasher and coffee machine were much-appreciated additions.
There are no shortage of watering holes and eateries. One evening we tried The Star Inn The Harbour, a popular restaurant with a nautical theme, with ironwork shaped like octopus tentacles, thick ropes cascading from the ceiling and a fishing net-style blanket of twinkling lights (star inntheharbour.co.uk).
At the helm is local chef Andrew Pern, who has a Michelin star under his esteemed belt at his pub The Star Inn at Harome near Helmsley.
Some of the seafood is brought in every morning from the harbour itself while the meat comes from the Yorkshire Moors.
It didn’t take us long to see why The Star had quickly gained Andrew an AA Rosette. Tim and I started with a delicious truffled cauliflower velouté – a bowl
of warming cheesy sauce with black truffle and a tiny toastie.
For our main we couldn’t resist the shellfish platter, packed with potted Whitby brown crab, tiger prawns, oysters, mussels, hot-smoked salmon, prawn cocktail, fish goujons and whitebait.
The children kicked off with goujons then wolfed down cod and chips.
Whitby lies on a truly stunning stretch of coastline. Just below is Robin Hood’s Bay, a pretty fishing village with a sandy beach that was once the hub of North Yorkshire’s smuggling.
Nowadays, if you’re lucky, you can sometimes spot seals from the harbour while further out to sea you can encounter minke whales and bottlenose dolphins.
Further down is the lively seaside resort of Scarborough and a fun SEA LIFE centre (adults from £17.96, child from £15.75, visitsealife.com).
Rosie and Freddie loved seeing the two resident otters scampering after one another.
You can also have a look through the windows at poorly creatures at the seal hospital – we saw one with a bandaged flipper.
But our favourite bit was the outdoor seal area. We watched one basking lazily in the sunshine and the three others darting effortlessly around underwater. All in all, Whitby is a frightfully good place to visit.
Cobbled lanes crammed with fudge shops, pubs and jewellers