This week we took my sister and brother-in-law to North Yorkshire. The added bonus was meeting my daughter and son-in-law in Pickering. We celebrated my daughter’s birthday with her godmother (my sister), had a super meal and even managed to get a ‘death by chocolate’ birthday cake! This was presented to my daughter after the main course so there were no desserts required! I’m sure this was factored into the price of the cake!
Once more our Bed and Breakfast was good, a huge relief because I had booked on the internet and just had reviews to go by. We arranged an early breakfast in time to walk to the station and catch the 9:25 am steam train to Whitby. Needless to say the weather could have been significantly better! Luckily we weren’t going up any mountains so had clear visibility, albeit grey with no promise of blue skies and, heaven forbid, some sunshine!
After finding the only four suitable seats in a first class cabin we paid the surcharge and settled down to relax and watch the world go by. The station at Goathland was used in some of the Harry Potter films and, between the stations of Goathland and Grosmont was the ‘village’ of Aidensfield, used in the television series Heartbeat’.
When we arrived at Whitby, renowned for its jet jewellery, Abbey, delicious fish and chips and Captain Cook, we were thankful that the rain had moved up the coast. Also, according to Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula was aboard the fated ship ‘Demeter’ and washed up on the beach, creeping into Whitby in the form of a dog! We climbed the 199 steps to the church of St Mary then on to the ruins of the Abbey. Rumour has it that Dracula was buried in the cemetery at St Mary’s and the Abbey had been the inspiration for some of the dramatic scenes in the novel!
Whitby has a strong maritime history and Captain Cook, who moved there when he was eighteen as a Merchant Navy apprentice, sailed in two ships, HMS Bark Endeavour and HMS Resolution. Both ships were built in Whitby. Captain Cook mapped the East coast of Australia and circumnavigated New Zealand in HMS Bark Endeavour. HMS Resolution was the first ship to cross the Antarctic circle. There is an ornamental replica of HMS Bark Endeavour in the harbour but the original ship sank in Newport, Rhode Island. The first built replica is in Sydney harbour. This ship was seaworthy and sailed around the world twice!
So, all good things must come to an end! My sister and her husband are sailing around the Dalmatian coast. I am looking outside at rain pouring down on already sodden earth. Day three with no sign of abating! Tomorrow is back to the gym to shed the excess of the last two weeks! Alas, I only have two weeks to get back into shape before we visit friends in Devon. It’s a hard life ….. 👠
Jenny Burrell 