Whitby, Abbey, Saltwick Bay and Cliffs

A cliff path takes you along the route of the Cleveland Way, a National Trail which skirts the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park and extends south along the Yorkshire coast to Filey. The walk goes along the cliff edge as far as Gnipe Howe when it turns inland through farmland and along country lanes, eventually descending to Whitby's harbourside and a maze of narrow streets, yards and alleys through the old town.

A cacophony of seabird calls resounds from the cliff edge nesting sites and around the harbour estuary. The majestic fulmar skirts along the cliff face, gliding gracefully on rigid wings over the coastal air currents. There are two large black birds along this coast; the white face cormorant and the shag.

One of the few truly maritime plants seen along the coast is scurvygrass, which has a flat topped cluster of white flowers. Its basal leaves are fleshy and a rounded kidney shape. Scurvy is a disease caused by a deficiency of Vitamin C, and it was prevalent among seamen who ran short of fresh vegetables and fruit. The leaves of scurvygrass, which contain a good source of the vitamin, were often eaten by seafarers, hence the plants name. The implication that the plant belongs to the grass family is false though; it belongs to the cabbage family. Throughout the summer, it provides a mass of white flowers along many parts of this coast.

Surrounded by moorland on three sides, Whitby always had to seek its trade and communication with the world outside via the sea. The towns isolation from its hinterland did not begin to crumble until the first stagecoach services to York in 1789, And gathered pace after 1836 when George Stevenson engineered a rail line to go over the moors to the town of Pickering.

Whitby's religious and maritime history pervades the town. The gaunt ruins of the Abbey dominate the headland scene, steadfast against the worst of unforgiving storms coming in off the sea. It was Saint Hilda who brought Christianity here in the 7th century. The famous 'Synod of Whitby' was held in AD 664. The original abbey was destroyed by Danish invaders in the 9th century. The ruined abbey that you see today was built on the original site in 1078. Caedmon Cross commemorates the 7th century farm worker turned monk, who had a vision in which he was called to sing a song of creation, which he subsequently made famous.

On the opposite headland is the memorial to Whitby's greatest seaman, Captain James Cook. He stands near the much photographed whalebone arch, another famous East Coast Landmark.

In the 1890’s, the author Bram Stoker took regular holidays in Whitby. It was here where he heard horrific tales of a schooner which had been driven aground on the town beach after a dreadful storm. From his lodgings on West Cliff the author would have had a prime view down to the site of the ghastly wreck and across to the cobbled streets of the older East side, and the imposing ruins of Whitby Abbey and St Mary’s church that sits at the top of the winding 199 steps which rise up the cliffs from the streets below. This episode was the seed of creativity which sparked his most famous novel about a certain Count Dracula.

The very character of Whitby creates myths and legends. Apart from the story of Count Dracula the town reputedly has association to Humpty Dumpty and to mermaids. And of course, due to the popularity of Bram Stoker's famous creation the town is noted for the Whitby Goth Weekend which takes place twice every year, once in spring and once around halloween.