[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]
My visit to Whitby was rather short, but sufficiently interesting for me to want to come back. I thought that the pubs were particularly impressive, but there are numerous museums that I’d have liked to have visited as well. And some more pubs…..
[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]
There’s a storm gate on Whitby pier to prevent people from going out fishing (or indeed anything else….) in dangerous conditions, and it’s a particularly impressive gate. It was designed by James Godbold who runs a blacksmiths in Egton, located just outside of Whitby. It’s made of galvanised steel and there’s an old ship portrayed on one side, and a more recent one on the other.
The plaque, dated 2005, which is located next to the storm gate, as “a tribute to the fisherman, merchantmen, whalers, explorers and all seafarers of Whitby past and present”.
[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]
West Pier Lighthouse stands over 20 metres high and is located on one side of the harbour’s entrance. I didn’t realise until afterwards that following some restoration work that visitors are allowed to climb up the tower which seems an interesting little expedition.
The lighthouse was erected in 1831 and the engineer in charge was Francis Pickernell. Princess Victoria visited the lighthouse in 1834 and there’s another on the other side of the harbour, which is brilliantly named the East Pier Lighthouse… The lighthouse remained in use until 1912 and it was then replaced by more sophisticated methods of alerting shipping to the dangers of crashing into the harbour wall.
I’m very engaged with borders and their meeting points, so I was pleased to have the opportunity to visit the Dreiländereck which is the meeting point of Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
And there we go, the actual spot is in the middle of the river and I decided against wading in.
We were standing on the Swiss side of the river, over there is Austria to the left and Liechtenstein to the right. There’s nothing evident to mark the actual spot where the three countries meet, so we were reliant on looking at a map to ensure that we were at the right place.
Walking back to the rather interesting place that Richard left the car. It’s the Rhine and this is near the start of this river before it goes off thundering through Germany and then entering the North Sea via the Netherlands. It’s all very peaceful and there were plenty of cyclists and walkers on both sides of the river.
And we saw what I think is a grey heron.
Richard and I went for a walk in the Pitztal Valley last week and I was so inspired that I’m taking my friend Liam there next year for mountain biking, walking and climbing (by climbing, I mean walking up slight slopes).
Richard was terrified by this, but I was calm and collected when walking by. The rest of this post is just the photos of the walk, it really was a beautiful area.
As part of our Austrian adventure in the valley of the Alps, we walked to a few churches and this included the rather lovely Pilgrimage Church of St. Maria am Bichele. The name ‘Bichele’ (or little hill) suits it rather well, a modest whitewashed chapel in a clearing which feels more like a woodland sanctuary than a grand shrine and it’s protected today as a historic monument.
The walk up the hill which has wayside shrines whose reliefs narrate the fourteen Stations of the Cross.
Here comes Richard jogging up the hill.
The story of this goes that in 1610 a beggar named Michel is said to have seen an angel who told him to seek the Mother of God near St. Leonhard and after much searching he found a small statue of Mary on a tree stump. A chapel promptly went up at the spot and drew steady devotion. The present church dates to 1828, built by the curate Josef Neururer, partly because the parish feared the main church might be unsafe on shifting ground and wanted a worthy substitute for worship and pilgrimage.
The grotto, which has inspired Richard.
The interior of the church.
The chancel.
The statue of the Virgin Mary on the altar.
Looking back along the nave with the organ on the upper tier.
An interesting votive painting which I think is expressing delight at some miracle taking place, perhaps relating to this location.
[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]
I rather like the name of these former public facilities, they were known as the Old Khyber Pass toilets and had a location near to the harbour. Unfortunately, the council has decided to close them and replace them with facilities where visitors to the town have to pay to get in. Which will have the result of inconveniencing visitors, excuse the pun, and seeing more people sneak into Wetherspoons and similar businesses to use their toilets.
The council are selling the premises with the potential for A1, A3 or A5 consent to be granted. This means that there is still scope for good news, as this would allow Greggs to take over the site and open an outlet in a town where they currently don’t have a shop.
[I originally posted this in August 2018 but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]
The lighting when I visited wasn’t very good unfortunately, but this statue of Captain James Cook looks out onto Whitby Harbour. Admiral Lord Charles Beresford unveiled this statue, designed by John Tweed, in September 1912. The monument was funded by Sir Gervase Beckett, a banker who was also the MP for the area.
I also discovered, whilst busy on Wikipedia, that there’s a statue of Cook near Admiralty Arch in London. I’ve walked by that many times without realising who it was….
This plaque was added to the monument in 1968 to mark the 200th anniversary since the first European exploration of Australia.
“Around the world, nothing left unturned”.
There’s a plaque which gives some information about Cook’s life, but what particularly caught my eye was the 80-mile Captain Cook tour. Unfortunately, it lost my interest when I saw it was a tour for cars and not for long distance walkers….
[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]
This interesting little park seemed rather out of place when I walked by it, hemmed in by a Poundland on one side and a car park to the rear. It has though transpired (to me at least) that this patch of land had rather fallen into disrepair and become a location for anti-social behaviour, so it was decided by the council to improve it.
Coming from Norwich, the council here tends to define improving something as knocking it down and building a car park on top of it. Then they can cheer that they’ve managed to encourage even more cars to come into the city centre, whilst not actually managing to ever properly fund public transport. But, in Whitby, money was found to theme this little park around Alice, one of the creations of Lewis Carroll.
Carroll has some connections to Whitby as he came here on holiday on at least six occasions, and it was the Whitby Gazette who published his first poem in 1854.
There are three themed benches in the park, all related to works by Carroll. Given that the park is now of interest to visitors and is a little bit of a talking point, I thought this was rather an charming idea by local residents and politicians, and there is apparently more work planned for the site.
[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]
The last stop of my visits to pubs in Whitby mentioned in the Good Beer Guide was to the Station Inn. It’s an interesting pub with a main bar area and two smaller rooms located off of it. There was a vibrant feel to the pub, but it remained friendly and welcoming.
I was a little confused as to why the pub seemed relatively modern and didn’t seem to be of a contemporary date to the railway station opposite, but it appears that it was reconstructed in the 1930s. It was also known as the Cutty Sark until the 1980s, although the current name seems more appropriate.
Is this real? I’m veering on the side of thinking that it’s not.
There are numerous historic signs relating to the railway industry on the walls of the pub.
The real ales are listed on a blackboard and there were around seven available during my visit. I went for the Whitby Jet Black which is from the local Whitby Brewery and it had a pleasant taste with a chocolate flavour.
This was another Whitby pub where locals burst into song, all adding positively to the friendly ambience. The staff in the pub were personable and welcoming despite how busy they were, with no seats available during my visit.
The pub is located opposite the railway station and is also in an area that would attract tourists, but it still had the feel of an authentic locals’ pub which was welcoming to all. The Station Inn has also won numerous CAMRA awards, with a few real ciders to choose from in addition to all of the real ales.
