Uhm, would that be today? Then I think I am a little late.... But do enjoy yourself while you are there!

I'm back! Whitby has a familiar vibe to me - I grew up in similar sea-side towns (before moving inland) and it has all the love-hate things I remember. Mostly hate, but I feak if I'm too far away from the sea.

Its worth a visit, being of the old-skool sea-side experience and family friendly, but outside WGW its more like tourist and biker heaven. I saw loads of bikes and mobile homes on the road heading there. Its lucky I arrived at 7am, the inbound traffic after 9am became truly horrific, made worse by it mostly being single lane (from the direction I came) - no dual carriageways. Once there you will notice all the official and non-official road signs essentially saying "bugger off!". My guess is that people park and camp anywhere, possibly WGW? It does seem a popular destination in general.

The left hand side of the bay (facing out to sea) has all the typical shops as well as the gothy and alternate tat and the major tourist area. The swing bridge was closed (well, open for boats) so I had to cross on a bridge, way back from the sea. I'm glad I did as I would never have found the hospital (next to the Police station) and a very specific window! (I'll post the pic soon). The right has the Abby and jewelry shops, an open market was setting up in the little square as I was passing, to see the lifeboat station.

The Abbey is nicely gothic, but you have to pay to get close to it of course (I had to pay to see Tintern as well). I have about 90 odd photos of Whitby and Castle Howard (I saw on the way back from Whitby) as well.

Don't expect it all to be all olde-worlde, it has a high housing density and is infested with 60/70's horrors, new build and apartment conversions (of old sea captains 3 story houses).

-LS

In view of the long drive, I hope that you weren't too disappointed. It sounds as if you got to see some things that I didn't have time to do while you were there, and am really looking forward to your impressions!

It IS very old-fashioned, but to me, that's part of it's charm. It's very unassuming, and has, I think, deliberately sought to minimise the amount of "tat" and seaside tackiness. I don't know whether you felt this way, but to me, it felt as if, leaving the quay area on the north bank of the Esk and entering the "pleasure beach" section, it was like passing through Checkpoint Charlie - there's a distinct separation of the two. I mentally compare that with, say, Brighton, or, perhaps, more appropriately, Great Yarmouth, and even to an extent it's nearby neighbour on the North Yorkshire coast, Scarborough, and the level of tackiness is nowhere near as "in your face".

I'd noticed the town's popularity with bikers; there were a number when I was there last week. I can understand why, though; it makes a great - and reasonably obvious - destination point if you're riding on the North Yorkshire Moors (and I would have to imagine that, using the ethos of "it's not where you go, it's how you get there", the Moors are extremely popular with bikers - a beautiful wilderness, the roads wind through some of the most spectacular scenery you'll encounter in England).

It's also worth mentioning - pretty much as a closer to my own impressions of the town - that Whitby seems to be a town of several identities; obviously, my personal focus has been on the things which would interest gnet members. However, for the historian, it's also worthy of mention that the town was also the starting point of the voyages of discovery of Captain James Cook and the "Endeavour" in the late 18th century, which led to the discovery of Australia; on a darker note, as well as being a major fishing port, Whitby was also a departure point for whaling ships setting out into northern waters. However, no aspect of Whitby overpowers the others to exclusion; instead, it seems to get on with its own rather quiet life, and in that differs considerably from many of the brasher towns around our coastline.

Minnie, its no Blackpool for sure and I am thankful for that! Granted, it does have a better class of tat shop, like one market town I used to live in. Whitby is about just right, I'm thinking of a weekend there later on in the year (like winter) when the sea is wilder and most everyone else has gone home.

Indeed, that makes a lot of sense - it'll be cheaper to stay up there (guest houses desperate for any form of income during the off season), and it's the best time of the year to bring out the bleak beauty of the area.

I'm hoping to get up there again for at least a little while during the goth weekend - preferably the October event.

I might sneak up as well. In the meantime my uploads are going a bit wrong. I wanted to use my own upload (FTP) but its not playing ball (again!). Did manage this: http://members.multimania.co.uk/letalissenium/Photos/CastleHoward/DSCN0087.JPG.

Nice photo! I've never been to Castle Howard; I'll be interested to hear about it!

Please find to follow two sides of a promotional flyer located in Camden Town yesterday:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4828272042_c6138caed2.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4828281374_12a9f064f6.jpg

The photos are beautiful, guys! Life was so much easier before i started getting into gothy stuff: i was planning to travel europe in my gap year and now i have to make sure it coincides with Wave Gotik Treffen and WGW!
p.s. Minnie, do you have any photos of the town itself? Pretty please?!

I'll see what I can trawl up for you - I'm sure the answer is probably "yes"! However, in this thread, I'm sure a good number of the pictures give a feel for what the town is like... But, as I've said, I'll certainly dig around for you!

And, with regards planning where you might want to be... The key dates for Whitby in 2011 are 25-27 March and 4-6 November...

Looks like a beautiful place.

I plan to visit there this summer.

I heartily recommend it! On your way down, should you be so minded, I would recommend stopping in on Durham as well - that's quite a wonderful place too...

Durham... I'll definitely keep that in mind when I'm in the area.

Thank You...

I've always had a hankering to visit Berwick as well... It looks a very unusual town.

Although I've been/lived north of the border, I've never been to Berwick

Durham - I live in the south, but the Land of the Prince Bishops in my birthplace.

Ooooh! You are quite definitely blessed!!