The Historic Town of Whitby

I have visited Whitby many times over the years and although I haven't been recently I enjoy going there, especially for the fish and chips, you can't beat the fish and chips from the famous the Magpie Cafe. People queue for miles just to eat fish and chips in there. I have been carried many times up those steps as a child so we could go in and sit in the cafe.

Whitby is a historic town in North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. Nowadays it is a fishing port and tourist destination. It is situated 47 miles from York, at the mouth of the River Esk and spreads up the steep sides of the narrow valley carved out by the river's course. At this point the coast curves round, so the town faces more north than east.

The town is served by Whitby railway station which forms the terminus of the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough, formerly the northern terminus of the Whitby, Pickering and York line. Whitby is also served by the Yorkshire Coastliner bus line, which can take travellers to and from Leeds, Tadcaster, York, Scarborough, Bridlington, Pickering, Malton and many more towns in Yorkshire.

West Cliff has its own landmarks — a statue of Captain James Cook, who sailed from the town, and a whalebone arch, commemorating the once large whaling industry. There is also a new science museum — Whitby Wizard. The whalebone arch is the second to stand on this spot; the original (a larger version) is now preserved in Whitby Archives Heritage Centre. By the inner harbour, next to the tourist information office, there is also a statue commemorating William Scoresby, inventor of the crow's nest.

One unusual feature of Whitby is the Dracula Museum - a large portion of Bram Stoker's famous novel was set in Whitby, describing Dracula's arrival in Britain on a ship washed ashore in the harbour, and how Lucy watched from the churchyard as the sun set over the nearby headland of Kettleness, but did not know how many steps she climbed to get there. Stoker's story incorporated various pieces of Whitby folklore, including the beaching of the Russian ship Dmitri, which became the basis of Demeter in the book