Vampires will never hurt you

I think Whitby might be one of my very favorite places in the whole world. It's so beautiful and just has a vibe unlike any place I've ever been, although I admit I don't know how much of that is the Dracula stuff because I love vampires. It's a really old seaside town in Yorkshire, England, and was mostly known for it's fishing. Then Bram Stoker came along and decided that the crumbling Abbey on top of the cliff would be a great setting for a little vampire book he was writing, and ever since the town has been associated with Dracula. And I don't know if it is just the rich history of the place, but somehow it manages to do it with class instead of going the tacky route and it gives it a real atmosphere. It's easy to imagine vampires wandering the cobbled streets among the tourists.

Whitby is also famous for it's jet gemstones, which is black and only adds to the town's goth vibes. My parents used to own a gemstone shop when I was a teenager and I'd work there on weekends, and ever since then I've always been inexplicably drawn to jet. It's really a very boring stone to look at compared to the magnificence of something like opal or even bright shards of amethyst, but there's just something about it that calls me. It washes up on the beach here (although it's kind of hard to find because everyone is out treasure hunting) and the streets are full of little locally owned jewelers selling their hand crafted designs. This was my third time I've ever been to Whitby, and I buy myself a little something each time I come. I have a celtic design necklace, a ring, and this time I decided to go big and treated myself to a pendant that I felt really symbolizes the town.

Before Dracula Whitby was known for it's fishing heritage. You can see St Mary's Church on top of the cliff in the background, and the beach where Dracula's ship washed ashore.






Climbing the 199 steps up to the church and Abbey





I'd never been inside the Abbey before, and it was a lot bigger than I was expecting! It's a hundreds of years old ruin so obviously there's not much, but it's still really impressive to look around. It was founded in 657 AD, until it was raided by Danish invaders in 867 AD and left to ruin for 200 years. It was rebuilt as a Benedictine Abbey in the 1220s, until it was destroyed in 1540 due to the Protestant reforms under Henry VIII. It then sustained further damage due to German shell attacks during WWI.

The gift shop is predominantly Dracula related, and I struggled not to buy a few of those beautiful books! I couldn't resist a few bits though.


Time to look at every single black stone on the beach just in case. I did manage to find a few chunks of jet though!

Seaside Rendezvous

A couple of weeks ago I travelled up to Whitby, an old seaside town in Yorkshire rich with history. I've always wanted to visit, and as it's only 3 hours away from where I live I decided to make the most of that and visited at the end of September to make the most of the quiet season before it got too cold.

It's a really beautiful place, and a day was just long enough for me. I didn't go inside the Abbey as it's just ruins and I felt like I could see enough from outside, but it was truly stunning to see it sat atop the moors. Goth festivals are held here twice a year, something I always longed to visit in my teenage years, and looking at the scenery it's clear to see why it's so popular. Close to the Abbey is St Mary's Graveyard, full of legend and folk tales with even a grave for Humpty Dumpty (the cannon the rhyme is based on, not the egg!). It's clear to see how it inspired Bram Stoker to write the location as Dracula's entry point into England.

I've collected gemstones for most of my life, and was thrilled to find a few pieces of Whitby jet washed up on the seashore, something I'd hoped might happen but wasn't confident I'd be lucky enough as I'm sure you can imagine there's a lot of people looking for it! I think I struck lucky due to the storms the previous day and the sea being quite rough. I've always been inexplicably drawn to jet - it's rather plain to look at as it's just black, so it's certainly not as eye-catching as many other gemstones, nor is it sparkly, but it's always been the stone I'm most naturally attracted to (and after I learnt the properties of it I'm hardly surprised why!) As well as the raw pieces I found on the beach, I also treated myself to a jet necklace as it's a difficult stone to buy just anywhere and it felt like a nice way to remember my trip.

Whitby is a beautiful little town, like many places in Yorkshire. If you're ever travelling to England I always try to advise tourists to visit further North than just London, and don't think anybody could ever be disappointed with a visit to Yorkshire. Whitby isn't too far from the city of York, which is another of my favourite places!