Lil

The coming of the cloud was too quick for me to see much, for shadow shut down on light almost immediately. But it seemed to me as though something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone.

From this passage, and Mina's description of the landscape she passes through, it's generally agreed that the lodging house of his fictional characters was in fact the very same as his real holiday accommodation at Sixth Royal Crescent.

From this passage, and Mina's description of the landscape she passes through, it's generally agreed that the lodging house of his fictional characters was in fact the very same as his real holiday accommodation at Sixth Royal Crescent.

And we can follow Mina's flight along North Terrace, past the modern car park, to the corner of the cliff that overlooks the west pier and harbour below, where Mina looks for her friend.

And we can follow Mina's flight along North Terrace, past the modern car park, to the corner of the cliff that overlooks the west pier and harbour below, where Mina looks for her friend.

The view that she describes here is one of the most famous and most photographed in all of Whitby, and also the place where two famous monuments stand testament to the town's history, the Captain Cook statue and the Whalebone Arch, two quintessentially Whitby photo opportunities that can't be missed, but that also reflect a darker side of the town's history.

The view that she describes here is one of the most famous and most photographed in all of Whitby, and also the place where two famous monuments stand testament to the town's history, the Captain Cook statue and the Whalebone Arch, two quintessentially Whitby photo opportunities that can't be missed, but that also reflect a darker side of the town's history.

Both structures, perched on the cliff edge above the steep drop to the harbour below, face the wave-filled expanse of the harbour mouth and the east cliff on the opposite side of town.

Both structures, perched on the cliff edge above the steep drop to the harbour below, face the wave-filled expanse of the harbour mouth and the east cliff on the opposite side of town.

And anyone with a photographic eye can appreciate how the tall, imposing Cook Monument, with the stony-faced captain forever gazing determinedly out to sea, creates the perfect foreground to the ruins of the ancient abbey far off in the distance, the cluster of red pantiled roofs crowded together along the face of East Cliff, completing a scene that crushes together a thousand years of history in one shot.

And anyone with a photographic eye can appreciate how the tall, imposing Cook Monument, with the stony-faced captain forever gazing determinedly out to sea, creates the perfect foreground to the ruins of the ancient abbey far off in the distance, the cluster of red pantiled roofs crowded together along the face of East Cliff, completing a scene that crushes together a thousand years of history in one shot.

Monuments, plaques and even a museum dedicated to the 18th century explorer Captain Cook, who apprenticed here in Whitby, thread throughout the town. But, as with most early explorers, who so often left trails of native ruin in their wake, I don't know that it's a legacy to be celebrated.

Monuments, plaques and even a museum dedicated to the 18th century explorer Captain Cook, who apprenticed here in Whitby, thread throughout the town. But, as with most early explorers, who so often left trails of native ruin in their wake, I don't know that it's a legacy to be celebrated.

Not one to be forgotten either, though, if only for bearing witness to the past and hopefully learning from the errors of our forebears. But however you feel about the explorer, his statue marks the spot of our first ghost story and serves as a landmark for where witnesses have spotted Whitby's White Wraith.

Not one to be forgotten either, though, if only for bearing witness to the past and hopefully learning from the errors of our forebears. But however you feel about the explorer, his statue marks the spot of our first ghost story and serves as a landmark for where witnesses have spotted Whitby's White Wraith.

The arch is formed by the lower jaw of a bowhead whale, a testament to Whitby Harbour's days of whale hunting industry.

The arch is formed by the lower jaw of a bowhead whale, a testament to Whitby Harbour's days of whale hunting industry.

The whaling that took place here in the 18th and early 19th century wasn't subsistence whaling, it was commercial, and sadly contributed to the population decline of those giants of the sea, evidenced by the end of the industry in Whitby in 1837, when the last whaling vessel returned empty of its quarry. Crewing the whaling vessels of the 18th and early 19th centuries was a treacherous career.

The whaling that took place here in the 18th and early 19th century wasn't subsistence whaling, it was commercial, and sadly contributed to the population decline of those giants of the sea, evidenced by the end of the industry in Whitby in 1837, when the last whaling vessel returned empty of its quarry. Crewing the whaling vessels of the 18th and early 19th centuries was a treacherous career.

Doubtless, many of the men, and often quite young boys in the enterprise's employ, wouldn't have had a lot of choice in how they earned a living. They would have had to find work wherever work was offered, and many of them probably knew that it was a job they may never come home from.