191
Above Crab and lobster pots in Whitby, still
a busy fishing centreEAT AND DRINKAROUND PICKERING
Appletree Country Inn moderate
This dining pub serves excellent local
produce – Whitby crab cakes, Marton
beef and Marton Mess – lavender
meringue, fruit and cream.
Marton, Nr Pickering YO6 6RD (on
Marton Rd, left off the A170); 01751
431 457; closed Mon, Tue
WHITBY
Elizabeth Botham & Sons inexpensive
This family-run tea house is delightfully
old fashioned. Choose a speciality tea to
wash down gingerbread with Coverdale
cheese or buttered plum bread.
35 Skinner Street, YO21 3AH; 01947
602 823; http://www.botham.co.uk
Magpie inexpensive
This Whitby portside institution serves
tip-top fish dishes, including oysters,
chowders, prawn cocktail and Whitby
crab – can get busy at lunchtime.
14 Pier Road, YO21 3PU; 01947 602
058; http://www.magpiecafe.co.uk
Green’s Seafood Bistro and
Restaurant moderate
Serves seafood fresh from the quay
each morning, as well as local meat
and game. Bistro menu is simpler with
a changing catch of the day.
13 Bridge St, YO22 4BG; 01947 600 284;
http://www.greensofwhitby.comback via the 5-km (3-mile) Rail Trail. Its
other claim to fame is as the setting for
popular TV drama series Heartbeat.
ª Leave on Front St, turning left at
Sleights on A169 and right onto A171.
Veer left onto Prospect Hill and take
3rd exit at the roundabout for seafront.
8 Staithes
North Yorks; TS13 5BH
As a young man, the
explorer James Cook (1728–
79) once worked in the
draper’s shop in this fishing
village, and it is here that he
first dreamt of becoming a sea
captain and navigator. Still
ringed by cliffs offering spectacular
walks, this pretty harbour village has
probably changed little to this day. To
the north lie the dramatic Boulby Cliffs,
the highest on England’s east coast.
ª Go west on A174. Turn left at
Easington on a minor road to A171. Turn
right and follow signs to Guisborough.DRIVE 18: North Yorkshire Moors & Coast
Eat and Drink: inexpensive, under £25; moderate, £25–£50; expensive, over £50Whitby fudge
shop sign7 Whitby
North Yorks; YO21 1YN
Visually dramatic, the buzzing fishing
port and resort of Whitby clings to the
hills on the banks of the River Esk, its
hilltop abbey ruins dramatically
silhouetted against the sky. Other
architectural highlights includes fine
Georgian houses and humbler white
fishermen’s cottages, linked by ginnels
(alleys). Whitby Abbey (open daily) was
founded by St Hilda in AD 655, but
today’s ruins are the 13th-century
buildings destroyed by Henry VIII and
further damaged by German
battleships in 1914. Sharing
the windswept hillside is St
Mary’s Church (open daily)
and its graveyard, reached
by 199 steps. The two
edifices provided a dramatic
setting in Bram Stoker’s
Gothic vampire novel
Dracula (1897). Leeds-born
artist Frank Sutcliffe set up a
studio in Whitby in 1876,
taking photos of fishermen, farmers,
ships and moorland. See his work at
the Sutcliffe Gallery, (Flowergate,
http://www.sutcliffegallery.co.uk)..)
It’s a short walk to Sandsend which
has a nice, sandy beach and plenty
of surf; or a longer one to family-
friendly Robin Hood’s Bay; or just
Above Yorkshire, Moors And Coast, driving over the Rosedale Chimney Bank
climb up past the Abbey and explore
the Cleveland Way (www.northseatrail.
co.uk). And why not catch a fish supper
on the high seas with a half-day fishing
trip (01947 605 658; http://www.wsatsite.com).
ª Head inland, turning right on the
A174 through Sandsend and right to
Staithes; use the pay-and-
display car park.SHOPPING IN WHITBYWhitby Jet
Mourning for Prince Albert, Queen
Victoria set a fashion for lustrous black jet
jewellery. Whitby’s shore proved a rich
source of this beautiful gemstone. Buy it
from Whitby Jet Heritage Centre and
W Hamond (both on Church St).
Whitby Kippers
W R Fortunes (22 Henrietta St) produces
richly flavoured kippered herrings,
smoked using oak and beech shavings.