Trips

Fri., 6/17/16 – York to Whitby
        Today we took the optional tour to the seaside town of Whitby on the North Sea.  We drove through the North York Moors.
        After a lovely drive through the countryside and small towns, we arrived at Whitby, a town divided by the River Esk, which empties into the North Sea.  It used to be an industrial town and a wooden ship building port.  From 1753 to the 1830s whaling was big.  Now it is a town for small commercial fishing and pleasure vacations.
        Bram Stoker lived in Whitby in 1897. Captain James Cook began his sailing career here before heading off to Australia and Hawaii in the ship Endeavor that was built in Whitby in 1764.   There is a statue of Captain Cook, given to Whitby by the people of Australia, and an arch made by two blue whale rib bones to honor all the whaling seamen who died at sea.  We got off the bus for a photo stop and the wind and cold from the North Sea was in full force.  As we entered town we saw another community garden.  These are called “allotments.”  The land is owned by the government.

North York Moors	North York Moors
Town of Whitby and Whitby Abbey	North Sea at Whitby
Captain James Cook	Whale bone arch honoring whaling seamen who died at sea
River Esk	We drove up to the Whitby Abbey ruins.  What remains is awesome.  It was originally a Benedictine monastery for monks and nuns.  In 635 St. Columba came to preach here.  Henry VIII closed it.  Two walls were destroyed by German battleship cannons in WWI.  At one time, around 1060, it was an important place for pilgrimages.  The Abbey must have been beautiful because what remains is grand.
	Borghese gladiator - replica in bronze in the Abbey courtyard
Whitby Abbey	Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey	Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey	Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey	Whitby Abbey
North York Moors from Whitby Abbey	North York Moors from Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey	St. Mary’s Church graveyard
On our way to lunch we walked through the cemetery of St. Mary’s Church and down the steps to the river.  Dracula, in the movie, staggered up these steps.  At the river we crossed over an old swing bridge to the west side of town.  It is another quaint and charming old village.         We ate fish (fresh caught cod) and chippies (French fries) at Trencher’s - absolutely wonderful!  Gale had a huge piece of ham, salad, and fruit plate that was just as delicious.	Stairs from Whitby Abbey down to town
From the stairs	Street scene
	Whitby Swing Bridge
Harbor	Lobster pots
Trencher's - Lunch	Lunch - for Gale
On the way home we had a better view, with less rain and fog, of the Royal Air Force Base, Fylingdales, that tracks orbiting systems as part of the Early Warning System.         Our second stop, Castle Howard is an elegant palace that has been, and still is, in the Howard family for 300 years.  It was built in 1712 and was opened to the public in 1952 to help raise funds to maintain it.  A Tom Jones concert tomorrow will also bring in money.  In 2007 Miramax Films chose the castle for the filming of Brideshead Revisited. The film studio rebuilt part of the “house” destroyed in a fire in 1940.  It is still lived in for half of the year.  We walked through the usual bedrooms, dining room, drawing room, long room, octagonal gallery, and the great hall.  The formal gardens outside were more interesting.  The rose garden smelled heavenly.	Sign in the middle of a field
North York Moors	Solid State Phased Array Radar Warning System radar tracking system - Fylingdales Royal Air Force Base
Another narrow lane	What do you think the drivers think about our bus?
Castle Howard	Castle Howard gardens
Castle Howard	Castle Howard gardens
Castle Howard gardens	Castle Howard gardens
Castle Howard - they provide the frame	Castle Howard gardens
Castle Howard obelisk at the entry	We got back to York and then met Liz who took Marge and me to dinner at Betty’s Café Tea Rooms as our Inner Circle gift.  We had a wonderful English meal of fresh asparagus quiche with three kinds of salad and a chocolate torte for dessert.  We enjoyed the one-on-one conversation with our English program director who is one of the best we have had.
	Dinner with Liz
Dinner with Liz	Dinner with Liz

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