The 280 Steps
Posted By Judith on 20th August 2018
No, I’m not trying to up-stage John Buchan, this is simply about a day trip to Whitby last week.
On arrival we were interested to see that down in the harbour was a full size replica of Captain James Cook’s ship HMS Endeavor which had arrived a few days earlier as part of some forthcoming tourist attraction.
I took some pictures, but due to my vantage point and the fact that the sun was behind a cloud at the time, they are rather dark, so I borrowed this one which shows the ship being towed into harbour and is far better than any of mine.
Did you know the original HMS Endeavour was built in Whitby in 1764?
We then did all the usual things, ate fish and chips and had ice creams, we also climbed the 199 steps up to the Abbey, which has become a bit of a ritual for us in recent years.
Let’s face it, what’s not to like?
We’ve been to Whitby many times, but in all those visits we’ve never climbed up the old lighthouse. Here we see it from the Abbey (it’s the one on the left)
and here at close quarters.
I decided to give it a go.
I struggled manfully up the 81 steps which were very steep, winding and narrow, no mean feat for a pensioner with short legs, while Peter stayed below
he’s the one in the light coloured shirt, bottom right.
I’m not good with heights, but the views from the top were amazing,
even if I did take all my photos with one hand, whilst holding on to the railings in a rather stiff breeze with the other!
So there we are, my 280 steps and don’t forget, what goes up must come down, so maybe it should be 560.
