This may be the biggest day for me, with the visit to Whitby on the coast and then stately home Castle Howard. Whitby was the hometown of Capt. Cook the explorer and the setting for Dracula. The ruins of Whitby Abbey, founded in the 700's by my favorite saint St. Hilda, patron of learning and culture, stand above the town looking out to he North Sea. We also had a great lunch of fish and chips, with the provenance of our fish listed on the restaurant blackboard, and then roamed the streets hunting for Whitby jet jewelry. Jet isn't a stone, it's fossilized monkey tree, and very expensive. Queen Victoria wore a lot of it after Primce Albert died. The town reminded me a lot of Rockport MA with its harbor, fishing boats, and swarms of tourists and snack shops.
Amateur photos cannot do Castle Howard justice. If you've seen Downton Abbey or any PBS period drama then you get the idea. Seeing how these families accumulated so much land, wealth, and museum-quality treasures makes one sympathetic to Jefferson's concept of periodically watering the tree of liberty with blood. But in fairness they worked hard to keep the estates and tenants going. One guide told me that the countess had 3 main jobs: to produce at least 6 children including a male heir; to manage the estates profitably; and to make sure the place ran like a 5 star hotel. And until the 20th century she would be chattel like the rest of her husband's property. Put that way it doesn't sound so great. The "Radical Countess" in the late 19th century became a great fighter for women's rights after having 11 children - makes sense to me. Today the castle has gift and farm shops to help pay for maintenance. The family lives there year round but stay out of sight during tourist season. You can tell the place is lived in by the worn wooden floors and steps. And they have a lake - but it's got nothing on Deering NH!
Because of the terrible wifi I can't get my phone pics in, so I'll just say that in the "Grand China Gallery" they had 6 chests exactly like the one in my front hall, only half the height. So we're just as good collectors as the noble Howards.
Tonight we went to the Golden Fleece pub with another couple - retired FSO and schoolteacher - for a few pints and monstrously large portions of Yorkshire puddings with meat and gravy. The pub dates back to the 1500s and is the starting point for the "Terror of York" tour. I told you that York was a tough town! Did I mention that Guy Fawkes and Judi Densch hail from York? We stayed for a little live music and pushed off to pack to early departure to the Lake District.
Capt. Cook looking out to sea. His 4 ships were built in Whitby.
Castle Howard
The long gallery
The Boar Garden
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