2025 Catch-up: Whitby Abbey

Just before Christmas in that far-off time known as 2025 ( who can even remember that now? ), Sarah and I spent a few days in the beautiful surroundings of North Yorkshire, staying in the lovely coastal town of Whitby. It's somewhere we've meant to go for years and we're so glad we finally got there. It's a surprisingly bustling, busy little town ( even in the chilly days of Winter ), with a historic seafront, friendly locals, great fish 'n' chips and - of course - the world-famous abbey.

With its iconic, ruined vistas and connection to Bram Stoker's Dracula ( as "Carfax Abbey" ), Whitby Abbey was a must for us. And we could even see it out of our hotel window, as pictured above.

We were fortunate to get up to the abbey on a beautifully sunny, if bone-achingly cold, December morning and see it in all its glory.

It really is an incredible building, with so much history and myth surrounding it. Of course, so much of its mystique comes from its ruined status - thanks but no thanks to monastery-dissolving Henry VIII - and it's interesting to think how much of its imagistic power would be lost if it was still intact. Anyway, we were absolutely blown away by the majesty and spectacle of this incredible ruin, staring out to the North Sea from the windswept headland.

The English Heritage gift shop was, of course, full of Dracula merch, enough to ensnare even the most wary Goth in its shadowy embrace.

 As you pass through the gift shop and museum on your way to the abbey there are large, black capes hanging on pegs, for anyone who fancies cosplaying as the Count... guess which idiot had a go?