Catch of the day - Whitby draws in the foodies.
North Yorkshire is home to some of Britain's best scenery, and in Whitby home to some of its finest seafood. Nick Harman takes the train North for a non carbon footprint break
Is anything what it seems in Whitby? Harry Collet, the man in dread Victorian hat and cape who has just led us round on an informative, dark and spooky Dracula trip, reveals himself to be also the Chairman of the Whitby & District Tourism Association. He tells us this over a pint of local bitter in Whitby’s oldest and most charming pub The Black Horse. The pub is owned by Bill Rae who, it turns out, is also the owner of The Whitby Catch, a forward-looking fishmongers situated right on the quay where the boats come in. He sells his fish to, amongst others, the excellent Green’s Restaurant where Emma Green the manageress, and co-owner with her chef-husband, is also a highly accomplishedwillow sculptor, with commissions from Prince Charles, among others, to her name. Honestly, this place makes your head spin.
Of course the town’s notoriety has for a long time rested on a false identity. This is where Bram Stoker wrote much of Dracula, using the town for inspiration but bending names and events to suit his needs. At night as the ruined abbey looks down its 199 ancient steps to a tiny harbour buffeted by fierce Northern winds coming straight from the arctic circle you can see why. Whitby straddles the river Eske as it meets the sea and is a maze of atmospheric cobbled streets and alleyways and pleasantly devoid of chain stores. Instead independent shops take the lion’s share of space and in the morning the owners are out early in the sunshine washing down their windows and paintwork and exchanging cheery greetings with passers-by. There hasn’t been much change here; from the old iron bridge that links the east and west sides of town and still swings open to let larger ships into the inner harbour, to the buildings themselves still hanging on to their original windows and doors. It’s a town that has preserved its past without artifice, just a sense of pride in ownership.
What has changed is the fishing industry. The glory days of mass fishing have gone as stocks have dwindled, yet Whitby has seen change before and weathered the storm. Instead of giving up and letting the town sink, Whitby has thought hard and pulled together to make positive change. The fleet may be a fraction of its former size but it is now sustainable and focussed on what people and restaurants want, not what the supermarkets demand. As a result the morning fish market in the modern shed is ringing to not just Yorkshire accents, but French, Spanish and Italian too. They come for the excellent quality and the well thought-through logistics, which mean their purchases will be on their way abroad in a matter of hours.
Also in the shed is Bill Rae, buying fish for his shop The Whitby Catch. Look in the window and you’ll see a selection of fish and shellfish equal to stalls in Provence. Langoustines caught just up the coast, red mullet bright eyed and bushy tailed, local smoked kippers, fillets of sea bass caught by boats using baited hooks and not nets, fillets of luscious, and increasingly appreciated, brill too. Bill came here from outside of Whitby and at first, he admits, he was ‘trotted up’ at auctions so that he paid more than he needed to. Now he’s very much a fixture and a respected local man as he eats enormous bacon butties with the rest of the buyers outside the auction shed.
Rob Green from Green's can normally be found here too, selecting the best fish for his acclaimed eponymous restaurant just a mackerel’s throw away along the quayside. That night we ate in his restaurant, dining on local tender salt and chilli squid with lime mayonnaise, langoustines in garlic butter and white wine and a fine fillet of sea bass, as ecologically pure in its provenance as in its taste, and partnered with fennel, olives and sauce vierge. Outside late night Whitby citizens were queuing for cod and chips, which looked less elegant than our meal, but at the same time a hundred times more attractive than the fish n chips offered in London. No wonder everyone was smiling.
Getting to Whitby couldn’t be easier, National Express (once GNER) run fast trains from Kings Cross to York from where you can connect with a bus (all on the one ticket) which takes you in double-decked splendour across the Dales with its beautiful views. After an hour the road dips sharply and away in the distance can be seen the sea and the abbey ruins glowering over Whitby. We stayed in White Linen, one of Whitbys elegant Georgian houses down by the harbour, now converted into a classy B&B with four-poster beds. It was ideally located and the next day being fresh and sunny an enjoyable short stroll took us to where we picked up a ride on the steam bus, heaving and groaning and throwing out smoke as it waited by the quayside. It must be the only bus with a boiler and a pile of coke in the driver’s cab but its power is remarkable, tackling Whitby’s steep hills with ease, even if rendering conversation impossible. People love Elizabeth, as the former tar sprayer is called, and wave cheerfully at it as it goes past, bright flames filling the cab with smoke and cinders trailing in its wake.
Back at Greens it was time for a little master class, as Rob deftly filleted a local red mullet, carefully preserving the liver, and quickly cooked it with a handful of mussels and langoustine. It took just moments, although the fish stock had been prepared earlier. The red mullet dusted with flour had a beautiful seared skin to go with its meaty flesh and the liver, which was quickly fried on the hot top, was like a fishy foie gras, absolutely superb and all the better for being fresh out of the water. In Whitby they say ‘there’s a right way, a wrong way and a Whitby way’ and Green’s restaurant supports the fishermen in more than one way, it also sponsors the website for our next port of call, the Whitby & District Fishing Industry Training School.
Based in an old seaman’s mission it’s at the top of a lot of stairs, each narrower and steeper than the last. At the summit is Anne Hornigold, ensconced in a small attic room fitted with somewhat past their prime computers and decorated in the colours unique to institutions. Out of the small window can be seen the tops of Whitby’s tiled roofs and the cries of seagulls batter shrilly against the glass. Anne tells us that this is the only school of its kind, training young men and some women too, up to an NVQ Level 2 in Marine Vessel Support. Students come from all over the country and stay in Whitby with board and lodgings paid for them and an allowance whilst training. The school began with just four or five vessels willing to take apprentices, but now has over thirty, with skippers contacting the school. It’s all part of a long tradition, as famously Captain Cook was an apprentice to a Whitby ship owner in 1746. Today Anne acts as course leader, head teacher and mother to the boys and girls, many of whom are away from home for the first time. It’s been a massive success story and another example of how Whitby has created a thriving community for itself and made positive change.
Talking of Captain Cook led us inevitably to the small museum based in the house where he lodged. Here you can visit the attic that was both bunkhouse and study to the young Cook and look out the same window he must have looked out of, seeing the vast North Sea and dreaming of exploration. His statue stands up on the cliff, watching the boats go out and providing a tenuous perch for the seagulls, who soon give up the unequal struggle against the fierce wind and flap off down to the waterline below.
That night we ate again in Green’s, a special meal in their upstairs room with wines provided by Gary Smulders of Hallgarten Wines and left sometime after midnight well satisfied.
With the train leaving at 1 pm the next day there was plenty of time to enjoy early morning Whitby after a cracking Yorkshire breakfast at White Linen. Jet has been produced in Whitby since Victorian times, this black fossil of the monkey puzzle tree growing here 180 million years ago, is only found in abundance and quality here.
Here too is the museum that shows how it was worked all those years ago by men nicknamed Whitby Red Devils on account of the red dust and bloodstained fingers they acquired in the course of a day. It was worth it, though. In 1872 a skilled jet craftsman could earn £3 to £4 a week, which was a great deal of money at the time. A piece of Whitby jet jewellery makes a great souvenir.
We splurged the money we had left on some brilliant kippers from the local smokehouse, Fortune’s Kippers in Henrietta Street. 5th generation brothers Barry and Derek Brown have been smoking here since the late 1800’s and the oak smoke billows out into the cobbled street and into your clothes. Being cured fish the kippers easily last the journey back to London and at the Whitby Catch you can also get other great local fish vacuum packed to take home, or you can order online for next day delivery.
As a weekend destination Whitby is surprisingly easy to get to, but a world away from what you might expect. A town at ease with itself and easy to enjoy, especially the food.
Words and Pics: Nick Harman
Credits
We travelled to Yorkshire by train with National Express East Coast. Advance return fares, booked online, from London King's Cross to Whitby, include direct bus travel from York, and start from £29.30 Standard Class or £74.20 First Class. Alternatively, rail travel through to Whitby, changing at Darlington and Middlesbrough to the scenic Esk Valley Railway, starts from £26.70 Standard Class or £75.70 return. Book via www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com , call 08457 225225 or visit any staffed rail station
Green’s Restaurant
13 Bridge Street
Whitby
North Yorkshire YO22 4BG
Tel: 01947 600284
M: 07786 678212
E:mail: info@greensofwhitby.com
www.greensofwhitby.com
Richard & Heidi Thomson
White Linen
Tel: 01947 603635 (Home: 01947 810814 )
M: 07795964625
www.whitelinenguesthouse.co.uk
Email: rich@whitelinenguesthouse.co.uk
Fortunes Smoked Kippers
Tel: 01947 601659
Bill Rae / Dave Winspear
The Whitby Catch
Tel: 01947 601313
Email: enquiries@thewhitbycatch.co.uk
www.thewhitbycatch.co.uk
Harry Collett
Ghost Walks, etc
Also CHAIRMAN of Whitby & District Tourism Association
T: 01947 821734
Email: harry@whitbywalks.com
