"where the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet."


So, Halloween was looming.....and the Gibbs Family were heading North to attend Cousin Sharon Worman's wedding to Paul Kirkwood. It was to be a Gothic Wedding on Friday the 31st of October...and where better to have it but Whitby in North East England. Whitby is one of the settings in Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" and the town hosts a bi-annual event known as The Whitby Goth Weekend to celebrate the connection. We left Thursday afternoon, it was going to be a long drive and eventually we arrived 7 hours later. It was the usual motorway driving but the weather was good and surprisingly mild for this time of year in Merry Olde Blighty. Temperatures were in the high teens and even topped 20 Deg. C in some parts. Driving over the moors to Whitby was very interesting, it was dark and you could see why someone would be inspired to put Whitby into a Horror Novel. We eventually hooked up with the Clan, Father had rented a modern cottage which overlooked the Viaduct above Whitby. Brother Dill & myself took a quick drive into a dark Whitby to stock up on essentials....booze, just in case you're wondering. Whitby looked interesting at night but we'd have to wait until Friday to take a better look at it.

Wedding Day

We all got up at a reasonable hour and awoke to a glorious day, the sun was out and the back of the cottage looked out to the hilly moors and they looked great in the sunshine. Jayne and myself decided to take a walk over the impressive viaduct. We got lucky and saw the Yorkshire Steam train puffing away beside the River Esk way below us. The Viaduct is about 150 foot high spanning the river and you can get a good case of the Heebie Jeebies if you perch yourself over the edge and look down at the black water. All good fun. We spotted some Goths who were already making their way into town all dressed up, looks like this was going to be a fun Friday.
The wedding was to be a Gothic one and we all had to look the part...normally I'm not one for dressing up but when needs be....... It took us a while to get geared up but eventually we were all ready. The Gin & Tonics were at hand from 11.30am and so we enlivened our livers for an hour. We all took a few photos and then boarded the minibus to head to the Hotel where the ceremony was to take place. It was a great venue, called The Stables at Cross Butts and was a mixture of old and new with some nice views from the back gardens. Other guests had also got into the swing of things and everyone had made an effort to get into the Gothic Theme.
Weddings are not normally my thing, but this one was different. It was great. Paul, the bridegroom got very tearful which made everyone laugh...obviously he's a sensitive soul..! Father gave cousin Sharon, the bride, away....due to my Uncle Jack being unable to make the event due to his health not being as good as it once was. After the signing of the register we all headed out for Pimms & Bucks Fizz and photos in the garden. The reception was another fun event with great speeches, lots of laughs and superb food. Many thanks to Paul & Sharon for inviting us....it was an excellent wedding.

The Gibbs clan decided to head into Whitby to see what was going on......some of the Goths were already there but there were also a lot of "normal" people wandering around. Once we crossed over the bridge to the other side of the quay, there were a lot of the more outlandishly dressed Goths drinking at the boozers or making the pilgrimage to the Abbey above the town. The abbey was lit up and looked suitably chilling providing a great backdrop to the black sky. We didn't really stay long but had a good taste of what the Goth weekend was and took a lot of photos. We then headed back up the hill to the Whitby Rugby Club for the night's entertainment. They'd done a good job of decorating the place and many people there also made an effort on the dressing up front. We left around midnight....and returned back to the cottage. It had been a great day.

Saturday

Much as we would have loved to have stayed for the Goth Festival proper, Jayne and myself decided to head back as we needed to get back home to sort some things out. One of them being Grant......who has now embarked on his new life as an apprentice Engineer and is based in Somerset. Grant had come home for the weekend after a week of staying in a tent on Dartmoor...in the howling winds and pouring rain.....all part of the new regime apparently. So we wanted to see him before he headed off. Once again it was a bit of a trek getting back and took about 7 hours. The folks had stayed on at Whitby and told us it was mobbed with the undead on Saturday night....and much more busy than it had been on the Friday. What we had seen was impressive and we may head back next year for the full weekend.......so if it's something you may be vaguely interested in....I'd suggest you visit.