Two lighthouses of Whitby Harbour

Whitby is one of two locations on the eastern coast where people can watch the sunrise and the sunset. Built in 1833, the taller (71 feet) West lighthouse, was constructed of very hard, local sandstone. The East lighthouse (55 feet) was added later, in 1855, and is again constructed from sandstone. It is claimed that both of them are haunted. Initially the lighthouses were built to stand alone and extensions to the piers were built during the First World War. With the advent of peace they became tourist attractions, open for tourists to climb the steep 81 steps of the staircase to admire the views. The higher, Western lighthouse is rumoured to be haunted by a one armed character who usually stands at the top of the stairs. He lost his arm while collecting gulls' eggs on the nearby cliffs. Others claim that it is haunted by the ghost of a former lighthouse keeper (aren't they all?) who noticed one night that the light was not working. He raced to the lighthouse, got the light working but due to the rain from his clothes dropping on to the stairs, he slipped and tumbled all the way down to the bottom where his body was found later, sprawled out at the doorway to the stairs, his neck broken. Some claim to have seen his body at the foot of the lighthouse entrance, others claim to have seen a figure hurrying towards the lighthouse on a stormy night, as if re-enacting his actions on that fateful night. There is also a story of a visitor in more recent times who had a heart attack on the stairway. The story goes that as a visitor reaches the seventh step the temperature drops: apparently he had his heart attack on that very step. The Eastern, smaller lighthouse, due to its slighter more advantageous position at the harbour entrance is the usual location for townsfolk to gather around and also along the pier to catch a glimpse of a late fishing vessel's sail. The one main story about the lighthouse centres around two brothers competing for the affections of a young 17 years old girl named Sylvia Swales. The two brothers - Peter and John - were the best fishermen in the town. Her father decided that the brother who could marry his daughter would be the one who brought the most fish back that year. Eventually on Christmas Eve the father decided he would agree to whichever brother brought in the largest catch that day. All day they fished in their sailed cobles vessels and a crowd gathered along the Eastern pier as the sun began to set. Atop the lighthouse a beacon was lit to guide them in. Then two sails were spotted passing the Runswick headlands three miles north of Whitby. As they cobles drew nearer they appeared to be low in the water, burdened by their catch. As they drew nearer the brother both attempted to avoid overshooting the gap between the lighthouses. The younger brother, John, managed to get slightly ahead. Seeing this Sylvia shouted her preferred suitor's name "Come on Peter!" Whether somehow a gust took her words across the surface of the sea, or by coincidence, John was seen by the gathered crowd to throw his hands in the air as if surrendering and either fell or threw himself into the sea. Peter immediately turned his coble round to save his brother. Unfortunately his turn was too tight and he too was thrown into the sea. Despite those on the pier throwing lines out to the brothers, they were washed away and drowned, their battered bodies found on Saltwick Nab a few days afterwards. Sylvia, possibly racked with guilt at the loss of both brothers, never married and the story goes she was seen standing looking out to see for long periods, as if awaiting their return. Sylvia vowed never to marry and her ghost haunts the pier near the East lighthouse. It is said that on rough days at Christmas time, when the waves batter the piers, a voice can be heard sighing "Peter....Peter...." * * In early December 1991, ghostbusting Metropolitan police officers had a hauntingly good time when they were locked up in Whitby Lighthouse for the night. In a charity stunt the three officers, dressed as convicts, broke out of the Tower of London and had to get as far away as possible - and back -in 24 hours after completing a task. The three decided to stay in the haunted lighthouse and collected £250 for research into Noonans Syndrome, a genetic disorder, by touring local pubs. PC Rob Dawson who is pictured with harbour master Bill Estill and colleagues Luke Pagoni and Tim Irwin, told the Whitby Gazette: “We had a great time and all the Whitby people were very generous. We didn’t see any ghosts though, but I wasn’t too disappointed about that!"