Welcome to WGW!!!

Some of you may remember a thread I started in summer on the subject of Whitby, including photos of the town and the Abbey. My idea at the time was to give people a taste of what the place is like when it’s not overrun by Goths; to try and bring out the reason it is so attractive to us.

Inevitably though, having been there when it was relatively quiet, the question that was always going to pose itself is, “What’s it like at THAT time of year? When you can’t turn a corner in a side-street without running into one of our own?”

This thread is an attempt to answer that question.

Firstly, some apologies. Once again, my partner and I were only there for a few hours. As a result, we had to be reasonably selective. There are many things we would have liked to do, which – unfortunately – we couldn’t. These included going up to the Abbey itself; while those familiar with the previous thread will recognise the churchyard of St Mary’s in these particular photos, the potential drain on time available of going up to the Abbey made it prohibitive when there was so much else to see. However, you have my promise that I will revisit the Abbey during Whitby Goth Weekend when we next go.

I suppose, in many ways, it was incredibly lucky that this year, Whitby Goth Weekend coincided not only with Hallowe’en, but with weather so dismal you could easily believe that the Demeter was only a few hours away from sailing into Whitby Harbour. By “dismal”, I don’t mean rainy and wet, or even desperately unpleasant – I mean, simply, a day on which all the life had been sucked out of the sun; grey; misty; sullen… Dismal. Okay; I can’t pretend I haven’t digitally played with the photo above; however, the changes I’ve made are relatively subtle, and are designed to convey an impression of the way it really seemed. Compare it with similar shots taken in July!

On the other hand, however, it meant that the assortment of looks and styles was awfully varied. There were Goths; there were Goths dressed up for hallowe’en; there were hallowe’en revellers dressed as Goths; there were people simply out to be really “out-there” for hallowe’en who got mistaken for Goths… I hope that we’ve captured many of these, because I think they’re all relevant to the experience; however, if among these photos you find any that really say to you “WTF?” I apologise in advance.

And, having said that, I hear you all cry, “Shut up and get on with the pics, Minnie…”

And so, here’s the first selection.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/5136136492_d14fee882a.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1093/5135536575_32b7aa27bc.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/5136138738_4153eb9777.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1207/5135538695_221206c32e.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/5135539471_0dbfcaa01e.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/5136141528_6737f3f489.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/5135540535_b035dac4f4.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1349/5136142354_b85ea69da8.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1430/5135541361_5d414fb19c.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1385/5135541699_31ddec9c9f.jpg

WOW! I've heard the expression 'boobs up to her chin' but I've never actually seen it before! Even in all of the thousands of pictures I've seen of corseted women over the years none have ever managed that particular feat. Her gentleman has the exact same cane as mine. I lurve my skull cane. ^_^ The purple-haired lass in the 7th picture is positively entrancing! Thanks, Minnie. I also went through and re-viewed the pix from your other thread. That Abby is gorgeous any time of year.

Great pictures, Minnie!

Oh to be in England, now that Whitby's there...

-- Nephele

Really cool Minnie. I'm feeling the need to go again, this time for WGW.

I know!

Wonderful pictures!

Are you, by any chance, in any of them?

Thank you - but please remember, I'm only sharing by kind permission of my partner; it's all her work.

Here are some more from the churchyard of St Mary's.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/5136120887_cee7af9f81.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1201/5136121307_58820456bd.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1349/5136121783_50e1ce29a1.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1317/5136725028_fc0d119295.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1095/5136123197_bce5aebf80.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/5136124345_ba8eae498f.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/5136726888_1311291d9e.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1360/5136125341_61031c9c49.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1128/5136126503_9b3d1474a9.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1128/5136127951_31a0ba4c1b.jpg

The predominant "look" at WGW is, as you'll have noticed, Victorian, and perhaps understandably so, given that Whitby's great claim to gothic fame is a novel written at the tail end of the Victorian era. However, there were other looks, and I've tried to present some of them here.

Wolfie, you know, I'd actually never thought of the "boobs up to her chin" aspect... I knew something seemed... different about her; I suppose that's actually it.

Was it ever anywhere else? ( )

I honestly had to go through them again just in case I was in the background of one of them. And no, actually, I'm not.

However, on the subject of backgrounds, you may actually be able to tell from these pictures exactly what a frenzy it is in the churchyard. Everyone is ready to drop everything and become an instant model; equally, they'll happily photograph anything that moves. And there are plenty of norm photographers there as well, hoping to cash in on the subculture's narcissism...

So...wait...I've been looking through all of these only to never see you? Pssh....

@ Wolfie: I would agree on that 7th picture. There is a something striking about her, although I'm hard-pressed to say what it is. =/

I'm really impressed by the woman in the cyber-ish dreads and Victorian dress in the last picture of the first post. She pulls it off marvelously. All these pictures make me sigh wistfully for the day I will be able to attend WGW.

Cyber-Steampunk?



I'm guessing it's her stunning hourglass curves accentuated by her skirt and corset.

I want to demand a pic of Minnie, but I'll be nice and just marvel at the pictures that her partner took, especially the older man dressed in full Victorian regalia. Very elegant.

Steampunk is definitely making its presence felt here. As you'll see a bit later, we bumped into others; however, when they spoke to us, they definitely appeared to be North American, judging by their accents.

She reminds me in part of Lily Munster, and in part Lisa Marie as Vampira in "Ed Wood".

Midi, whenever my partner has her camera out, I start running. Partly because I don't want to be in shot, but partly in order to "accidentally" block the path of people about to wander through. I know how peeved she can get when a photo she's lined up gets spoiled by random passers-by.

As to the older gentleman... A thing which strikes me about WGW is the breadth of age groups you encounter - which I think is summed up nicely by this batch of photos, taken on the 199 Steps down from St Mary's...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/5137012027_298b4779cd.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1066/5137013769_d1d0a144fd.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/5137015005_513c8261ce.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1063/5137016403_c28ae3f422.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/5137017273_6bb6f4079a.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/5137623272_f882e2eb65.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5137018709_df3d089a45.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1261/5137625322_49b08c20bf.jpg
The next one is my personal favourite of the set, and I really hope you all like it:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/5137020511_eb096134cb.jpg

I saw it IRL the weekend before last. I wish I hadn't. The lady in question was not carrying it with such grace, if you catch my meaning.

As cool as it is to see the kids all dressed up it's a hell of a lot cooler to see the veterans out and showing them how it's done. I must go to this some year.

Minnie, though I loved your favorite, of that set, I loved This One the best.

I like seeing all different age groups, especially an older age group as it really seems to give a sense of maturity and grace to it all, IMHO of course.

Very cool, I wish I was there... Btw are Victorians a majority at WGW, in general I mean?

Certainly during the day. I think there may be more evidence of other trends at night, but I definitely get the feeling that for going around Whitby, Victorian wear seems - largely - de rigeur.

However, next time we go I hopefully will have the opportunity to find out. We're planning on staying overnight - which, considering the Damned and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry are on the bill for next Spring's event, will be a definite advantage; I hope I'll get to see at least one of them.

Also, I think the Victorians have a tendency to head for St Mary's and the Abbey. In the town it was slightly more varied, as you'll see from this set:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1141/5137891760_3ec6bc6075.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1353/5137284261_0aa07496b5.jpg (I think I'd title this one "Everyone has to start somewhere")
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1199/5137892762_2e10cae0bd.jpg (Yeah, I know we've seen them before, but this is a better photo, I think)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1258/5137287421_3b28b6c85a.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1170/5137896166_704eca9a83.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1393/5137898350_c48907018c.jpg