Whitby Gothic Weekend

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Maintained by WGW CREW Member - PETEW

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It's said that if you play the A side of Spiceworld whilst watching a 3rd generation copy of Wake with the sound turned down, the true meaning of Goth is revealed!!
I do have a strange affinity with Dorothy, though Im sure she was never known as Oz Dorothy the way Im known as Whitby Jo. But, like her I started out in the middle of a black and white small town mentality and my curiosity sent me tumbling into a weird and colourful world where things were never the same again.
Back then, I was the only Goth in the small northern mining town where I lived. Hell, even the freaks thought I was a freak! I placed an ad in NME asking for pen friends and got over 150 replies. I started to correspond with around 40 of them. Some months later I decided Id like to meet some of them.
I decided to try and get everyone in the one place over the course of a weekend. Its fair to say that I chose Whitby based on its Dracula connections, but only because a couple of Dracula societies had run events in the town and I was hoping the hoteliers wouldnt be too freaked!!
I booked the Elsinore over the telephone after Len (the landlord) assured me that they regularly hosted live music nights. I dont think either of us was sure what wed let ourselves in for when over 200 people turned up that first weekend
And here we are ten years later. Its so nice that although the event has grown, The Elsinore is still very much part of the Whitby experience for without it and the support of Len, WGW wouldnt exist. So next time youre in there, buy the guy a drink. Hes a star!
Its been a roller coaster ride for me over the past ten years, highpoints include meeting some of my teenage idols and watching you lot giving it loads on the dance floor or just feeling able to be yourselves. At times its caused amazing pressure and anxiety, but all in all Im left with an incredible sense of achievement. After all, I did get to meet my pen friends didnt I?!
The thing that makes me most proud about WGW is how its helped to dispel a lot of the old Goth rules which include, you arent allowed to laugh, you must own a Sisters album, and you must wear black. Most importantly Gother than Thou seems to be a thing of the past.
WGW will be alive and kicking for as long as you all want to come and when the cloakroom gets over crowded with Zimmer frames, Ill open the Whitby Floodland Retirement Home and Top Mum can promote the Bingo every Tuesday night!!
WGW is bigger than any single person. Its an experience, a runaway train, my very own Oz and a spiritual home and as Dorothy said
Theres no place like home
Whitby Jo