# **25. "The Girl with the Saltwick Bay Lantern" – The Story of a Light That Never Waned**

The cliffs of Saltwick Bay, near Whitby in North Yorkshire, are known for their wild beauty, sharp rocks, and waves that crash with force, as if to tear the coast apart.

This place has struck fear in the hearts of sailors for centuries.

On dark nights, it was said that the sea "breathed" here, and the water whispered as if carrying the voices of those who had drowned in it.

But the bay's greatest mystery was the **Girl with the Lantern**, sighted for over two centuries—a lone figure with a lamp, standing on a cliff where there had never been any light or path.

She showed the way… but not always the right one.

This is the story of where she came from—and why she still stands there.

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## **I. When the Sea Takes What We Love**

In 1821, a young woman named Eleanor Swithin lived in Saltwick Bay.

She was the daughter of a lighthouse keeper, a stern but full-hearted man who believed in one thing:

**light saves people**.

Eleanor grew up surrounded by storms.

She could recognize the type of waves by their sound.

She knew when the wind heralded disaster.

She often helped her father light the lighthouse, even though it was hard work—the wind could take your breath away, and the rain beat like a twig.

One night, when Eleanor was 19, a storm unlike any the oldest fishermen could remember arose at sea.

The waves were as high as houses.

The lighthouse creaked as if it were about to collapse.

Eleanor ran to the cliff with a lantern to guide a fishing vessel struggling against the elements. Amid the darkness, she spotted the **young sailor** she'd met a few months earlier—Thomas—on deck.

That's when he promised her he'd return.

That he'd take her on a world cruise.

Now he was fighting for his life.

Eleanor ran along the cliff edge, holding her lamp high.

Her dress fluttered in the wind, her hair sticking to her face.

Thomas saw the light—and made one last, desperate maneuver.

But the sea was stronger.

A wave capsized the ship, smashing it against the rocks like porcelain.

Eleanor screamed, but her voice was drowned by the storm.

She watched Thomas sink into the depths, reaching out to her.

When her father found her, she was kneeling on the cliff, clutching the lamp, its flame refusing to extinguish.

Tears mingled with the rain.

"I lost him to the darkness..." she whispered. "We should have given more light…"

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## **II. A Promise That Couldn't Be Fulfilled**

After Thomas's death, Eleanor changed.

She became quiet, pensive.

At night, she walked the cliffs carrying a lamp, even though there was no storm.

"Someone might need me," she would reply when her father asked where she was going.

The people of Whitby whispered that she tried to guide ships… even when there were no ships at sea.

Or perhaps—that she was waiting for one who would never return.

Over time, she became seen less and less on the cliffs.

Until one night, she disappeared completely.

Only her lamp was found—still burning, though the fuel should have run out hours earlier.

There were no signs of a struggle, a slip, or a fall.

Only silence.

And a light that shone, defying logic.

For weeks, her father searched for her.

To no avail.

Finally, he understood:

**The sea had taken everything from him**.

--

## **III. The Light That Guides… or Loses**

The first witness to the apparition appeared a year later.

It was the captain of a small merchant ship who claimed that just before the storm, he saw a young woman in a white dress on a cliff, holding a lamp.

“She wanted to warn us,” he said.

“Her light saved our lives.”

But soon, other accounts began to emerge—not so kind.

*A fisherman who followed the light fell off a cliff.*

*A lamp guided the young boy toward the rocks, where he was almost swept away by a wave.*

*Two sailors claimed the figure… had no face.*

Then a legend was born:

> **Eleanor shows the way to those who truly want to live.

> But if a traveler's heart harbors regret, fear, or secrets, it leads them to their doom.**

As if she could see the truth hidden within their soul.

Over time, she came to be called "The Flying Girl."

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## **IV. A Contemporary Encounter**

The last documented encounter took place in 1998.

A geology student, David Henley, was examining rocks on the cliffs.

A sudden fog rolled in—so thick that the boy couldn't see his own hand.

Then he saw a **light**.

A tiny, yellowish light, barely flickering, but clearly present.

Behind the light stood a woman.

Her dress billowed, though there was no wind.

The shadow of a hood or hair hid her face.

"You're lost," she said softly.

The voice sounded… oddly familiar, as if it disappeared and returned in each wave of fog.

David followed her, not wondering why her feet didn't leave prints in the wet earth.

She showed him the path up the hill.

When he reached the top, the light vanished.

And below him—where he had stood a few minutes before—a huge wave crashed, one that would have sucked him into the abyss.

David He survived.

But to this day, when he talks about the meeting, his voice shakes.

"She... didn't want to hurt me."

"But I knew that if I followed her for the wrong reason..."

"...she would have pulled me into the fog and I would never emerge."

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## **V. Why does she keep the lamp lit?**

No one knows the answer.

Some say Eleanor searches for Thomas, trying to guide him to shore after death.

Others say she was bound to the sea by her own promise—to never leave anyone without light.

But the most damning version says her soul is torn:

One part saves, the other takes revenge.

For whoever dies from darkness...

can become the light that never fades.

Today, as night envelops Saltwick Bay, tourists sometimes see a small yellow lamp on the cliff.

Some say she guides. Others say it brings ruin.

But everyone agrees on one thing:

**Eleanor Swithin is still there.

And her lamp will burn as long as someone needs it.

Or until someone makes the mistake of following her too far.**

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