Following on from the success of the first trip to Whiby Goth Weekend in October 2008, I had an inkling that WGW would continue to be a regular event in the Jed Phoenix of London calendar. Simon and Imogen, who helped out in Oct 08, were busy at another festival, so I took the plunge to work the stall on my own for three days. I'd arranged to give Cas from Engineers of Desire and Martin, a friend of a friend, a lift to Whitby, and they both arrived in Cas's car just before 11am on St George's Day. We transferred Cas's stock and gridwall into my van and set off on our adventure. Ironically, the only major traffic jam was encountered in the first two miles of our trip!

En route, we used the benefits of Cas's sat nav and stopped off at The Leather Family's house in Chesterfield for a leg stretch, cuppa and catch up. The sat nav was less beneficial, however, when we left the A1 and headed west towards Pickering. We had a classic moment of being sent down a B road which turned into a dead end. We were greeted by an elderly gentleman who warned us that the SAS were training nearby and that we'd best make a hasty retreat - using a good old fashioned map, of course!

We arrived at The Leisure Centre in Whitby at around 8.15pm, having stopped off at the town's Co-op supermarket for supplies. Unloading the van was a pretty smooth, well practised operation. Martin helped both Cas and I with setting up our gridwalls, arranging our layouts to incorporate a changing room that nested between Jed Phoenix of London, Engineers of Desire and FreakyZ Designs. Ricky Razor from Adixxtion Corsets, with whom I was sharing a rented cottage for WGW, helped hang all the clothes. And I had a couple of spare short rail extensions to lend Ange from Spank who had the pitch opposite.

At around 10.20pm, John and Silver, the Leisure Centre trader co-ordinators and proprietors of Enter The Asylum, ushered us all out for the night so Jeremy and the Leisure Centre team could lock up. Ricky and Fi gave me a lift down the hill to our self catering cottage and it wasn't long before tired heads hit soft cotton-clad pillows.

Day one of Whitby Goth Weekend April 09 start with a brisk 8.15am walk across the swing bridge, along the harbour and up the cliff path. It took an hour or so to finish arranging the stock and making the final preparations, and by 2pm, a fair few sales had been made. Being in the main room of the Leisure Centre, in a great location (ahead and slightly to the left as you walked through the main door) was a definate advantage over the pitch we had at WGW October 08. The fact that I was working the stall on my own was completely fine. There were enough people I knew around me to help out if I got stuck, and I enjoyed being almost constantly busy.

Trade on Saturday was just as brisk. There was much interest in the new Global Warrior outfit and I found out that quite a few Whitby Goth Weekend attendees had a passion for martial arts! Customers who had bought Jed Phoenix of London clothes in the past visited the stall and brought their friends. And a couple I met in Camden Town in 2002, for whom I made the groom's wedding suit, came and purchased a shirt, tie and waistcoat. Shortly after 5.30pm, once the last few sales of day two of WGW April 09 had been completed, a meeting between the founder of the event and the Leisure Centre traders took place. Plans for the next Whitby Goth Weekend were discussed and it has to be said that things got pretty heated at times. Many people's livelihoods depend on events like WGW taking place, but there are also other commitments in a busy business calendar that are booked months in advance. The suggestion that Autumn's WGW might be moved away from the Halloween weekend therefore stirred passions for a number of reasons. Whiby has strong associations with goths because of it's links with Bram Stoker's Dracula. And goths, Dracula and Halloween are what draw several thousand visitors to Whitby every October. The meeting between the traders and Jo Hampshire lasted an hour or so, with many people continuing discussions into the evening. Fi, Ricky, Lizzie, Becky and I had a table booked at The Magpie Cafe at 8.45pm, so, after resting our aching feet at Dove Cottage and talking about the meeting for a while, we headed off for the best fish and chips in town! The food at The Magpie Cafe is delicious - a fact that is reinforced by the length of the queues for both the eat in and take away service. The fish is caught locally and is available either battered, poached or grilled. I had grilled monkfish with chips and vegetables, deciding that I could work my way through the other types of fish on subsequent trips to WGW. Ricky became "CorrupterMan" as he shared his chocolate dessert with me, and our lighthearted, innane and silly sense of humour carried our full bellies back to the cottage.

The third and final day of April 09's Whitby Goth Weekend was much quieter than the Friday and the Saturday, with far fewer customers coming through the door. The last few WGW flyers, detailing where the main events of the goth weekend were taking place, were handed out around Whitby. And booking forms for adverts for October's flyer were given to traders. 5pm signalled the close of trade. Martin, despite deciding to stay on in Whitby for another couple of days, came up to the Leisure Centre anyway to help Cas and I pack up and load the van. Ricky, Fi and the girls also lent a hand. By 6.30pm, we were ready to head back to London.

The journey home was relatively easy as the motorways were pretty clear and free flowing. Stopping off at a motorway service station, however, I noticed that the steering was much heavier than usual. By the time we got back to South London at 1am, I found parking the unloaded van in the garage quite a struggle. I phoned the breakdown services the following day and the very nice man from the AA told me that the power steering pipe was leaking. With the van being on contract hire and under warranty, I drove slowly through the London traffic on Tuesday morning to the mechanics. They not only fixed the power steering, but also cleaned the van, saving my arms from the heaviness of the steering, and my feet from crushing even more spilt bombay mix into the floor of the front cab!

All in all, WGW April 09 was very successful for Jed Phoenix of London.

See you at WGW October 09!

Tags: WGW April 09 | Whitby Goth Weekend

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