Scarborough really is the ‘Queen of Seaside Resorts’. It's the place which has got
the lot. Not just one, but two wide sandy bays - perfect for swimming. Then there’s
the harbour with fishing boats and pleasure boats bobbing about on the waves. And, of
course, inevitably, I suppose, there are also rows of amusement arcades. But there’s more
to Scarborough than all this; it’s also a place stuffed with historical interest.
The 12th century castle over there on the headland, makes that point.
The great headland which overlooks both north and south bays at Scarborough has probably ben a fortified
location since the Iron Age. Certainly, the Romans had a signal station here. And in 1154
when King Henry II came to the throne he was the one who ordered that the castle should
be built. Well, it last saw action during the First World War when it was shelled by
the Germans, but all this isn’t down to them - its been a ruin since 1645.
1645 wasn’t a great year for St Mary’s church either: it was the height of the English Civil War.
In the fighting the choir aisle was destroyed and the central tower collapsed. It means
that the church we see today is much reduced in size. Incidentally, perhaps one should
also say, that at various times Scarborough has also been home to three Orders of monks.
The White Friars, the Black Friars and the Grey Friars. But none of them survived King
Henry VIII and the dissolution of their monasteries.
So, the administrative and spiritual centre of the town
is up there on the hillside. But down here in this area, has always been about
commerce. By commerce, of course, I mean, fishing. And, if you look over there, well the great harbour
walls they were built to protect the Scarborough fishing fleet from North Sea storms. Now the
industry is still going strong today, even though it is under incredible financial pressure.
But before Sandside was built - now that’s the road which follows the beach round; they actually
used to build the fishing boats down here as well - 169 in 1797 alone.
But, by then, something even more important had been discovered up the other end of the bay.
Namely, water! In 1626, a certain Mrs Farrer was walking along the beach when she noticed a natural
spring rising through the magnesium rocks. Well, eventually the people of Scarborough
began to say to themselves: ‘Hang on; Harrogate's got natural spring water -
first discovered in 1571; and it’s doing ok out of it. Perhaps we could attract the rich and the famous
to come here as well’. Well, it did take them some time to get round to doing anything
about it. It wasn’t 'til the 18th century that Scarborough began saying to people:
‘Why not take a dip in the sea? It’s very good for you'. But, in 1735, Scarborough introduced
the very first bathing machine to protect the modesty of those wanted to take a plunge.
So, perhaps the town has got good cause to claim that it really was the very first seaside resort.
Well you can’t get spa water anymore here in Scarborough. And, indeed, the Spa
complex itself has had a chequered history. In its time its been washed away by the sea;
its collapsed in a landslide; and, in 1876, it was burned down. But now this Spa has been
lovingly restored and may visitors choose to come here in the morning to read the paper,
have a cup of coffee, and listen to the Spa orchestra.
By the mid 1900s Scarborough really was the place to be seen.
It was a fashionable resort attracting visitors from all over the country.
And it was about that time that streets, here on the Esplanade, were laid out in a
grid which centred on the Crown Hotel over there.
In 1827, this bridge was built to link the Esplanade
with the rest of the town. It meant that visitors no longer had to scramble
down the ravine and up the other side, when they wanted to get into the centre of Scarborough.
One of the other places they might have been going, of course, was the Rotunda, over here.
The Rotunda was built in 1829 to house the geological samples and collections of William Smith.
This building? Well, that is the Grand Hotel. It was completed in 1867 and it has 365 rooms,
and it stretches over 13 floors. Now it was built to accommodate the visitors who flocked in
once the railway link from York was completed in 1845. Indeed, on the day the first train
arrived, the 1st July 1845, 1,000 visitors arrived in Scarborough. It was half the number
who had been here the whole season in the previous year.
Truly, the age of mass tourism had arrived.
As the number of visitors to Scarborough grew, so did the attractions
designed to keep them amused. Perhaps even more important, to persuade them to keep coming
back. So, in 1912, Peasholm Park was laid out. It includes this beautiful lake. Now
on occasions here, grown men will squeeze themselves into model warships to fight the
mother and father of all battles!
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the road to Peasholm Park,
there's the largest open air theatre in Europe, with seating for over 10,000 people. Recent
artists to perform here include Elton John.
So, we come to the end of our visit to Scarborough,
the biggest town on the Yorkshire coast. And, of course, Scarborough’s fame has been spread
even further, thanks to the Simon & Garfunkel song ‘Scarborough Fair’. Now the song,
or rather the poem, on which it is based, contains the words ‘Between salt water and the sea
strand’. So, why don’t we now go up the strand - or the beach - just a bit to one of the smallest
places on the Yorkshire coast, the village of Staithes which nestles right on the Yorkshire/Cleveland border.