This past weekend I have taken a trip to Scarborough. I love Scarborough, my Mam and Dad have taken us there since we were young and it’s always nice to go back. Every town or county has their own seaside, Lincolnshire has Skegness and Cleethorpes, Lancashire has Blackpool or Southport, down south they have Brighton and St. Ives… just to name a few. Where I am from in Yorkshire we have always gone to Scarborough or Bridlington.
It is such a beautiful place and has a lot of history just like the neighbouring towns of Bridlington and Whitby.
Scarborough became popular as a seaside resort in the late 18th century. It was made popular by the building of the Scarborough Spa which was Britain’s first seaside resort. (One of my images further down shows a view of the Spa taken from the beach).
I used to play in a brass band when I was younger and we played at the Spa every year. When the weather was good we would play outside on the stage. The stage has a dome covering it and glass or plastic panels all around so you can still enjoy the sea view. I remember the audience would sit on the black and white checked floor in their deck chairs, just how I imagine the Victorians would have.
Scarborough Beach – The town was one of the first places to use bathing machines.
The opening of the Scarborough – York railway in 1845 increased the towns popularity (this is the line I travel there on)
Poster produced for London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) to promote rail travel to the coastal resort town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The poster shows some fashionably dressed people in summer clothing, with swimmers diving into the bay from a raised diving platform. 1930s. Artwork by Edmund Oakdale.
In 1867 the towns first hotel was opened, the Grand Hotel, when finished it was Europe’s largest hotel. I have stayed at the Grand Hotel many times and it is a lovely hotel. Pay a little extra and you can wake up to a beautiful sea view. (see below)
View from the room looking on to the harbour and the light house.
I bought myself a booklet of the hotels history from the reception which is great if you are interested in history.
The four towers represent the seasons, twelve floors represent the months, fifty-two chimneys represent the weeks and three-hundred and sixty-five bedrooms represented the days of the year. Now the hotel has been modified there are a lot more rooms.
Anne Bronte died in a house on the site of the Grand Hotel, there is an English Heritage blue plaque above the entrance of the hotel stating this.
(Double click on photos for a larger view)
The cliff gardens next to the Grand Hotel. You can see the town hall at the top of the hill (the red brick building)
This is me and my niece a few weeks ago, when the weather wasn’t so good, at the top of the cliff.
Next to the gardens in-between the Grand Hotel is the Central Tramway. Going on the tram and stepping through the turnstiles is like going back in time to the Victorian era. This is why I love Scarborough, it is like going back in time. I do wish I had a time machine so I could go back to the Victorian Era and see what it was like.
The left side carriage, you can see the cliff gardens through the window. I wish I had taken a picture of the inside of the carriage but I didn’t think at the time as it was busy.
View from the window going down.
You can’t walk though Scarborough without stepping through a little history. Many many buildings have English Heritage blue plaques. Next time I go I will take pictures of the ones I see.
If you travel to Scarborough by rail you cannot avoid seeing the Stephen Joseph theatre which is situated across the road. The theatre was originally an Odeon Cinema and was built-in 1936. You wouldn’t think much to the building if you were in a rush for the train but just take a few minutes to actually look at the building and you will see a beautiful Art Deco building. I haven’t actually been inside the theatre but I have heard it is just as nice inside, in fact on my next trip there I intend to visit the cafe there and take a look around.
I took this picture walking down from the train station
and this walking up to the train station.
I love the doors on the theatre which you can’t see on this picture I took.
I found this close up picture on Google.
This post has been a bit higgildy piggildy but there is so much history and so many landmarks in Scarborough it is hard to pick which to share with you.
This is only part of Scarborough… there are many more places I wish to visit, St Martin on the hill church, the Victorian gardens, Peasolm Park and Scarborough castle just to name a few.
It won’t be long till my next visit as I do visit quite often and I am hoping to explore and research the parts I have not visited yet.
This weekend was a boozy weekend so as you can imagine I wasn’t up to exploring much the day after.
I hope you enjoyed reading this, even though it is all over the place, I’m still getting used to writing blog posts.
If you liked it leave a comment if you didn’t, don’t bother because I’ll probably cry.
Ta Ta for now
Nicola
xxxxxx
