9 September 2016 - Sandfield House Farm Caravan Park, Whitby, North Yorkshire

Expecting poorer weather today, we had elected to spend this at Scarborough, the oldest resort in the country and best known to me as being part of the title of a Simon and Garfunkel hit. Scarborough first attracted visitors to its newly discovered mineral springs in the early seventh century. By the 1730s the more adventurous tourists were even venturing onto the beach and swimming, a pursuit that has became part of one’s leisure in more recent times. Previously everyone had simply been too busy surviving, and being in the water was more likely to spell a prelude to drowning. But it was not until after the end of World War II that Scarborough reached its peak as a pleasure place, when workers flocked here from the industrial heartlands.

Stining views of Scarborough from the Castle

We chose to park in the Seamer Road Park & Ride rather than venture into unknown seaside streets. Our time in Cornwall has taught us well, even if the lesson came too late. Arriving in the town, we made our way up through the town to the Castle, this like that in Whitby administered by English Heritage.

The headland on which the castle is situated has been occupied for about three thousand years, a remarkable length of time to be established here, remembering we are not speaking of Rome or Athens. Archaeological exploration has been carried on here for some years, and this fact of time span is not merely supposition.

Evidence of settlement on the headland around 800 BC and again around 500 BC has been dicovered by archaeologists . As well as pits for storing food, and holes for wooden posts that probably supported timber buildings, many small objects from the period have also been found, including tools and pieces of pottery. These objects suggest that the community here had close connections with the European mainland, particularly the Low Countries of the Netherlands and Belgium. A lot of evidence for prehistoric settlement at Scarborough may have been destroyed by sea erosion, which has steadily reduced the size of the headland over the last 3,000 years, perhaps as much as one hundred yards.

The Romans built a signal station on the headland over 1,600 years ago in the late 4^th century AD, similar to those found at other sites along the Yorkshire coast.

Castle remains

The name Scarborough probably comes from the old Norse. By the early 11^th century Scarborough had grown into an important settlement.

The actual Castle was founded around 1138 by William le Gros, Count of Aumale. With strong natural defences and command of a good harbour, the castle became one of the most important in the north of England. Its buildings were developed on an impressive scale by several English kings, the first King Henry II who seized the castle from William le Gros, and between 1157 and 1169 he built the great tower that still dominates the site. Henry’s son John added the new outer wall overlooking the town twenty years later, and the fortified bridge that still guards access to the headland, was constructed by Henry III between 1243 and 1244.

The castle was besieged on many occasions, one of those when Edward III’s lover Piers Gaviston was captured before his brutal execution in 1312. During the religious rebellion of 1536, known as the Pilgrimage of Graces, the royal forces at the castle successfully held out against the rebels. And then in the 1640s, the castle played a crucial role in the English Civil War; from here coastal trade and access to the Continent could be controlled.

Anne Bronte's resting spot

The town and the castle were occupied by the forces of Sir Hugh Chomley, who we met two days ago up at Whitby Abbey. Initially he supported Parliament but became disillusioned with its cause and switched his allegiance to Charles I. Sir Hugh campaigned by sea and land, intercepting shipping and launching inland raids with his force of 600 foot soldiers, 100 dragoons and 100 horsemen. However after defeat at Marston Moor in 1644, the Parliament forces closed in on Scarborough. The royalists held out for over five months, but were finally driven out by starvation and lack of ammunition. During conflict in the early part of the siege, guns split the keep in two.

The castle was garrisoned by Parliament after its surrender in 1645 and continued to be occupied by the military into the 20^th century. its gun batteries commanding the harbour and serving to protect shipping.

The castle was central to many other adventures throughout the intervening years, such as those involving Dutch Admiral de Witt in 1653 and American privateer John Paul Jones in 1779. During the 17^th century the castle served as prison to John Fox, the founder of the Quakers. 

In December 1914, during the opening months of World War I, the sea fog at Scarborough lifted to reveal three German warships off the coast. At 8.05am, the ships opened fire on the defenceless town and its castle, killing seventeen civilians and seriously wounding eighty more. The attack caused alarm and outrage in Britain; it was this event that prompted Churchill to refer to the Germans as “baby killers”.

In 1920 the castle was taken into the guardianship of the State and since 1984, Scarborough Castle has been in the care of English Heritage.

But it was not only this amazing chronicle of history that kept us high on the headland battling the wild wind; the views from up here were marvellous. We spent about an hour and a half up at the castle before heading down toward the town, initially hoping to call into the church of St Mary we had bypassed on our way up. 

This was built in 1180 and invited further exploration, however arriving at the entrance we were met by a notice to advise a wedding was in progress. Instead we retreated to the graveyard and stood admiring the gravestone of Anne Bronte, there since 1847. Alas I could not remember the title of her contribution to the family literary genius.

Church of St Mary

From here we descended steeply down to the seafront, the South Beach, rather than the more open North Beach that seems to invite sunbathing and swimming rather than dining or nibbling on teeth rotting “rock”. Here along the South Beach there are numerous eateries all offering most tempting fish and chips to be either taken at table or in a small cardboard tray complete with wooden prong. It was just as well we had already eaten our sandwiches earlier.

We walked as far as the eastern end of this beach, until we reached what was once a toll gate for the road that was constructed around the end of the headland linking the North and South beaches. We passed numerous fishing vessels and craft offering trips to the tourists, although most of them seemed to be more interested in eating those fish and chips.

Scarborough's waterfront

Scarborough was once known for its shipbuilding but went into rapid decline by the middle of the nineteenth century. The development of iron shipbuilding and an increase in the size of vessels, with which Scarborough could not cope, led to the abandonment of shipbuilding in the town by the 1860s, except for fishing yawls and cobles, 1885 saw the building of the last deep sea fishing vessel. By 1904 the shore side properties had all been cleared away for the Marine Drive. Two years later the toll houses were built and the town opened up as never before.

Scarborough's South Beach

We left the tourists to their "rock" and chips and walked up the very steep cobbled street, past muralled walls which we stopped briefly to admire. We checked out the books in several charity shops, emerging with one for our growing caravan library. We paused to listen to busking accordion players and sweet voiced sopranos. Chris was most impressed with the town, while I on the other hand was impressed with the place overall, but the retail area I thought a little shabby. Without the crowds of aging tourists, the streets up here in the shopping area would have had little appeal.

It was only just after 2pm when we caught the bus back to the Park & Ride, and we were home mid-afternoon in time for me to do a load of washing.