Scarborough, Yorkshire

Scarborough is probably known as the premier resort on the Yorkshire coast and even though it is not as popular with holiday makers as it used to be, it still attracts a vast number of day trippers and weekend travellers. The 11th century ruined castle sits on top of a high headland peninsula giving commanding views of both the north and south bay.

I agreed with my friend ( the Richmond walk organiser) that we would share a car to go to Scarborough and see our Yorkshire friends once again for another organised day out ( 19th September ). Unfortunately, he had to attend a family function that evening and had to leave early so we went in our own cars. This was a day event with options to stay overnight on the night before and / or the following night but I was working until 9pm friday and had to be home for sunday morning.
I am not a regular visitor here as this is just about at the limit of a car day trip and there are certain magical places that I cannot pass ( future posts possibly). I can count on one hand the number of times I have been here before...two childhood holidays, a late teenage train trip and a weekend with friends a few years ago.

The journey over the North York moors was lovely and sunny with amazingly not a lot of traffic on the roads. It was only when came to the outskirts of Scarborough that I wished I hadn't been so smug about it as it took 20 minutes to enter the town and find somewhere to park the car.
As we were meeting at a pub/restaurant on the seafront on the south side of the bay, I decided to park at the south end of the town.

 After descending the hill from the title photo view I crossed the footbridge towards the Grand Hotel. In it's day, it was the place to stay... I've just had a quick look at Trip advisor ... maybe not any more !! From the footbridge there was at least a grand view of the sea....

The Diving Belle

Two bathing sculptures were commissioned in 2007 - 08 to celebrate the first UK sea bathing resort. The more historic figure is seen in the main shopping area whereas on the harbour wall, The Diving Belle is meant to represent the regeneration of the present day resort .... I don't think I saw many people diving into the North Sea today !

The ancient history of the town is partly linked with the sea and stretches back to the Romans who had a strategic placed camp on the headland where the ruined castle (English civil war destruction 1640 AD) now lies. Viking raiders arrived from the sea and built the town in 966 AD. There was a six week trading festival called Scarborough Fair that was popular with merchants from across Europe and ran for 500 years. It was immortalised in a traditional folk song.

Scarborough harbour is home to a mixture of fishing boats, private yachts and a pretend / bogus pirate ship !!

The sea is accessible to all as pleasure boats give the tourist a first hand chance to explore the waves of the North Sea !!... an experience indeed around these parts !!

The North sea is sometimes not a very forgiving place particularly in Winter so other precautions need to be taken !!

Life boat

Ghost performance @ the spa... or wondering if the next performance is going to happen.

The resort came to prominence with the discovery of acidic spa waters in the 17th century assisted by the publication of an associated book whilst bathing pools were added during the next century. The popularity of the town exploded with the arrival of the railway in the 1840s coinciding with the building of Hotels with The Grand Hotel being completed 22 years later.

The organiser of the day did a great job in providing us with opportunity to explore, have fun and enjoy good food.
After the introductory lunch, we started off by taking a walk up the hill to the castle....

... to enjoy the superb views of both north and south bays and to experience ...... and inhale the North Sea fresh air !!

Time to descend down the hill through some of the Scarborough's backstreets for the next stage of the day

Before a walk to the Spa and a fantastic evening meal to the end the day, we were given a great seaside activity to have a sand castle building competition. We had to have our eyes open to look for some hardware and armoury !!.....

After the purchase of spades, we arrived on the beach to construct something magical. My "team manager" (pictured below) had the idea to build a face .........

Scarborough sandcastle manager & .... sunbathing till the tide comes in !!

....and is seen here putting the finishing touches to it. Thankfully, we won by one vote but unfortunately seemed to clear everyone from the beach in the process !! Even the dogs were banned despite being desperate for a closer look.