Scarborough Yorkshire's Largest Seaside Resort

Scarborough spans two extensive bays separated bysaw action on a number of occasions in subsequent
a promontory on which sits the famous castle. Thecenturies including an attempt by Robert Aske to take
town is one of England's first seaside resorts and wasthe castle in the reign of Henry VIII. During the more
famous for its spring water cures in the 18th century.widely known civil war in the 1600's the castle
The spa link remains to this day in the Spa complexexchanged hands between royalist and parliamentary
although today entertainment, functions andforces several times finally falling to parliament in
conferences are more important than "taking theDecember of 1648.
waters". Indeed the spring and its waters are no longerThe castle originally had grounds of over 60 acres but
accessible, being buried beneath a modern roadcoastal erosion over the centuries eventually reduced
roundabout.this to just 16 acres. This was one of the reasons why
South Bayin the late 19th century the town council commissioned
The south bay is where the town centre stretchesthe building of the Marine Drive to link the two bays
down to the seashore and is also home to the harbourwith a roadway which was to go right around the
and most of the traditional amusement arcades, fishheadland. Eventually finished 9 years late and
and chip shops etc. The beach is small but sandy andmassively over budget the Drive was nevertheless to
stretches southwards to the Spa complex with it'sprove a huge success both in terms of adding to the
hotels, entertainment venues, function suites etc. Theattractiveness of the town and preventing further
old pool is no more and is now filled in and landscapederosion from the wild north sea. Further defenses
into a fascinating star map best seen from thewere not required until 2002 when, with an uncannily
esplanade above.similar set of circumstances major defenses were
The northern end of this bay is dominated by the townadded - although late and over budget.
centre and the amusements arcades etc. Not toSt Mary's - The Bronte link
everyone's taste but nevertheless a traditional part ofAnother of the towns significant landmarks is St
a British seaside town. The harbour itself is a workingMary's, a 12th century church which is the burial place
fishing harbour with regular landings.of Anne Bronte of the famous Haworth Bronte sisters.
North BayThe current building, although very impressive is not
The north bay is dominated by Peasholme Parkwholly original. The towers and much more of the
where on summers evenings they still reenact WW2original fell into disrepair after being damaged in the
sea battles using models on the lake, and at the othersieges of the 17th century. The present tower was
end the Sea Life Centre. This bay used to be relativelybuilt in 1669 and the church was significantly added to
undeveloped but in recent years has seen large scalein the 19th century.
additions of flats etc. The beach has some stretchesBombardment
of sand but also an extensive amount of rockyDuring the 1914-1918 war Scarborough was attacked
outcrops - great for rock pooling and hunting for crabs,on several occasions by the Kaisers fleet. One one
starfish etc. Beware the tides though - I can still recalloccasion 12 trawlers were sunk by German
being stranded, as a child, on these rocks by thesubmarines and in the most famous attack of 1914
incoming tide (luckily we were carried ashore on theover 500 shells were fired into the town by 3 German
shoulders of some adult and the only loss was anships. Extensive damage was caused to the fishing
abandoned T Shirt).fleet, the town, the castle and the lighthouse. The town
The Castlewas again attacked late in the war when in 1917 a
The town itself is interesting and retains much of itssubmarine surfaced close to shore and peppered the
medieval layout. There are plenty of pubs, restaurants,town with shells.
theatres etc. At the western end of the town you willScarborough Accommodation
find the norman motte and bailey style castle whichScarborough's most impressive hotel remains The
sits on top of the cliffs which dominate the town,Grand Hotel which dominates the sweep of the South
particularly when viewed from the south.Bay but there are many more quality hotels,
The castle was built by William le gros in the reign ofguesthouses, B&B's and self catering
King Stephen, a time of civil war between theaccommodation. More details of all this Scarborough
supporters of Stephen and those of his rival Matilda.Accommodation can be found at
Matilda eventually succeeded Stephen. The castleBest-Yorkshire-Accommodation.