Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Scarborough's south bay on a summer's day.

Scarborough

Latitude: 54.277331

Longitude: -0.401791

OS Grid Reference: TA040880

Population: 50,135

District: Borough of Scarborough

Region: Yorkshire and the Humber

County: North Yorkshire

Traditional: (North Riding of) Yorkshire

Country: England

State: United Kingdom

Parliamentary Constituency: Scarborough and Whitby

European Region: Yorkshire and the Humber

Post Codes: YO11, YO12, YO13

Dialling Code: 01723

The Grand Hotel at Scarborough.

Scarborough is a town located on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England, 42 miles from the city of York. The modern town lies 30 to 70 metres above sea level, on limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland, topped by the twelfth-century ruins of Scarborough Castle.

Scarborough has a population of around 52,000, and is the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire coast. It is primarily known as the UK's northernmost resort, and as a former spa town where the wealthy once visited to take the recuperative waters. Scarborough is also a port for the North Sea fishing industry, and is home to one campus of the University of Hull. Historically, Scarborough is also famous for featuring in a World War One propaganda campaign, 'Remember Scarborough', following the bombing of the town by the German Navy in 1914.

The town two bays, separated by the harbour, with popular sandy beaches and numerous rock-pools at low tide. The South Bay contains several amusement arcades and entertainment facilities along the foreshore. The North Bay has traditionally been the more peaceful end of the resort, with Peasholm Park its main attraction. As well as a Japanese-themed island, the park features a mock maritime battle (based on the Battle of the River Plate) re-enacted on the boating lake with large model boats and fireworks throughout the summer holiday season. The "north side" is also known for the 'North Bay Railway', which is a miniature railway running from the park to the Sea Life Centre (a marine sanctuary) at Scalby Mills.

Scarborough has formed the setting for several films and television programmes over the years, which have often made use of the South Cliff Promenade, situated above the Spa area and South Cliff Gardens, with excellent views of the South Bay and old town. Its mix of quality hotels and desirable apartments form the backdrop to the ITV drama The Royal which can often be seen filming in the area. It was also used, with other locations, for the 1998 film Little Voice, starring Michael Caine and Jane Horrocks.

The South Bay has the largest illuminated 'Star Disk' anywhere in the UK. It is 26 metres across and is fitted with subterranean lights, representing the 42 brightest stars and major constellations that can be seen from Scarborough in the northern skies.

History

The town was founded around 966 AD as Skarðaborg by Thorgils Skarthi, a Viking raider, though in the 4th century there had briefly been a Roman signal station on Scarborough's headland, and there is evidence of much earlier Stone Age and Bronze Age settlements. However, the new settlement was soon burned to the ground by a rival band of Vikings under Tosti, Lord of Falsgrave, and Harald III of Norway. The destruction and massacre meant that very little remained to be recorded in the Domesday survey of 1085. Scarborough recovered under King Henry II, who built a stone castle on the headland and granted charters in 1155 and 1163, permitting a market on the sands, and establishing rule by Burgesses.

Edward II gave Scarborough Castle to his favourite, Piers Gaveston. There, Gaveston was besieged by the barons, captured and carried to Oxford for execution.

In the Middle Ages, Scarborough Fair, permitted in a royal charter of 1253, held a six-week trading festival attracting merchants from all over Europe. It ran from Assumption Day, 15th August, until Michaelmas Day, 29th September. The fair continued to be held for 500 years, and is commemorated in the song Scarborough Fair:

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

- parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...".

Scarborough and its castle changed hands seven times between the Royalists and Parliamentarians during the English Civil War of the 1640s, enduring two lengthy and violent sieges. Following the civil war much of the town lay in ruins.

In 1626, Mrs Elizabeth Farrow discovered a stream of acidic water running from one of the cliffs to the south of the town. This gave birth to Scarborough Spa, and Dr Wittie's book about the spa waters, published in 1660, attracted a flood of visitors to the town. Scarborough Spa became Britain's first seaside resort, though the first rolling bathing machines were not noted on the sands until 1735. The coming of the Scarborough-York railway in 1845 increased the tide of visitors.

This influx of visitors convinced the young architect John Gibson to open Scarborough's first purpose-built hotel. In 1841, a railway link between York and Scarborough was being contemplated, and so he decided that the area above the popular spa building could be developed. He designed and laid the foundations of the Crown Hotel, and passed its construction to the newly formed South Cliff Building Company.

On 10th June 1845, Scarborough's first hotel was opened, which was a marketing coup at the time as the local Grand Hotel - soon to be Europe's largest - was not finished. When John Fairgray Sharpin came to visit Scarborough in 1845, he was charmed at first sight by a building which had just been completed and was to let. The hotel is still open for business, but has now been renamed the Crown Spa Hotel. When the Grand Hotel was completed in 1867, it was one of the largest hotels in the world and one of the first giant purpose-built hotels in Europe. A blue plaque outside marks where the novelist Anne Brontë died in 1849.

In June 1993, Scarborough made headlines around the world when a landslip caused part of the Holbeck Hall Hotel, along with its gardens, to fall into the sea. Although the slip was shored up with rocks, and the land has long since grassed over, evidence of the cliff's collapse remains clearly visible from the Esplanade, near Shuttleworth Gardens.

Culture

Dramatist Alan Ayckbourn is based in Scarborough, where he has lived for a number of years and is the artistic director of the famous Stephen Joseph Theatre, where almost all his plays receive their first performance. The town also plays host to the annual National Student Drama Festival, which takes place at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, the Spa Centre and other venues around the town.

The area is also home to several galleries. The presence of the University of Hull Digital Arts and Yorkshire Coast College's Arts provision help fuel the town's music and arts scene. Arts, business and education collaborate annually to produce Digital Scarborough - a celebration of the town's digital activities including a wide range of events from business networking to film showings and gigs with DJs and VJs.

The town is home to a significant jazz festival each September, and in the summer boasts 'Beached' - an eclectic rock and pop festival which takes place on the South Bay beach. It features at least 50% local talent alongside internationally known artistes.

These fairly recent developments married to a long established museum and visual arts provision hint at Scarborough's desire to re-invent itself as a creative and arts-based town. In 2006, work started on Wood End Museum - former home to the the Sitwells - to convert it into a creative centre including workspace for artists and the digital cluster plus an exhibition space. The town's Rotunda Museum is currently undergoing a multi-million-pound redevelopment that intends it to become a national centre for geology.

The films Little Voice and A Chorus of Disapproval were filmed on location in Scarborough and the surrounding area. Other films that have filmed scenes in Scarborough include Miranda and Beltenbros.

Education

The town has a small higher education institution, the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus, (formerly North Riding College and University College Scarborough), and is home to Yorkshire Coast College and Scarborough Sixth Form College. The five main state secondary schools in Scarborough are Graham School, Raincliffe School, Scalby School, Pindar School and St Augustine's Roman Catholic School. There are also two private schools: Scarborough College (ages 3-18) and Bramcote (4-13). Scarborough College teaches for the International Baccalaureate rather than A-levels as exams at 18.

Education in Scarborough is notable for its committment to the digital economy, with 2006 seeing the formation of the University of Hull's School of Arts and New Media at the Scarborough Campus. Scarborough is also the UK mainland's first wireless campus.

Sport

Football

Scarborough Football Club once enjoyed a high placing in the UK's Third Division, but has since slumped to an all-time low. Though the 'Seasiders' and their seagull mascot are yet to break into the elite of professional English football, rivalry with York FC is no less fierce than in the premier division. Their best achievement in the FA Cup was in January 2004, when they played Chelsea in the 4th round, losing 1-0 after a hard-fought match.

Rowing

The Scarborough Amateur Rowing Club was founded in May 1869, and is the oldest surviving rowing club on the north east coast. For more than 100 years, sea rowing has taken place on the Yorkshire coast between the Tees and the Humber, beginning with friendly rivalry between the fisherman and the miners from Blyth (sometimes known as the German Ocean Race). Rowing takes place throughout the summer months.

Racing

Scarborough is home to the Oliver's Mount racing circuit. This track is composed of twisty public roads and has played host to domestic motorcycling and rallying events for many years. Notable motorcycle racers to have raced at Oliver's Mount include Barry Sheene and Ron Haslam. In racing season, the noise of racers' engines is is heard throughout the town, and fleets of motorcycles are seen on the roads.

Economy

Tourism

Tourism continues to be a major part of the local economy, despite the current affordability of foreign holidays. The beaches and attractions are always very busy with "visitors" throughout summer - a marked contrast to the quieter winter months. Confidence amongst hoteliers seems to be high, with 2006 being cited as a good season for many businesses. Several hotels have undergone major refits, often catering to a higher-spending clientele. Significant amongst these is The Grand, Scarborough's biggest hotel, which overlooks the South Bay. The hotel has attracted negative publicity in the past due to outbreaks of illness amongst guests.

Fishing and Markets

Scarborough's fishing industry is still active, albeit as a shadow of its former self. The working harbour is home to a fish market, including a shop and wooden stalls where fresh, locally caught seafood can be purchased.

Scarborough's town centre has major shopping chains alongside boutique shops. The town also has an indoor market, with a large range of antique shops and independent traders in its vaults.

Other industries

Scarborough has been host to various industries over the years. FW Plaxton started a high class joinery business in 1907, and the 1920s brought car manufacturing and then shell cases during the Second World War. Luxury coachbuilding began in the late 1920s and continues today at the Eastfield factory. Plaxton Park on Seamer Road is the site of the former Castle Works factory, which closed in the 1990s when all manufacturing moved to Eastfield, 4 miles to the south of Scarborough. Subject to closure after a disastrous buyout by Transbus, then saved by a management buyout in 2002, Plaxton Ltd upholds the tradition of building state of art coaches and buses for both export and the domestic market.

Printing and graphic design is also found in the town, with major players Pindar and Polestar both based here. Pindar is a Scarborough-born company with an international profile, which also owns the AlphaGraphics chain. The creative industries include a good selection of website design and development businesses, including Save9 - which recently developed an interactive poster/trailer system for cinemas in London's West End. Graphic design companies include Electric Angel Design, which in 2006 rebranded the international youth organisation the Boys' Brigade.

Famous Scarborians, residents and ex-residents

• John Atkinson Grimshaw, artist
• Alan Ayckbourn, playwright
• Anne Brontë, writer
• Colin Challen, MP for Morley and Rothwell – born in Scarborough
• Liz Dawn, 'Vera Duckworth' in Coronation Street – has a holiday home in Scarborough
• Fred Feast, actor – formerly of Coronation Street (Fred Gee)
• Eric Fenby, 20th century composer and amanuensis of Frederick Delius
• Jonathan Greening, footballer with Championship side West Bromwich Albion
• Malcolm Hebden, 'Norris Cole' in Coronation Street
• Susan Hill, author
• Ben Kingsley, actor – born in Scarborough, 1943
• Charles Laughton, actor and director
• Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, painter and sculptor
• Bill Nicholson, manager of Tottenham Hotspur when they completed the Football League First Division and FA Cup double in 1960-61
• Wilfred Owen, World War I poet – convalesced in Scarborough
• Robert Palmer, singer
• Mark Richardson, musician in the rock band Feeder
• Joel Ross, one half of BBC Radio 1 duo JK and Joel
• Sir Jimmy Savile, television and radio personality
• The Sitwell family, literary circle

See also

• North Yorkshire
• United Kingdom

External links

• Official website of Scarborough Borough
• Timeline — History of Scarborough
• Creative Coast - the North Yorkshire Coast's Creative Industries Network
• Digital Scarborough - Business, Arts and Education Event
• Scarborough Castle
• Scarborough's Future
• Stephen Joseph Theatre - Scarborough
• Sonic Arts Network and Expo Festival
• Scarborough Museums and Art Gallery

Photographic links

• Photographs of Scarborough, North Yorkshire
• Photographs of Scarborough
• Yorkshire Coast Cam