September 17, Scarborough

No September 16^th date! We didn’t make an entry. As we have no internet here we are making our entries on a word processing program and we got involved in a Jackie Chan movie thought I watched most of it through my eyelids.

Michael and Shirley took us on a road trip. We began by having coffee at a place out of town. It is a Best Western- the Ox something. It was very nice. There had been a wedding the night before and the wedding party was still there.

Next we drove through the forest where Michael played and camped as a boy. It is original forest as it was since in the ice age. Stopped by the river and went for a walk. Jes enjoyed his walk and play in the river. It was very picturesque.

This was followed by a drive through the countryside to a quaint village where we had Sunday lunch. I had ham, Roy had roast beef. It was all accompanied by roasted potatoes, and perfectly steamed carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and mashed turnips. A big lunch for us! Good thing we took Jes for a walk afterwards. The walked ended with an ice cream cone and then we drove on to Whitbey. Micheal gave us a short tour of the town and we visited the fish store where he bought kippers and whelks. I had heard of whelks but never tasted them. It was nice to try them but I think once was enough for me. We stopped for tea and then home. What a lovely day. It was so nice to see the area through the eyes of people who have lived here all their lives.

Today we were up and ready to play golf with Michael at his golf club. North Cliff Golf Club. He equipped us with clubs and as it turned out balls because ours that we organized for the trip are sitting on our dresser at home.

North Cliff Golf Clubhouse Scarbourgh

The first hole runs along the North Sea. It is long in my opinion. The second hole takes you to Burniston Road (about a five minute walk from where we are staying). After crossing the road you play the third hole. They have an added hazard - undulations in the fairway. Some undulations go parallel to the fairway and others horizontally. They were quite intimidating to begin with. Michael and Shirleys’ house is across the street from the fourth hole. Nice place to live! After 8 holes I got over my nerves and began to play better. Roy had a very good game. It is a beautiful golf course and Michael was so nice to play with. Holes 16, 17 and 18 are back across the road. On 16 and 18 you are driving toward the sea. Very beautiful! We had lunch at the club and I got to use the Lady Members only change rooms. My goodness, I was a long way from the Valley Golf wash room.

We returned to Pine Lodge for a cup of tea and a snooze. 18 holes of golf and a pretty strong wind played us out! Just as we decided to go for a walk to Scarborough Castle it started to rain. After about ½ hour the rain stopped and off we went. About 100 yards up the street from us you cross the road and follow a path through the trees which takes you to the Scarborough outdoor theater ( more about it later) and then to the beach. We walked along the beach and up the hill to the castle. It was open for another hour so we paid to enter. It was quite an interesting site. The site has been inhabited since 800 BC. I will leave this to Roy.

The theatre has just been restored and is quite fabulous. Michaels dad did theatre lighting for the original theatre and he performed as an extra in many performances. Shirley was in the plays too.

Over to Roy

Well as Linda said, we walked from our abode to Scarborough Castle up on the highest hill around. The headlands have a panoramic view to the surrounding area.

Scarborough Castle from North Bay

 This made it an ideal as a point of early warning and for building a fort. Earliest evidence of people date back several thousand years BC. (800 BC) Whether the early people had a settlement or just used it as stopping point during migrations. Found on sites are stone and flint tools which date this early period. Some of them just look like rocks to me so I have to take their word for it. A bronze sword was excavated which now resides in the British Museum. Along with this is evidence that the bronze tools were actually manufactured here, bronze poured into moulds. When the Romans were worried about the Scots, they put a signal bases all along the coast including here. The base only had a small garrison, but was established in the early 300’s AD and was manned until they left. Shortly after William the Bastard conquered Anglia in 1066 he started building castles all over Anglia.

Scarborough Castle Keep

 Scarborough was one he started in 1068. On 3 sides are steep cliffs and only the 4^th was practical to attack. The main building is the keep, a building within the walls which would provide the last level of defence with only one entrance.

South Bay Scarborough from Castle walls

As kings came and went, they all seemed to feel that it was important and kept upgrading and building on. King John put more money into this castle than any other during his reign. It continued to be used up until WWI when the German Navy shelled it and the town early on in the war. It was interesting and almost empty of people made it quite enjoyable to walk around. We left just as the castle was about to close and walked down hill back to our self catering unit.

 

As for the golf , it was great. The sun was shining and the course was quite open, but difficult. The wind was only slightly under force 4. The undulations Linda talked about are terracing that people used hundreds of years ago to increase the surface area of the farm land. When the city allowed a golf course to be built here, the terracing was and is considered heritage and must be left. When I think of terracing, I think steps, but these have no flat spots instead they are round at the top and bottom. I was using a Taylormade draw driver that Michael use to use. I was really hitting well. I shot 101, with twice shooting 9’s on par 5’s. Those were the only holes I 4 putted. Overall a good day.