It was obviously an important spa town in Victorian times and there is a pedestrian bridge called Spa Bridge, which spans the valley that separates the spa and residential area on South Cliff from the rest of the town. Apart from being an elegant structure, it provides a good view of the old town and harbour.
Next to the bridge is the Rotunda Museum. It was built in 1829 by the Scarborough Philosophical Society to the specification of William Smith, who devoted most of his life to the study of geology. His map was given the catchy name, typical of that time, of " The delineation of the strata of England and Wales with part of Scotland". Interestingly, when he produced it in 1815, he called the North Sea "The German Ocean".
Smith seems to have had a torrid private life as is true for so many famous people. His wife ended up in an asylum with mental problems and he was jailed for bankruptcy. I thought this script in the museum put a bit of a silver lining on his situation.
There was Dr. William Harland, who was an inventor and collector, who when his teeth decayed made himself some new ones out of a hippo's tooth. There were no details about how he fixed them in.We've lost much of the inventiveness we once knew. Who would think of ever doing that today? Not that its easy to get your hands on a hippo's tooth in your average Tescos!
The main exhibit is the skeleton and coffin of Gristhorpe Man. He was found in an excavation of a ancient barrow in 1834 by William Beswick.Carbon dating and other techniques place it as 1750-1530BC. They have made a digital representation of his face, which speaks to you on a screen. He was about 60 when he died, which seems a good age for 3,000 years ago. They even know he died of a brain tumour. How amazing is that?
I have a nose for a good place to have coffee. The one next to the museum has a fantastic view under the Spa Bridge and does great home made cakes.
The brick built Grand Hotel is indeed an impressive building. When I had a good look at the decorative statues on the upper floors. It looks like a pair of blokes looking down at themselves and saying " Do my thighs look big in this?"I'm sure the more knowledgeable will recognise them as classical figures.
The Scarborough Art Gallery was good for two themes. The first was on the subject of dress codes and etiquette, particularly in beach attire. There was an interesting contrast between the "Courtship on The Beach" in 1867 by Charles Wynne Nicholls. ( It was a beach in Margate) and "Bathers in Sunlight by Zdzislaw Ruszkowski in 1977. I don't know how this third one got through the censors in the mid 1800s.
The next theme was bad weather at sea. The ship wrecks outside Scarborough harbour painted by Robert Ernest Roe occurred in a very bad storm in 1811. 10 ships were lost but amazingly nobody was killed thanks to the lifeboat being launched several times.
The "Burning off" of a fishing boat by John Atkinson Grimshaw in 1877 shows people lighting a brazier to warn off the boat from coming into harbour.It's a great sky he's done.
On the way back to Hylje I passed the Council offices. Despite the measures the council has taken to bird proof their building the seagulls have built nests on every possible ledge. They have even incorporated the bird spikes into their nests.Birds are great! On the rare occasions when the natural world wins out, it sort of puts us in our place.
Tonight i have got a ticket to see Aykbourne's Dear Uncle, which is a new version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. Not continuing my journey today seems to have been the right decision. Its blowing a force5/6 out there, which would mean a strong following sea with this northerly wind. Not the best to have when I round Flanborough Head, but tomorrow is supposed to be quieter.If so I will aim for Grimsby.
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