Scarborough Yorkshire's Largest Seaside Resort By Steve Allanson

Scarborough spans two extensive bays separated by a promontory on which sits the famous castle. The town is one of England's first seaside resorts and was famous for its spring water cures in the 18th century. The spa link remains to this day in the Spa complex although today entertainment, functions and conferences are more important than "taking the waters". Indeed the spring and its waters are no longer accessible, being buried beneath a modern road roundabout.

South Bay

The south bay is where the town centre stretches down to the seashore and is also home to the harbour and most of the traditional amusement arcades, fish and chip shops etc. The beach is small but sandy and stretches southwards to the Spa complex with it's hotels, entertainment venues, function suites etc. The old pool is no more and is now filled in and landscaped into a fascinating star map best seen from the esplanade above.

The northern end of this bay is dominated by the town centre and the amusements arcades etc. Not to everyone's taste but nevertheless a traditional part of a British seaside town. The harbour itself is a working fishing harbour with regular landings.

North Bay

The north bay is dominated by Peasholme Park where on summers evenings they still reenact WW2 sea battles using models on the lake, and at the other end the Sea Life Centre. This bay used to be relatively undeveloped but in recent years has seen large scale additions of flats etc. The beach has some stretches of sand but also an extensive amount of rocky outcrops - great for rock pooling and hunting for crabs, starfish etc. Beware the tides though - I can still recall being stranded, as a child, on these rocks by the incoming tide (luckily we were carried ashore on the shoulders of some adult and the only loss was an abandoned T Shirt).

The Castle

The town itself is interesting and retains much of its medieval layout. There are plenty of pubs, restaurants, theatres etc. At the western end of the town you will find the norman motte and bailey style castle which sits on top of the cliffs which dominate the town, particularly when viewed from the south.
The castle was built by William le gros in the reign of King Stephen, a time of civil war between the supporters of Stephen and those of his rival Matilda. Matilda eventually succeeded Stephen. The castle saw action on a number of occasions in subsequent centuries including an attempt by Robert Aske to take the castle in the reign of Henry VIII. During the more widely known civil war in the 1600's the castle exchanged hands between royalist and parliamentary forces several times finally falling to parliament in December of 1648.

The castle originally had grounds of over 60 acres but coastal erosion over the centuries eventually reduced this to just 16 acres. This was one of the reasons why in the late 19th century the town council commissioned the building of the Marine Drive to link the two bays with a roadway which was to go right around the headland. Eventually finished 9 years late and massively over budget the Drive was nevertheless to prove a huge success both in terms of adding to the attractiveness of the town and preventing further erosion from the wild north sea. Further defenses were not required until 2002 when, with an uncannily similar set of circumstances major defenses were added - although late and over budget.

St Mary's - The Bronte link

Another of the towns significant landmarks is St Mary's, a 12th century church which is the burial place of Anne Bronte of the famous Haworth Bronte sisters. The current building, although very impressive is not wholly original. The towers and much more of the original fell into disrepair after being damaged in the sieges of the 17th century. The present tower was built in 1669 and the church was significantly added to in the 19th century.

Bombardment

During the 1914-1918 war Scarborough was attacked on several occasions by the Kaisers fleet. One one occasion 12 trawlers were sunk by German submarines and in the most famous attack of 1914 over 500 shells were fired into the town by 3 German ships. Extensive damage was caused to the fishing fleet, the town, the castle and the lighthouse. The town was again attacked late in the war when in 1917 a submarine surfaced close to shore and peppered the town with shells.

Scarborough Accommodation

Scarborough's most impressive hotel remains The Grand Hotel which dominates the sweep of the South Bay but there are many more quality hotels, guesthouses, B&B's and self catering accommodation. More details of all this Scarborough Accommodation can be found at Best-Yorkshire-Accommodation.

Steve Allanson is a freelance web designer, management consultant, photographer and author.

Details of Yorkshire accommodation including Scarborough can be found at Yorkshire Accommodation [http://www.best-yorkshire-accommodation.co.uk]

Details of Steve's Yorkshire website design services and free high quality image downloads can be found at Yorkshire Web Design

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Must Visit Attractions During Your Visit to Scarborough By Danny Penrose

Scarborough is one of the top seaside holiday resorts in the UK, it has been welcoming holiday makers for over one hundred years. With such a huge range of activities, attractions and events throughout the summer you can never be sure you aren't missing out on anything.

Taking time out of your holiday to worm your way through the packed tourist information can be boring and frustrating for the kids, in this article I hope to save you that trouble by sharing with you many of the local events and attractions Scarborough has to offer.

Sun Cruiser Open Top Buses - Shoreline Suncruisers run a superb service along Scarborough's wonderful North and South bays. Take in the views and enjoy the wind in your hair as you travel at a steady pace along Scarborough's marine drive. You can board or leave the bus at one of many stop along the route.

Scarborough Pleasure Steamers - Scarborough's Pleasure Steamers - Sailing every day from the lighthouse pier. Enjoy a full hour cruise along the Yorkshire Coast, with fully licensed bars, snacks and entertainment on most cruises. Sail North towards Ravenscar Cliffs, Smugglers Cove, Hayburn Wyke & Scalby Ness. Or sail South towards Filey Brigg, Gristhorpe Cliffs, Redcliffe and Cayton Bay.

The Lifeboat Experience - Daily trips are available on the lifeboat from Scarborough Harbour during the summer.

Naval Warfare - Enjoy this spectacular 30 minute naval battle between a friendly convoy and an enemy raider and submarine. The 20 foot long model warships are all manned by real human beings and fight out an epic battle on Peasholm Park lake which is situated on Scarborough's North Bay.

Scarborough Golf Clubs - Scarborough offers two great courses for your golfing pleasure situated at opposite end of the town. South Cliff golf course and North cliff golf course are both superb venues for the avid golfer. Assuming the other half lets you bring your clubs with you!

Scarborough Indoor Pool - Situated on the North side Scarborough indoor pool has great facilities for all the family and has many different sessions on throughout the day. I strongly suggest you try to obtain a summer timetable from the tourist information before going to make sure the session is suitable for you and your family.

So there you have it, just to name but a few of the attractions Scarborough has to offer. Be sure to check out my other articles for more great info on Scarborough tourist attractions and upcoming events.

For the best available web rates and a luxury hotel Scarborough check out http://www.hacknessgrangehotel.co.uk - One of the finest hotels Scarborough has to offer!

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Scarborough, North Yorkshire - Famous For Entrepreneurship By Simon Haughtone Platinum Quality Author

Scarborough, North Yorkshire lies close to the coast of the North Sea and has a few claims to fame. For example, in the year 2008 2009 it was named for providing the most creative as well as inspiring initiatives for business entrepreneurship in all of Europe. It also has been named the single best town in all of Britain for its enterprising spirit.

Scarborough, North Yorkshire was actually founded by the Vikings way back in 966 AD and much later the Romans made it their signal station. In fact, many settlements were found here that dated back to the Stone and Bronze Ages. Since then many other settlements came up where present day Scarborough is located including those erected by Vikings.

The town also saw much destruction as well as massacres and so not much of the town survived till it was saved by King Henry II who erected a castle made out of stone. Later, Edward II presented Scarborough Castle to Piers Gaveston though he was besieged as well as captured by barons who took Gaveston to Oxford and executed him.

Scarborough is also home to Alan Ayckbourn who is a famous dramatist and in fact it also attracts numerous artists that work with different media and the town also has many art galleries. Furthermore, each year in September the town plays host to a major jazz festival and in the summer there is the Beached Festival in which rock and pop music dominates proceedings.

Scarborough is full of live and so there are numerous restaurants, bars and nightclubs. In particular, it pays to visit St Thomas Street that hosts many popular nightclubs and in this street you will also find the new Opera House Casino.

For those who are seeking gastronomic delights the town has numerous restaurants that serve up Italian and Mexican and Indian as well as Thai and even Chinese food; and, of course, you can also the famous chain called Ask that is located here as well.

For a wide selection of Scarborough hotels just click here.

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