OH I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE

After finding that vintage postcard of Scarborough, uploading to my site and mentioning the many happy childhood holidays we had there, plus the fact that Mis Robyn has just returned from a seaside break, I decided to take some metime to remember those holidays and then post about them.

Apparently, though I only have cloudy memories of them, my first two holidays in the first two years of my life were taken in Southport with just my Mum and Dad. Thereafter, we went to Scarborough, the three of us, and my Aunt and my Mum's parents. Every year for one week at the height of summer, July, you would find us there, except for one year, when inexplicably, just my Mum, Dad and I went to Morecambe. It can't have suited for we never went back again, and every year after that Scarborough in Yorkshire was where you would find us.



Oh how I wanted to live there all year round, the sea, the sand, the stalls selling cups of wonderful seafood such as fresh prawns and shrimps to eat as you wandered round the harbour and what in the world tastes better than salty crisply coated fish and chips eaten straight out of the greaseproof and newspaper wrapping in the salty air, ah the kiss of salt on your lips. Of course, during the late 1950's my Mother thought it was 'not quite nice' to be seen gorging on food outside the home or a cafe, and so we were led down the backlanes, byways and snicks of Scarborough to eat them, but what a way to learn the true historic Scarborough.

There were always highlights to look forward to every year, a variety show with comedians and glamourous kickline dancers, the delights of Peasholm Park, the esplanade and the prom, the donkey rides and of course, the best, the Punch and Judy shows on the beach. There was one attraction that I was taken to once and never wanted to go again, although I was excited when I first heard I was going - Treasure Island.

This is how Treasure Island worked, just outside Scarborough there was a mere [small lake], near to Oliver's Mount and some enterprising concern had set up a trip by boat around the mere based onthe book, Treasure Island. The idea was everyone boarded this boat, I am sure it had masts and sails, like a true tall ship, The Hispaniola, naturally enough Captained by a man pretending to be Long John Silver. We were taken around the mere, now I am not quite sure whether there was an island in the middle of the mere or we were just dumped at the other end of the mere and there all the kids had to set to in the sand to dig up gold doubloons, in the middle of all this Ben Gunn appeared and there were more amateur dramatics. Some lucky children went back with a 'gold' doubloon, but every one received a tattoo [ink stamp] and a certificate stating we had all sailed on The Hispaniola with Long John Silver.

Don't you just think what a wonderful idea and adventure that was? Well everyone did apart from me, I was such an imaginative child I thought it was all for real and sobbed the whole of the trip. I have been told since, and this makes it worse, that the man playing Long John Silver, a real onelegged ex sailor, was really sorry for me and tried to help me find a doubloon, but that made me scream more because I thought he was kidnapping me. I still feel embarrassed about the way I carried on now all these years later. I often wonder if it was as colourful and as realistic as I thought it was or is that the mind of a child. I have never met anyone else who has taken a trip on The Hispaniola.



A highlight I loved every year was Peasholm Park[photo above], where on the lake every Sunday there was a mock battle of ships. The ships were just large enough to have a man hidden inside them them and every Sunday afternoon, there was a naval war with plenty of smoke, large bangs and flashes of fire. On other afternoons, you could row round the lake in a boat. But, the best part of Peasholm Park was that there was a large island, well it seemed large to me, in the middle, connected to the shore by two quasi japanese style bridges, there were trees on the island and a walk through them. In the evening the walk was lit by pretty coloured lights and hidden amongst the tree were models illuminated within of animals such as squirrels in the branches, rabbits, between the trunks, and fairies in the boughs. I just adored it and thought I was in Fairy Land, and the most exciting thing to me was if you walked around the lake before paying to do the island walk you could just see hints of the delights in store amongst the trees on the island. It seemed such an enormous magical island, I often wonder just how large it really was! At the same time in a chinese pagoda type structure that was floated out into the middle of the lake their would be musicians playing and concerts would be performed.



We stayed in the same boarding house every year, and the owners became family friends. The owner was the best cook I have ever known and I can still remember her strawberry pies, fresh lobster or crab salad and amazing full works roast beef and yorkshire pudding Sunday dinner. It was on a road, I think, called Castle Road and just about three doors away was an amazing, to me, toyshop, whilst the grown-ups were getting ready to go to the beach, I used to be allowed to go and look in the window of it. There was also down one of the twisty back streets, an amazing Chinese shop that sold Chinese rag dolls, made by Chinese refugees. It was run by a little old bent Chinese man [very Harry Potter] who wore a little hat on his head. I used to buy a small cotton doll every year, until I had a family of them. Unfortunately, I lost them a few years ago when we moved, and I have never seen anything similar elsewhere.



Well, I could go on and on, but I'll leave you with the memories above and maybe another time I will sit down and dredge up some more childhood holiday stories.




Just before I go, the last two evenings I have had trouble leaving comments on a few blogs, in fact some just told me I was forbidden to view site! and others said there was a blogger error! I will be getting round the blogs as often as I can in this very busy month, so don't think I have forgotten you if you don't hear from me as much as usual and don't forget me, I'll be visiting as much as possible.