2021 Autumn Holiday Part Four - She has a strange accent, while she sells seashells, on the seashore!

 We decided we were in need of some amusement arcade fun, it's one of our favourite things to do while away. And being honest, the arcades are always better in the North, it's just another example of the North/South divide in England, albeit, a positive one for the North for a change! 

Scarborough is one of those places where if it had better investment and a plan for the future, it could really do well, but instead, it always has this feeling of cheap, tacky and forgotten about. I remember a long time ago watching the news, and it was about the North/South divide, and the person was saying that the further from London you go, the less central investment there is. And I somewhat agree with that concept. But Scarborough has another problem - an accent I cannot understand! 

Most accents I can understand no problem, both abroad and here in England. But the two I always struggle with so much is Geordie (Newcastle) and the Scarborough accent. Just cannot understand. I left it up to James to translate as he's from the North (Birmingham, I suppose it's technically the midlands, but if it's North of London, then it's classed as the North!). I couldn't for the life of me understand what the lady in the shop was asking of me when I went to buy some sticks of rock for my cousin in New Zealand. Not a blazing clue. In the end, I looked beseechingly at James, who informed me she was asking me if I had a smaller note to pay with. I looked down at the twenty I was trying to use, gave her a tenner, and she gave me back something like six pounds in twenty pence coins. I was mortified with embarrassment, thanked her and ran away. Perhaps I'd had too much fresh but salty sea air! 

Our first stop in Scarborough was visiting the castle, perched high up on the cliffs, giving you a fantastic view of the town below and out to sea. It's the perfect vantage point for a castle & it's defences, you can see for miles around just who is coming and going. 

Views of the keep as you walk up the hill to it. There's not much else remaining, but like I say, visit for the fantastic views. 

A view across the inside of the castle towards the keep. Finds of pottery around the castle area date to between 2100 & 1500BC, with further finds coming from the Iron Age & Roman Era. The structure of the castle itself was started in the 1100's, built atop the foundations of the Roman tower, and was built by Henry the second. 

During the civil war, defenders of the castle would have looked over the small town of Scarborough as the Parliamentarian forces closed in, and eventually damaged the castle so severely the defenders had no choice but to surrender. Imagine that feeling, of seeing the marching army coming towards you. Did the defenders feel confident the castle would withstand the attack? Or did they feel they were doomed? 

A view of the tops of some of the remaining towers on the castle wall, getting ever closer to the edge of the cliffs. Similarly to Whitby, Scarborough and it's castle were also targeted by the German Navy at the start of the first world war. The castle was damaged, and the barracks building near the keep were destroyed. 19 people in Scarborough were killed, including the only Boy Scout killed in the first world war, as he went to buy a newspaper that fateful morning. 

Entrance to the Castle is £14, and always, you can save 15% if you pre-book tickets via the English Heritage website. I will say, it's not the most amazing ruins, or the most interesting of castles, but if you ever get bored of the amusement arcades, then it's worth having a look around. Speaking of amusement arcades, we had a fantastic time winning pieces of tat as prizes! We must have spent hours in there, on the two penny slots, the air hockey tables, the basketball hoops. But my new favourite, is a game called Pearl Fishery! Ooohhh, it had me hooked for ages, to the point where James had to drag me away!

Here's proof that I do (occasionally) beat James!

We then had a lovely wander across the sandy beach, looking out to sea and the harbour. At the top left, you can just make out the keep of the castle watching over us.

I had my army boots on, so I could still go for a little paddle! The water was far too cold to be actually going in!

And finally, I have to give this structure a shout out. I'm not sure what it is, it looks like a mock tudor miniature lighthouse, but I'm not sure. Any natives care to explain it's history? It just looks like a really fascinating and interesting building.

Anyway, we headed past to the car park, and headed back to where we were staying, we made ourselves some dinner, and sat and chilled in the hot tub until the rail became too heavy to bear anymore!