Trip 15: Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough.
Our trip to
Scarborough was fairly straight forward although the road works on the A1 still added 25 minutes onto the journey. The one thing I was worried about was the final part of the trip up onto Oliver’s Mount.
The route uses part of the Oliver’s Mount motor racing circuit / hill climb and in places it looked fairly narrow on Google Earth. However we did not meet any vehicles coming in the opposite direction which was lucky because the gradient is steep and it was 2nd gear for most of the climb.
Once at the top we found the entrance to the sports ground and met the stewards. We could park anywhere in the 6 acre field so there were no marked pitches. We filled up the water and chose a levelish spot to set up camp. The view inland showed the hills in the distance a great overall landscape. It gave an indication of how high we are.
After lunch and getting everything sorted we walked to the Oliver’s Mount memorial and the viewing spot which overlooks Scarborough and the harbour. We found Oliver’s Cafe but we gave it a miss today but we will call back during our stay.
Tonight we are having lamb steaks in a parcel with kebab skewers. On the side are new potatoes from the garden, who needs MacDonalds!
Day 2:
Our main goal today was to walk to the coast. I chose a path from the Mount down through a wood to a road. The only issue was that the path had not been maintained and the steps had disappeared into the hillside but we made it down and then followed roads through housing estates to the cliffs.
We followed a steep track down to the sea front and from here walked along the coast towards the town. We stopped at the Spa where there was an orchestra playing to an audience. The Spa is a fantastic Victorian type building on the sea front. We climbed steps upto the first floor balcony and walked back towards the orchestra. We stopped and listened for a while before heading up the cliff face via a real pathway.
Once at the top by the cliff railway we headed towards the Italian garden, passing the Rose garden and the Hive, which is a centre for the volunteer gardeners , community helpers and the council to focus on the gardens and facilities with workshops and storage room.
We admired the Italian garden and as we left up one of the paths a squirrel crossed in front of me and went into the shrubs. I told Sue there was a tree rat by that bush and she asked where, so I pointed to the squirrel and with that it came running towards Sue, who hid behind me . The squirrel came out onto the path and headed for my feet and then looked up at me and begged like a meerkat for food. It was so tame it must be fed regularly, it certainly looked well fed.
We found a seat, of which there is an abundance, to sit in the Prince of Wales Garden to eat our lunch. We then planned a new route to walk back up to Olivers Mount. It turned out to be the proposed route for the campers with SYDA (South Yorkshire District Association (C&CC))signs showing the way. We will probably leave the campsite using that route to avoid the tight hairpins of the racing circuit.
Scarborough is far bigger than we thought and I doubt if we will get to the North Shore and a pub that Sue’s sister has told us about because it is over 4 miles from where we are camping, although todays round trip was just over 6 miles.
Tea tonight is Sea Bass 🐟 and Prawns 🦐 with Bread 🥖
Day 3:
Today we walked into Scarborough, the first stop was finding an ATM machine and then a toothbrush. The ATM was at Tesco and the toothbrush was from Pound Stretcher across the the road from Tesco. the only issue was that they only had Pink, that will teach me not to pack my own toothbrush.
We passed the Grand Hotel which has 365 rooms, one for each day of the year, 12 floors,one for each month and it also had a railway in the basement as part of the laundry.
We then headed to the south shore promenade where all the amusements are. We passed them and headed to the harbour. We walked around the harbour walls and read all about the local history before heading back along the prom looking for a fish & chip shop for lunch. We found Winking Willy’s fish shop and we ordered our sausage and chips, which we ate overlooking the harbour.
We headed home , tackling the steep hills to the Oliver’s Mount racing circuit. I decided we should follow a near vertical path upto the track and the Oliver’s Cafe. We made it but it was not without pain. We headed for the cafe for a beer but it was packed to over flowing so we walked on to our motorhome.
We spent the afternoon in the sun reading before I got the bbq out for kebabs, steak and burgers. We have had a great day looking around Scarborough. So much so the I have booked tickets for Scarborough castle tomorrow.
Day 4:
Our goal today was to go to Scarborough Castle. I booked the tickets online last night with 10% discount. It must be the best value trip at £13.60 for 2 older people.
The castle itself is run by National Heritage. On the site is the main tower and the fortified walls although because it is on a cliff there is no need for walls on all sides. There is a Gun Masters house where powder and ammunition was stored. The site was also used by the Romans to site a light beacon.
After touring the castle and the grounds we headed towards Peasholm Park and the Japanese garden. On the way we walked through a another less well used part of Scarborough until we came across Scarborough Cricket club. Luckily the gates were open so we could walk in and see the pitch and stands. We learnt later that W G Grace had played there along with the likes of Ian Botham & Phil Tufnell.
A little further on we came to the park which was once a marshland and piggery. A William Smith changed it into a park with a Japanese feel complete with a boating lake . Today you can hire a pedal boat in the shape of a dragon and enjoy sailing around the island which is complete with waterfalls and Pergola.
We headed for the sea front to find somewhere to eat our sandwiches. I suggested we follow the coast road back to the south shore.
We came across a sculpture that just had to be photographed
Along the whole route were plaques every 50m that told a story of things that Scarborough was famous for or involved with. An example was that in 1915 during the First World War Two German battleships fired over 300 shells at Scarborough, killing several citizens and causing a great deal of damage to the town.
As we neared the south shore we passed a couple of men with binoculars and we overheard them talk about a pod of dolphins in the bay. We joined in and sure enough we saw several dolphins breaking the surface. I counted 6 at one time and Sue managed to capture two on video on her phone. I failed to get a picture.
We left the sea wall and found a upstairs bar which was part of Camden Town Brewery so we got a drink and sat outside on a balcony watching the world walk by, before walking back to the motorhome.
We had been out for 5.5 hours and we had walked 10.4 miles according to my watch.
Day 5:
We had decided to spend today around the motorhome. Everything was wet from yesterday’s rain so we could not pack away until it all dried off.
Luckily the weather forecast was right and the sun was out all day. By the afternoon the windbreak and Quest room had dried. We sat out in the sun and read, Sue did some sewing. A good relaxing day to finish off our trip to Scarborough.
We need to come back next year because there are still things see and do.
Iona’s Travels 