Greetings! This is my fourth and final blog entry on my summer trip 2020, travelling in the of England from Newcastle to Hull. I had so far visited some really quite amazing and special places, and on the second Saturday of my trip, I was once more heading with my backpack, and sword in hand, to explore another undiscovered part of this country for me – the northern city of or simply just Hull.
I had really enjoyed my time in the North York Moors National Park, particularly having chosen a lovely farmhouse BnB to base myself in. On the Saturday morning, I caught the country bus number 95 once more in Glaisdale village, back into Whitby again. I wasnt there long, as Id joined quite a long queue at the bus station for the X93 bus to Scarborough. It seemed that the previous bus had been full, and a few people were wondering, including myself, whether wed be able to get on the next one. When it it was fortunately a and we all managed to get on board, which was a relief. The bus to Scarborough passed through Robin
Hoods Bay once more, where I had visited two days before, and then continued its onwards journey through the moors and country lanes. The journey was lovely, although there was really quite a loud lady, seemingly a few pence short of a pound, who spoke at the top of her voice to an equally loud gentleman sat next to her, also seemingly a few pence short of a pound. The conversation was clearly noticed by all passengers on the top deck as we made quiet eye contact with each other and chuckled, as their conversation was really quite amusing. She took around ten minutes to explain, for example, how she had gone for a cup of tea with a friend who had called across to her from over the road, and then on her way home was not sure if shed make it in time before an accident was to happen, as she was busting to go to the loo. This was at the top of her voice.
The loud people got off just before we entered Scarborough, and we all had a little chuckle to ourselves. Not long after, I got off just outside Scarborough train station, where
it seemed I had a wonderful three hours to spend in town before my next train was due to take me to Hull. This would be wonderful, as long as I could find some place to stow my backpack and my sword, and unlike Middlesbrough, I was actually able to find a hotel just across from the train station which looked after my luggage for a fiver. Brilliant! I was free to explore!
Scarborough is another very popular northern seaside resort, and along with the likes of Blackpool, Skegness, Cleethorpes and Bridlington, makes up one of the northerners favourite summer beach getaways, particularly popular I think this year due to the number of staycationers. It is a town of around 60,000 people, and I found that along with Newcastle Castle and Glaisdale Dale earlier on in my trip, the municipality in which the town is located also has rather a repetitive ring to it – Scarborough Borough. As well as being a popular seaside resort, Scarborough is also known as having been the location of a renowned annual medieval fair, beginning in the 13th century, and lasting up until the 18th century. The fair was visited by tradesmen from
all over England, as well as nearby Scandinavia, the Baltic states and the Byzantine Empire. Throughout my visit to the town, the haunting medieval melody Are you going to Scarborough fair? was singing in my head in the background. I had previously been to Scarborough during a school Geography field trip way back in my teens, and was actually looking forward to seeing the place now as an adult. What struck me was its dramatic headland topped by a 12th century castle, and the two bays, North and South Bay, to either side of it. I was looking forward to exploring further.
As with Whitby, the town was busy with British tourists, but due to its much more expansive size, it did not feel overrun or cramped.
