Scarborough is such a huge part of my life, and coming back here is always a strange and slightly unsettling experience. I lived here from 1993 until the end of 2001, when I left to live in Australia, and those years were absolutely brilliant.
In 1992 my friend Bruce and I started out jet ski hire business here in North Bay, after our pub-based decision several months earlier (click here for more background info). That first summer we lived just out of town in a quiet residential street, and caused a few raised eyebrows with our vehicles and jet skis. The next year we came back, and made the move to town permanently. For five years we ran our hire business on the beach, and opened a seafront shop too. It was here that I met the girl that was eventually to become my wife, and it was here that we made our plans for a future together on the far side of the world.
So while I love coming back here to visit everyone, I find that the visit is always tinged with a bit of sadness at a wonderful past that is now gone. I know that you can’t live your life looking over your shoulder, and I certainly am enjoying the present too, but there is always that slight bitter sweetness to my return visits.
Scarborough is a beautiful town. The pictures below show North Bay, where we used to hire our jet skis, and the view of the whole town as seen from Oliver’s Mount:
Scarborough is on the north-east coast of England, and has two bays, separated by a spectacular headland with an 11th Century castle perched on top. South Bay is the busier, more commercial bay near to the town centre, filled with hotels, pubs, bed and breakfast places, amusement arcades and shops selling all sorts of seaside tat.
Around the headland, North Bay is quieter and less developed, and the wide sweeping bay was a great place to spend summer on the water.
The town is steeped in history, and was one of England’s first holiday resorts, becoming popular as a spa town in Victorian days. You can read more about Scarborough at Wikipedia if you are interested:
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
One of my favourite websites about Scarborough is VirtualScarborough.co.uk, which has some great 360 degree panoramas. Take a look at the town photo tour here, by clicking on the link below. You can click on the panorama to stop it revolving, and click on any of the orange dots in the picture to see the view from that point.
