Lee Marton
Lee Marton is a full-time coxswain at Scarborough Lifeboat Station as well as an avid surfer. He was born and bred in the town and has lived away from Yorkshire for just seven years when he joined the Royal Marines aged 16.
What’s your first Yorkshire memory? My first Yorkshire memory must be watching my dad play cricket in the Beckett League twice a week through the summer. Teams were all from the East Yorkshire area, as far west as Beadlam, Grosmont and the lovely Langdale End on the fringes of Dalby Forest. My brother and I ended up playing cricket with my dad, so it was a family affair.
What’s your favourite part of the county – and why? The east coast is stunning, especially when seen from the sea. As an avid sailor, surfer and Scarborough’s lifeboat coxswain, a lot of my time is at sea looking back at the Yorkshire coastline. The coast at Robin Hood’s Bay is stunning with the North Yorkshire moors seemingly cascading almost down to the water’s edge. And there are opportunities for fossil hunting too along the coast running north from Scarborough.
What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire? It’s got to be up very early and head to the sea for a surf with my mates. If you leave the beaten track, you can avoid the crowds and find lots of world-class surf spots as well as all the easily accessible ones, such as Cayton Bay and Scarborough’s North Bay and
South Bay. After a hearty breakfast at the Watermark Café, on Scarborough’s Royal Albert Drive, I then like to load the mountain bikes into the van and head up to Dalby Forest, which is only about a 15-minute drive from the coast. You can do all this in a day and that’s why Yorkshire is a great place to live.
Do you have a favourite walk – or view? I have walked the Yorkshire Three Peaks numerous times. The views from all three peaks are amazing, especially from Whernside looking down towards the Ribblehead Viaduct and the Station Inn (which does delicious food).
Which Yorkshire sportsperson, past or present, would you like to take for lunch? I’d take two. Alistair and Jonny Brownlee. What they have achieved in the sport of triathlon is amazing and at such a young age, too. The sport doesn’t get much coverage on TV but most people in Yorkshire know about these two brothers.
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, past or present, would you like to take for dinner? Sir Michael Palin. With his comedy background in Monty Python and his world travelling,
I’m sure he would be very entertaining. My favourite film of all time is Life of Brian and the sketch with Michael as the Roman governor addressing the crowd is brilliant. I would love to ask him how many takes it took.
If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be? It would have to be Hayburn Wyke on the coast just north of Scarborough. It has a lovely bay where we used to go when we were kids and cook sausages and beans on an open fire using driftwood we had collected. There’s a waterfall that comes down the cliffs onto the rocks on the beach and, to top it off, a great pub – the Hayburn Wyke Inn – is only a short walk away.
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity? I think it’s the people. We’re a friendly bunch who would help anyone out with anything, although sometimes we can be a bit too honest.
Do you follow sport in the county, and if so, what? I follow motorbike racing at Oliver’s Mount, at Scarborough. We’re so lucky to still have road racing with the health and safety culture that we live with today – it’s Yorkshire’s very own TT.