Hairy Bob and the tank – old photo sparks fresh discussion
A PHOTOGRAPH of a First World War tank in Scarborough also features what is believed to be the earliest image of one of the town’s most unusual landmarks.
The picture was put up on Twitter by Scarborough Museums Trust Collections manager Jim Middleton, who is sharing photographs from the Trust’s collection.
He puts up different photos every day and it was while sharing a string of historic photos on the theme of war and defence, that local musician Anthony Springall contacted the Trust to point out a photo of the tank also showed Hairy Bob’s Cave.
The cave is a huge boulder, carved with a door and windows which stands on the town’s Marine Drive. The mysterious landmark is thought to have been built in the early 1900s by men building Marine Drive. The photograph is thought to be the earliest in existence showing the feature. Mr
Middleton said: “No-one is really sure who created Hairy Bob’s Cave, or why. The most plausible story is that it was made by the men who built the Marine Drive in the early 1900s; its location is exactly where the goods yard for the build was. We’d love to hear from anyone who thinks they might have an earlier image of it. The tank is also interesting – it was presented to Scarborough on 18 July 1919 by The Mayor and Mayoress of York on behalf of the Treasury as a token of thanks for all the money raised by the town during the war.”
He added: “According to a contemporary article in The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer ‘by three special efforts Scarborough had raised over £300,000, and had invested war loan and bonds well over a million pounds’, which was an enormous amount at the time.”