Street scenes
At the meeting of the St Andrew’s Wednesday Afternoon Fellowship on January 25, members were taken on ‘A Walk Down the Main Street’ by Christine Hepworth of the Scarborough and District Civic Society.
Using slides of photographs taken in the 1960s along with current photographs, we were able to compare the street scenes with what we see every time we go into the town centre.
Beginning at the crossroads by the Odeon cinema (now the Stephen Joseph Theatre), we could contrast the roundabout and obelisk then in place with the traffic lights of today. We were also encouraged to ‘look up’ and see the architecture around us. The former YMCA building with its Dutch gables, built in 1896, whose architect was of the well-known Petch family.
Past the Co-operative Society’s Unity House, originally the Liberal Club, erected in 1894 and opened by Lord Roseberry.
On the opposite side of the road, a little lower down, the Brunswick Pavilion now stands where Rowntree’s iconic store used to be. The former building was in the French Renaissance style, built in 1882. Its modern replacement features shops which can be found everywhere, the uniqueness is now lost.
Back across the road is the Yorkshire Building Society. The buildings behind are worth a second look. At the bottom of Albemarle Crescent is the former Martin’s Bank building, dating from 1937, now law offices.
We passed Georgian-style buildings and what remains of the former Tonks department store - twisted barleysugar ‘pillars’ on an upper story - and just round the corner in Aberdeen Walk, what is left of St George’s Hall. On the site of the Bar Congregational Church is its bland 1970s replacement.
We continued past the former Rowntree’s café on the right, where the half-moon shaped window can still be seen.
However, in marking these changes, Christine also made us aware of the gems we miss by not taking time to look at the beauty of the buildings themselves, the variety of the architectural styles, which - covering many years and using the skills of several different architects - give us a diverse and interesting journey ‘down memory lane’.
On the corner of Huntriss Row, is one of the town’s finest buildings, now the National Westminster Bank, built in terracotta brick, with decorative mouldings and an oriel window on the corner. It is almost unique in that it is totally unaltered on the outside, built to the design of Hall & Tugwell in 1885.
Lower down is Marks and Spencer, which almost looks like the work of two different architects, but somehow they blend. We must not forget the Blue Plaque marking the birthplace of the locally born Edward Harland, co-founder of Harland & Wolff shipbuilders. Down to Barclay’s Bank, originally Woodall’s Bank, where we pause to look at the opposite side of the main street to what used to be Medley & Drawbridge’s offices - or at what some people still call ‘Boot’s Corner’ - now Lloyds Bank.
We progressed towards the foreshore, looking with fresh eyes at the wealth of ignored built-heritage this town has to offer. Sadly, some upper storeys seemed empty, or to only be used for storage. Where owners have smartened up their premises, they delight the eye.
Merchants’ Row has some of the oldest houses in the town, dating from the early 1800s, their bow windows facing the sea. The double porch on 37 and 39 Eastborough is very rare. Palace Hill, with 21 steps up to its seven houses stands above the bottom end of Eastborough, next to the boarded up former Eastborough Congregational Church [opened 1868, closed 1925].
The journey ends at the 1950s Harbour Bar, but Scarborough’s built heritage continues - go right towards the Grand Hotel, or left towards the Toll House, but do not forget to ‘look up’ and see what previous generations have left us.
The next meeting of the fellowship is on February 8, when Many Lees, North Yorkshire County Council road safety officer, will give a presentation entitled ‘Initiatives for the Older Driver’. It starts at 2pm and will be held in the church hall. A £2 admission fee is charged, includes tea, coffee and biscuits after the presentation. Entry to the venue is by the Albion Crescent door. Further information from Mrs P McNaughton on 01723 369070.