Scarborough (1 of 2)

 

It was just a short hop down the coast from Whitby to Scarborough, but all I could think of was the Simon and Garfunkel song from the 1960s, one of the first that I learned to play confidently and well on the guitar as a high schooler. As we came around the headland we were greeted by the local "pirate ship" as an escort. I saw the contours of a great natural harbour and a hill that would be a great location for a castle. Yikes, I thought to myself, to be honest I’m even beginning to **think** like a medieval in assessing the defensibility of the town! As we pulled in to our assigned position on the wall I saw lots of tourism and foot traffic (and several beckoning pubs). Captain did the most remarkable job of docking in an incredibly tight space that I’ve ever seen. Seafood festival was scheduled for the weekend and (finally) a decent weather forecast. Ready, set, GO! 

The local "pirate ship" came out to greet us; tiny by comparison to our ship.

One of the rare times we needed a push boat to get into our assigned location because it was so tight, and a couple of local boats came to assist.

Quite a crowd greeted us on the dock

Next morning we had breakfast at a small cafe across the harbour; looking back at our ship. While sitting there incognito (as in, we weren't wearing our crew t-shirts because it was our day off) we overheard the harbourmaster, who was having breakfast at a nearby table talking to his table mate about the way in which our ship had come in.

Several pubs right across the street from us (and we visited most of them!)

As it turned out, the hill that I thought could be a good location for a castle? There **was** a castle there -- or more properly, the ruins of one. So while initially I thought I was vindicated in my understanding of how medievals thought about defense, it urns out I was off by a couple of thousand years! This location has been inhabited since the Bronze Age; 3000 years. It was a signal station during Roman times in addition to the castle ruins that date from the 1100s. Cool stuff!

We hiked up to the historic site; here's the view back down to the town and harbour.

Scarborough Castle was probably my favourite one that we'd seen so far. I couldn't quite describe why; it was no grander than other ruins, and we'd visited several that were either preserved or reconstructed inside to give us a better understanding of what it might have been like. Maybe I'd done enough traveling around England by this point that I could really understand the building in context. But I credit also the excellent audio tour provided here, telling the history of battles and everyday life in the castle from the viewpoint of various soldiers, kings, and villagers. So also a great motivation for our living history work on board the ship. 

Part of the hike up the hill to the castle gave us this lovely overview of the beach on the other side of the headland.

The (modern) gate to the castle area heritage site.

Memories of our too-brief visit to Scotland; thistle!

One of the "perks" of traveling this way: when we visit as tall ship crew, we get a very different experience than if we were simply "retired couple touring in a rented mini-van." In this case the park staffer gave us a discount on the entry fee and added the audiotour for free. And since I normally prefer to learn by reading instead of listening, I wouldn't normally have purchased the audio. Now I realize what an opportunity for understanding I would have missed!

Afterwards, we stopped at a local pub recommended by one of our visitors, called "The Merchant" Irish pub. Three people were standing at the bar, looking at the “upcoming live entertainment” schedule posted by the door. One of them pointed and commented something like, “Lookit that!” or “That’s gonna be amazing,” at the exact second we walked in the door. So it seemed they were pointing and saying that about us (in our El Galeon jackets). So I did a ridiculous “who, me?” pose, like "yes, I agree I'm amazing." They all burst out laughing. We burst out laughing. The bartender burst out laughing. It was clearly going to be one of those nights.