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CIVIC NEWS

Scarborough & District Civic Society

May 2013

Welcome to Yorkshire have been instrumental in

bringing the Tour de France to our county next

year, they have a garden at the Chelsea Flower

Show and have received international recognition

for their work. This recognition eventually

extended to Somerset where Gary was asked to

comment on a new slogan they had thought up to

promote their county. Somerset people were fed

up of people passing through Somerset on their

way to Devon and Cornwall. Their campaign

featured an image of a ruddy faced farmer sitting

outside a picturesque thatched cottage, drinking a

pint of best Somerset cider. The suggested slogan

was, ‘Don’t pass through Somerset, let Somerset

pass through you’.

On Civic Societies, Gary Verity saw us as the

Jiminy Crickets of the region; we should, like

Pinocchio’s partner, ‘be the conscience that should

always be our guide’.

In his spare time Gary Verity is an award winning

Dales sheep farmer and lives on a working farm in

Coverdale. Since his late wife Helen was

diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2004 he has

raised more than £500,000 for cancer charities in

Yorkshire; for this work he was awarded the title

of Yorkshireman of the Year in 2012.

Civic Society with Civic Voice

All Scarborough Civic Society members are

members of Civic Voice which is offering our

members free admission to English Heritage

and National Trust properties.

If you would like obtain your free passes please either email [email protected]

or phone 01723 379912.

We can issue a Single Admission Pass per member

and the pass is subject to certain conditions

YHACS WELCOMES GARY VERITY

By Peter Cooper

Gary Verity, the Chief Executive of Welcome to

Yorkshire, was the guest speaker at the latest

meeting of the Yorkshire and Humber Association

of Civic Societies (YHACS), held in York’s splendid

Guildhall on 20th April.

In an inspirational and amusing speech, Gary

Verity demonstrated his passion for his home

county by explaining what Welcome to Yorkshire

does and why people should come to Yorkshire.

They must be getting something right; in two

years the value of Yorkshire’s tourism economy

has risen from £5.9bn to £7bn. (Of interest is that

£2.1bn of visitor expenditure is generated

annually by heritage tourism in the region.) The

county's tourism industry employs almost a

quarter of a million people with 216 million visits

to Yorkshire each year.

He explained that Welcome to Yorkshire receives

no government funding but uses its influence to

promote the county nationally and internationally.

Yorkshire’s population is the same as Scotland

(about 5.5 million) and much larger than Wales or

Northern Ireland, all of which have government

funded tourist boards.

ENGLISH HERITAGE

2


Secretary’s Report By Adrian Perry

A new time-piece has appeared

on the Central Tramway. As a

part of general refurbishment

works a cupola, (which includes clocks) has been

installed on the top station building by replacing a

redundant flue tower. I think it looks really

splendid and is a useful addition to the street

scene. (Photo page 8).

It’s always good to read in The Scarborough News

that a new attraction is planned for the town but

not so exciting when you realise that the

Waterpark was approved last August and nothing

has yet happened. In the latest article about the

Waterpark new dates are mentioned but when

you read on it is clear that there is still some legal

agreement to be discussed. Cllr Fox is quoted as

saying “We are going through a legal process

which should then allow an agreement to be put

before full council on May 13” Why do we always

have to have complex arrangements? The last

time there were such discussions our councillors

were ‘forced’ to sell the freehold for the Sands

development. What trap are we heading towards

this time round? Perhaps I shouldn’t be so cynical

and we really are seeing the much awaited

scheme move towards completion. Let’s hope so

because we really need an all-weather attraction

in Scarborough.

The Londesborough Lodge saga continues; it now

seems that we cannot find a buyer for the

property without including part of Valley Gardens

in the sale. The council issued a legal notice

advising the public to contact them if they had

any comment about the sale of this part of our

park, so on behalf of the Civic Society I wrote

objecting to the sale of this public open space and

received no reply. This is another case of

Scarborough sleep walking into an impossible

situation. If we planned to sell Londesborough

Lodge we should have been aware that the lack of

land around the property would be a major

stumbling block. Perhaps the real reason why a

buyer cannot be found is the condition of the

building! We suggested a long time ago that we

should have temporary residents in the building to

guard against its decline. We even provided

details to SBC of “Property Guardians” an

organisation specialising in the protection of

empty buildings but SBC preferred to leave the

building empty.

The Manor Road Nurseries Task Group reported to

SBC’s Resources Scrutiny Committee and

recommended the following along with many

other excellent ideas:

That the Nursery and in-house service be retained

and be responsible for all of the Council’s needs

for plants, shrubs and trees including the ongoing

maintenance of the Borough’s heritage plants

That the Parks Service be encouraged to embrace

new ways of working and that these be subject to

monitoring by the “new ways of working” group

and ongoing review by Scrutiny

This report was unanimously approved and should

have gone to Cabinet on April 23rd and then on to

full council for their approval. However Cllr. Fox

made a statement at the Cabinet meeting stating

that many issues had not been fully explored and

so another team of councillors would be looking at

the operation with a broader scope. The future of

Manor Road Nurseries is still in the balance.

At our Annual General Meeting a number of

members’ concerns were raised:

1. The Rock Armour planned for the beach in

front of the Spa Complex

2. Street Clutter

3. Traffic gridlock in Scarborough

These are not easy topics but they will be

reviewed by your executive committee and we

welcome such input so that we can try to address

such issues.

Andrea Smith and Chris Perry have resigned from

the Executive Committee and were thanked for

their valuable contribution.

Planning Report Spring 2013

By Chris Perry

Update of previous report:

Bramcote Pavilion (at the corner of Belvedere

Road and Holbeck Hill) the applications for

Conservation Area consent to demolish the

pavilion 11/02355/CA and to build four flats on

the site 11/02248/FL have been withdrawn.

Construction of one 3 bedroomed house at 10

Weaponness Park 12/01028/FL. The society has

objected strongly to this garden-grabbing proposal

in the Weaponness Conservation Area.

Application refused.

Proposed extra care facility of 60 flats and

communal facilities at Middle Deepdale 12/02023/

FL for Sanctuary Housing. The Society has made

negative comments about the 3 storey height of

these elderly persons flats, their institutional

design and the impact on neighbouring single and

two storey properties. Application permitted.

Proposal to site one 77.9 metre (tip height) wind

turbine at Willerby Wold Pig Farm, Old Malton

Road, Staxton 12/01026/FUL. This application

refers to land in Ryedale District Council area.

The Society has objected. Application refused.

Proposal to install curfew gates at The Bolts

between 78 Eastborough and The Golden Grid,

Sandside 12/02476/FL. The Society has made

negative comments about this application, which

has now been withdrawn.

3

Heritage

A Piece of History in Scarborough

A section of William Holman Hunt's painting of London Bridge shows one of the 100 incense burners filled by Perfumer Eugene Rimmel that lined the bridge to disguise the less than fragrant

aroma of the Thames on the evening of 10 March 1863, when Prince Edward (1901 became King Edward VII) married Princess Alexandra of

Denmark. Eugene Rimmel's perfume was a novelty in public festivals, having usually been used to purify and perfume the air in ball rooms,

theatres, Windsor Castle etc. On this special occasion Rimmel's perfumed oils were burnt in tripods and lasted for three or four hours through wind and rain. The streams of incense floated

through the air, pleasing and quietening the eagerness of the jostling crowd and calming their soaring spirits.

William Holman Hunt's wonderful painting was shown to members of Scarborough Decorative and Fine Arts Society by speaker, William

Forrester of Guildford, who gave a talk on Victorian London and informed the members that he believed none of the burners was known to have survived. The President Laila Bradley

remembered seeing one of the burners as a centrepiece in Scarborough's Valley Gardens Lily Pond, where it had been for over 100 years. John

Sharpin, the first lessee of the Crown Hotel between 1844 and 1857 and twice Mayor of Scarborough, purchased the burner on one of his

trips to London and presented it to the town to mark his mayoralty in 1873.

Laila Bradley and the Scarborough DFAS Committee enthusiastically tracked down the

missing burner in Scarborough Borough Council's storage area, where it had been since 1984, in a state of disrepair. For their Millennium Project the

Committee began fundraising to pay for the burner's restoration. Conservator Alison Walster from Sheffield spent over a month working on

the burner to return it to its former glory in the year 2000. Alison's research revealed that the burners were made by William Addis,

Ironmongers of Leicester Square.

When the 19th century perfume burner, with its 5 ft iron bowl on an ornate tripod, was finally beautifully restored it took pride of place in The

Crown Hotel's reception area for many years. The perfume burner is now beautifully displayed in an ideal alcove in Scarborough Town Hall reception

area. Photographs of the Holman Hunt painting and the restored Burner appear on page 5, one of our colour pages.

For details of YHACS Publications go to the

download page on our website:

www.scarboroughcivicsociety.org.uk

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF THE

NEWSLETTER FOR A FRIEND PLEASE ASK AT ANY

MEETING AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO JOIN THE

CIVIC SOCIETY

THE SITWELL LIBRARY

By Chris Perry

This specialised library is found in Woodend

Creative Workspace, located in The Crescent,

Scarborough.

Wood End was built as a private house in 1835. It

was purchased in 1870 by Lady Louisa Sitwell,

who lived there with her children, George and

Florence. Lady Louisa was a young widow; her

son, George, had succeeded to his father’s

baronetcy at the age of two. Lady Louisa

extended Wood End by adding a spacious double-

height conservatory.

In 1882 Sir George Sitwell (1860 – 1943) further

extended Wood End by building the library wing

beyond the conservatory. The library is

Elizabethan in style and the ceiling is a copy of

that in the library at Renishaw Hall, the ancestral

home of the Sitwells in Derbyshire. In 1886 Sir

George married Lady Ida Denison whose parents

owned Londesborough Lodge, also located on The

Crescent. Sir George and Lady Ida had three

children, Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell, who all

became writers. Their eldest son, Osbert, wrote

in “Four Continents” a striking comment about his

father’s Gothic Library at the Sitwell castle in

Tuscany: “It was, of course, a library without

books – I say, of course, for it could always be

noticed that, though he loved books and lived

surrounded by them, none the less in any room

which he called a library no single volume was

ever to be found. At Scarborough, similarly, his

library had been bookless, though each of his

several sitting-rooms had books piled up all over

the floor.”

The library at Wood End is reputed to have been

used to display porcelain during Sir George’s

residence there. The Sitwells sold Wood End to

Scarborough Corporation in 1934. The house was

remodelled in 1951 to become a Natural History

Museum.

When the Museum closed in 2006 Wood End was

reborn as Woodend Creative Workspace.

Within the building, the Sitwell Library is now used

as a meeting-room. The bookshelves, which

supposedly once held porcelain, hold a

considerable collection of Sitwell-related books.

Many of the books are written by the Sitwells; the

remainder are books about the Sitwells or closely-

related topics. The provenance of these books is

varied; some were donated by Osbert Sitwell,

some were purchased by Scarborough Council.

The Sitwell Library is neither a lending library nor

a reference library. The public can view the room

whenever it is not in use. (continued on Page 5)

4

Scarborough and District Civic Society

Mark Senior (1862 – 1927) a Yorkshire Artist

Andrew Clay the Director of Woodend Creative was the guest speaker at the

members Annual Lunch at the Park Manor Hotel on the 12th February. His

presentation featured an insight into the life and career of his great great grandfather

the well known Yorkshire artist Mark Senior and through his family connections

Andrew was well placed to entertain us with informed stories of his illustrious

ancestor.

Mark Senior is often referred to as a post – impressionist artist who was born in

Hanging Heaton near Batley in 1862, he lived for most of his life in Ossett having

moved there in 1892, the same year that his picture “Eventide” was exhibited at the

R o y a l

Academy.

T h i s

p a i n t i n g

w h i c h

depicted an elderly couple

sitting by a fire in a candle lit

room was the first he had

accepted by the Academy and

from this date onwards he

exhibited regularly until 1924.

The Yorkshire connection and

perhaps the more particular

connection with the Yorkshire

coast was emphasised by his

vividly coloured views of

Runswick Bay, by the 1890’s

he had established a routine

whereby around Easter the

whole family would pack and

remove itself from the West

Riding to the North Yorkshire

coast until October. They

initially rented a small cottage at Runswick Bay but later in 1919 Senior built a larger cottage called

“Hillside” His children would go to local schools until the family’s return to Ossett and in the winter he

would occasionally return to Runswick Bay to paint winter landscapes. With the coming of the railway the

area around Staithes became a magnet for artists like Mark Senior and the unique beauty of the area

attracted numerous artists who

became known as the Staithes

Group of artists.

Whilst Senior is well known for

painting dramatic and wonderful

views of the coastal scenery he also

included local Runswick Bay people

in many scenes. They were happy

to sit for a farthing an hour to eke

out a meagre income, the same

people can be clearly picked out in

several of his paintings.

Mark Senior died at his house

“Hillside” in Runswick Bay on New

Year’s Day, 1927 at the age of sixty

four and was buried at St. Hilda’s

Parish Church, Hinderwell.

Several of his paintings can be seen

at Leeds City Art Gallery, The

Hepworth Wakefield and more

locally at the Pannett Gallery

Whitby.

Jackie Roberts

“Eventide” by Mark Senior exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1892.

“Away to the Sea” by Mark Senior exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1911

5


Picture and Oil Burner referred to on page 3

(The Sitwell Library -

from page 3)

Wood End is listed

Grade II*.

The Sitwell Society is

based at Wood End and

organises occasional

events in the Sitwell

Library. The website is:

www.sitwellsociety.com

or write to Karen

Snowden at Woodend

Creative Workspace, The

Crescent, Scarborough

YO11 2PW.

Sources: “Streets of

Scarborough” published

by Scarborough &

District Civic Society

and “The Scarborough

Heritage Trail” part 2

p u b l i s h e d b y

Scarborough Borough

Council and Scarborough

& District Civic Society.

WILLIAM SITWELL

AND

THE SITWELL LIBRARY AT WOODEND

Remediation of the Drinking Trough

Michael Wainwright

Progress Report

The trough has been emptied of standing water.

The granite has been pressure jetted clean.

The joint cleaning and sealing will be the next job.

Quotations are being sought for the stainless steel

plates and the engraving.

All work is planned to be complete by the end of

May.

6


Executive Committee

If you think you might be interested in joining

the Committee do come along and see how we

work. All members are welcome to attend the

meetings, but please contact the Secretary first,

to help us know how many may be there. We

meet at the Red Lea Hotel, on the evening of the

second Wednesday in each month.

Conservation Officer Retires:

An appreciation of Chris Hall

by Adrian Perry

When I became Chairman of the Civic Society I

was told that Chris Hall is the man to ask about

Scarborough heritage matters. I only now realise

what good advice that was. Working with Chris

on Heritage Open Days also made me aware that

Chris liked a bit of fun which often takes the

form of dressing up! At the castle he was King

Henry the second and lately he was William

“Strata” Smith at the Rotunda.

Chris has helped the Civic Society with many

projects and as the representative of

Scarborough Borough Council has helped at

unveiling ceremonies over the years. One year

he appeared in our Newsletter at four events.

Chris had a very difficult job trying to ensure that

Scarborough heritage was conserved but he

managed to steer a steady course which has

earned him the respect of people who come into

contact with him and Scarborough is all the

better for having had such a person at the helm.

Much of what he did was behind the scenes and

unsung. Peter Cooper remembers attending an

English Heritage event where Chris gave a

presentation. It concerned matters in

Scarborough and his love of the town's heritage

and history shone through 'because we have the

real thing'.

Scarborough Civic Society is very glad that the

town had an officer who took a common sense

and practical view on conservation matters, we

know that not all civic societies have this sort of

help and support.

Chris will be missed but I’m pleased to say that

Derek Green has been appointed as the new

Conservation Officer for Scarborough and his

experience as a planner here in Scarborough will

stand him in good stead.

Sea Defences Talk It was quite a squeeze to get everyone into the

small lecture room at the

Library on Tuesday 8

January for the talk by

Freddie Drabble. He is a

well-known figure in

Scarborough, having been

a part of the Sons of

Neptune Group since its

earliest days 26 years ago.

He has lived and worked in

the town for a long time

and has a tremendous love

of the town and its

heritage. His particular

concerns were with regard to the plans for coastal

defences in the area of the Spa and the possible

destruction of Children’s Corner. This has long

been a favourite place enjoyed by summer visitors

and Scarborough people too. He was also greatly

concerned by the visual impact on the Grade II*

listed Spa buildings. He expressed the opinion

that some upgrading of the wall and maintenance

of the existing sea wall was all that was required.

He felt that not enough was being done to

preserve the coastal scenery and historic features

of the area.

Freddie Drabble was at great pains to state that

unless representation was made to the

Environment Agency and other national bodies the

situation would be considered acceptable to the

town and the impact on the area would be

devastating.

He quoted Whitby as a good example of what was

possible saying that ‘Whitby has been careful to

nurture its own heritage and is reaping the

economic benefits.’

Christine Hepworth

Next year, 2014, marks the 50th

Anniversary of the founding of the Civic

Society. It was formed at a meeting in the

Library on 24th February 1964.

The Executive Committee will welcome all ideas

for a suitable means of commemorating this

event, and if you have any suggestions you will

be made welcome at the Committee to help put

them into practice. It is your Society, and this is

something to celebrate - come and help us!

Explaining the Model of Medieval Scarborough. Chris helped with the research which made the model so

authentic.

7

Officers & Executive Committee

CHAIRMAN VICE-CHAIRMAN RICHARD FLOWITT 500303 Acting SECRETARY ADRIAN PERRY 379912 TREASURER MICHAEL WAINWRIGHT 363291 SOCIAL SECRETARY CHRISTINE HEPWORTH 368913 SHELTERS GROUP CHRIS PERRY 379912

NEWSLETTER: EDITOR ROGER FOSTER 364796 PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHEN PARNABY 353846 Distribution ANDREA SMITH 341699


P O Box No. 151, Scarborough, YO12 4YJ

Registered Charity No. 260615

The Information Page - Who’s Who and What’s On

Society Events 2013

Civic Society Meetings are

in the small meeting room at the Library on Vernon Road

at 2.30 p.m. (unless otherwise indicated)

There is a charge of £2 per head

COMMITTEE

MEMBERS:

JACKIE ROBERTS 379360

JOHN POPPLETON 373143

MARY BLADES 362564

BARBARA BUNFIELD 363233

KEEP IN TOUCH

with the Society by

watching our

Website

www.scarboroughcivicsociety.org.uk

The Newsletter

Feedback on the Newsletter, and letters and other

contributions, including photographs, are always

welcome, and should please be sent to the Editor

[email protected]

Tuesday 14th May

‘War Memorials in the Scarborough area’ a talk by Keith Johnston

Tuesday 11th June

A WALK through South Cliff Gardens

Starting from the Holbeck Clock Tower

at 6.30 p.m.

Tuesday 9th July

Two former Mayors of Scarborough

Hazel Lynskey and Sheila Kettlewell

will talk about

‘The Mayoral Year’

Tuesday 13th August

A WALK

in Falsgrave Starting from Falsgrave Clock Tower

at 2.00 p.m.

Tuesday 10 September Stephen Middleton will talk about

‘The restoration of a Petro Electric Railcar’.

In the early 1900s these were in use in the

Scarborough area.

Tuesday 8 October Sarah Stokes

‘Protection of Historic Buildings

using Property Guardians’

Afternoon Tea to be arranged for late October

details will be available later in the year.

Tuesday 12 November North Yorkshire Police Commissioner

Julia Mulligan

about her first year in this newly created post.

Tuesday 17 December

Christmas Coffee Morning Red Lea Hotel Coffee

and mince pies, a raffle and a quiz.

A new Treasurer for the Society

Michael Wainwright, who has been a member of

the Executive for some time, has agreed to

become Treasurer on the retirement of Barbara

Bunfield who has done the job for many years.

Michael has lived in Scarborough for 3 years.

He shares the values and objectives of the Civic

Society in seeking to maintain and enhance the

heritage and character of our town, its buildings

and infrastructure.

He is recently retired having had an

extremely interesting career working in

commercial management for national

civil engineering contractors on many

infrastructure landmark projects involving

highways bridges motorways railways pipelines

marine works and harbours. (Photo Page 8)

The Executive thanked Barbara warmly for all she

has done, and unanimously confirmed the new

appointment.

8


Chris Hall

looking forward

to his retirement.

There is a full

appreciation of his

years as

Conservation

Officer for the

Borough

on Page 6

On the right, just a few of the many Civic

Society Members who seem to be enjoying the

Annual Lunch at Park Manor.

On page 4 there is an interesting report on

Andrew Clay’s talk about Mark Senior.

The Crowning Glory (Page 2)

THE NEXT SOCIETY EVENT is on Tuesday 14th May

when Keith Johnston will be talking about

‘War Memorials in the Scarborough area’

in the usual place, the Library,

at the usual time, 2.30 p.m.

Michael

Wainwright

the new

Treasurer

(Page 7)

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