There is always something interesting about seaside towns that are built on either side of a headland such as Llandudno, St Ives and here at Scarborough. There's a sort of buy one, get one free feel to the place.
As is often the case, the bays on either side of the headland are very different.
These days Scarborough's North Bay is very quiet, whilst the South Bay is still a lively, not to say garish, seaside resort with all the trimmings.
The headland is a natural defensive site that has long been fortified, and the remains of Scarborough Castle, perched on the top, keep a watchful eye on the town to this day.
At one time Scarborough could boast five cliff lifts. Little now remains of the two in North Bay and, with the closure of the St Nicholas Lift in 2006,
only two of the South Bay lifts remain operational.
The Central Tramway opened in 1880 and has been operated by the same company ever since.
It was converted from steam to electricity in 1910, and the cars were replaced in 1935, but apart from that very little has changed.
External Links and References
External Links
Scarborough Cliff Railway (currently off line)
Information on all Scarborough's current and former cliff railways. Note: Despite what it says in the introduction, the St Nicholas Cliff railway is closed, as stated in the body of the text. http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/scar.htm
The South Cliff Lift is the older of the two and, when it opened in 1873, it was the first funicular railway in the United Kingdom.
Although originally water powered, it was converted to electrically operation in 1947, and fully automated in 1997.
The cars date from 1935.
External Links and References
External Links
Scarborough Cliff Railway (currently off line)
Information on all Scarborough's current and former cliff railways. Note: Despite what it says in the introduction, the St Nicholas Cliff railway is closed, as stated in the body of the text. http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/scar.htm
Scarborough funiculars
Wikipedia article on Scarborough's cliff lifts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_funiculars
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