Scarborough, North Bay Railway and Funiculars. Saturday 17th August 2019.
I`d been planning a trip out to Scarborough to travel on the North Bay Railway, a lovely operation that goes from Peasholm Park to Scalby Mills along the North Bay. The main area of operations and loco depot is at Peasholm Park, set amidst an amusement park. I caught a TPX class 185 from Manchester Victoria at around 08.00, with a change at York, that got me into Scarborough for around 10.30. On arrival into Scarborough it was nice to find a TPX Cat class 68023 "Achilles" parked under the trainshed.
I walked from the railway station to the North Bay Railway through Peasholm Park. I like Scarborough, my parents would take me holidaying there back in the 1950`s, as a more exotic change from the usually, Morecambe, Blackpool and Southport holidays for Mancunians. My memories recall riding behind a Black 5 from Manchester Victoria to York and then changing for a B1, with a chance of seeing a mighty Gresley A4 at York. I don`t think it’s changed that much over the years, apart from the steam trains. I found the North Bay Railway staff to be exceptionally friendly, when the guard saw that I was a photographer he allowed me to ride in the guard’s van, while the driver actually offered me a cab ride. I alighted at Scalby Mills at the end of the line and then walked back to the half way station, which doesn’t seem to be used these days except for its passing loop, it does however offer an overbridge which gives some excellent photographic opportunities.
I was also intending to search out Scarborough’s Funicular past, in that the Town has had no less that 5 Funiculars over the years, more than any other UK town. The first one I checked out was once at Scalby Mills up the cliff to the North. The Scarborough Queen's Parade Tramway Company Limited was created on 4 March 1878, linking Queen's Parade, on the top of the North Cliff to the Promenade Pier. A cabin broke loose on 8 August 1878, the opening day, the lift closed for the rest of the year. With accidents every year, pump engine and water supply failures and a further landslip in 1887 stopped the use of the lift. I could find no sign of this one. I next walked down to the Peasholm Gap where the North Bay Cliff Lift used to be, it was built by the Medway Safety Lift Company Ltd in 1930 and closed in September 1996. The lift was part of a large Corporation development at Peasholm Gap. It has been dismantled and has now been placed in storage at Launceston, Cornwall.
The remaining 3 Funicular Railways are all in the South Bay, I caught an open top bus to the farthest one, the South Cliff lift, Spa tramway the latter was closed due to maintenance on my visit. I then walked back to the St Nicholas cliff lift, which although closed as a funicular, has now been converted into a tea room encompassing the two former Funicular cars, with the bottom station being an Ice Cream Parlour. Just around the corner from St Nicholas is the Central Tramway, the only one of the remaining two to be still operational, in fact they even sell fridge magnet totems. I had a ride to the top station and walked back down to seafront level and treated myself to a large ice cream and caught another open top bus back to Peasholm Gap and walked back along the front to Scalby Mills and caught the North Bay railway train back to Peasholm.
I next returned to the Central Tramway by open top bus and had a lovely fish and chip tea on the sea front, before catching the Central Tramway back up to the town and walking back to the railway station. I caught a direct TPX class 185 to Manchester, tram to Crumpsall to collect the car and I was home from around 20.00, an excellent day by the seaside.
https://nbr.org.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_funiculars#North_Bay_Cliff_Lift
https://www.facebook.com/nick.melling.104/media_set?set=a.2374842229229949&type=3
Consider yourself told!
