As part of the 'A' level Geography
syllabus, the Lower Sixth of 1969 of the Boys
School set off by train to Scarborough from Lime
Street Station. Ahead of them lay five full days
of geographical enlightenment supplied by Messrs.
Swain and Mountford.
We
arrived that Saturday in early April to
be billeted at the Green Gables Family
Hotel, quite a way out of the town. After
our evening meal and first debriefing,
many of the lads set off for the beach
area to test out the local brews. My
group consisting of note worthies such as
Colin Crabb and Andy Barton finished up
in a prom side pub called the Golden
Ball. Too many of us obviously had too
much for the Masters liking,
because the following evening we were all
grounded. |
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So, on the Sunday, we set
out for the Forge Valley around the
hamlet of Hackness. Dougie and Monty
prattled on about glacial erosion and
melt water and glacial lakes while we
looked longingly at the Hackness Hotel in
the near distance. We were like lads on
heat, not for females but alcohol! Back in the
hotel, dinner and debriefing and then
grounded in the hotel, reading, writing
up diaries, table tennis and cards [the
game of the day being the romantically
named 'Scab, better known as Hearts
on computer].
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However, one tall, handsome,
blond hero sneaked out the games room
window and brought back alcohol from the
nearest alehouse. Now, this bit hurts. In
the morning, I was rumbled! Doug and
Monty demanded to see me, saying that a
lad with my description had been abusive
and offensive while ordering drink from
the Off-Licence door. I was in big
trouble. I professed my guilt at being
the sloper-out but to this day I maintain
that I was not abusive and offensive. I
still suspect that someone ratted on me
but for what reason. |
Monday was a tense day for me
especially. I felt really angry that the two
masters would believe that I had been so
offensive. There I was, under-age, trying to
purchase a huge amount of drink, surely such
behaviour would have merited failure! I remember
visiting a quarry somewhere and getting dirty
looks from Doug and Monty. That evening, I
decided to go and apologise for breaking the
curfew but still maintained my innocence of
offensive behaviour. Doug and Monty accepted my
apology and suddenly the air cleared between us
all.
Tuesday, was spent walking
all over the Wolds and finally by coach
to Flamborough Head. We saw the stunning
cliff line, talked about coastal erosion
and the like. Meanwhile, back at the
Green Gables one of the waitresses, blond
and good looking was causing the sap to
rise amongst the lads. In the end, she
settled for Tony Stein, which was not a
bad choice for her but an excellent one
for the lads. You see, Tony had a
girlfriend at home to whom, he readily
told everyone, he was devoted. This was a
red rag to a bull. The poor waitress had
to run the gauntlet of caustic remarks as
she served up the soup and stuff. |
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Wednesday was the special group
research day. In groups of three, we were dropped
off by coach at various villages and hamlets
along the southern side of the Vale of Pickering.
Our mission was to traverse the Vale to be picked
up late afternoon on the northern side. Oh and we
had to carry out a land use transect as we walked
across.
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Colin, Andy and I were
dropped off at West Heslerton Church
aiming for Snainton to the north. Well,
we traversed the Vale in minimal time and
at one oclock, we were happily
ensconced in the peacock at Snainton,
some three hours early. The long and
short of it was that two local farmers
asked us what we were doing
and
they gave us more than we would ever need
to know about drainage, soils, land use
and more, which we eagerly recorded
between mouthfuls of the local brew. When
the coach picked us up, we had definitely
peaked for the day. |
That evening, dinner came and went,
the waitress by now steeled to the barbs of
jealous and lustful seventeen year olds.
Debriefing time and each group gave its
fifteen-minute account. The star groups were good
as usual, the lesser groups were lesser as usual
and the Crabb, Barton, Powell group was far from
dire as usual! We wowed Dougie and Monty. They
were gob smacked at the depth of our research,
knowledge and understanding. However, in
time-honoured convention, we did not reveal our
sources.
Thursday, and our last day was spent
walking the old Scarborough to Whitby railway
bed, affording us stunning views of sandstone
cliffs and the like!
The evening was all ours after a
very short debriefing. Most of us decamped to the
Commercial Inn down the road, We watched as
Rodney Canning drank himself under the table on
cider-and-bitter, as we seemed to
constantly have I Heard it through the
Grapevine blasting out on the jukebox.
Meanwhile, Tony was on a date with the waitress.
I wish I could remember her name!
Next day, packed and off back to
Lime Street and the moment of truth looming for
poor Tony Stein. We could not contain ourselves.
Tony remained cool and defiant, as he knew his
girlfriend would understand but the mask began to
slip as we approached Huyton and then Edge Hill.
As we entered the tunnels, he was visibly
concerned until Pete Snowden summed up the
holiday romance as being of no consequence to him
by the poetic I dont care anyway, it
just proves they both had s**t in their
eyes. After that there was nothing more to
be said!
Footnotes: The Golden Ball and the
Green Gables Hotel still exist today. The Golden
Ball is the start of the Scarborough Ghost Walk.
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