Illiteracy is alive and well in Scarborough

This is not the first time I’ve written about the appalling literacy standards among the employed (as opposed to the unemployed, who are often automatically regarded as illiterate) and it’s not the first time I’ve had a laugh at the apparent thickness of a particular travel agency’s staff.

Last week I just happened to be looking in the window of a high street travel agent in Scarborough (there isn’t any other kind in this useless dump) and could not believe just how thick their staff must be. The place was closed over dinner, with an apology for the “iconvenience caused”. In the window there was an advert for “painballing” alongside adverts for holidays with “dayitme” flights and some advising that people had to make their own “tarvel” arrangements.

The sad thing is that all we ever hear is that school leavers are getting so much more brainy with all the A* GCSEs they are suddenly achieving (if these “intelligent” individuals had to sit the old O level exam that would show them just how bright – or not – they really are!)

I can just imagine that those responsible for such open displays of illiteracy are those who are shown on TV each year jumping up and down and shrieking about how intelligent they are because they’ve passed a few exams which my cat would probably find easy.

When on Scarborough sea front, heed the warnings!

The weather has been quite poor in Scarborough over the past few days, with snow and ice making it quite unpleasant to walk about.

So imagine my surprise at seeing this article about some stupid holidaymakers who took their child (in a pushchair) for a walk along the sea front in the bad weather.

There are signs along the front warning about the danger from heavy seas, so it takes a particularly stupid, dense kind of person to take a walk along here when the weather is bad.

Take a look at the first photo in the newspaper report. The caption "calm before the storm" is not really appropriate, as that is anything but a calm sea! If the sea looks like that, then it is idiotic to walk right next to the sea wall!

The family should be ashamed for putting their young child in such danger. Those warning signs are there for a reason, and to ignore them is stupid. What is also maddening is that then people have to risk their safety to rescue these imbeciles.

When in Scarborough, heed the warnings, and if you don't have the brains to do that then stay away.

Scarborough at Christmas

I'd forgotten what Christmas in Scarborough was like, having spent each Christmas from 2006-2008 in Brugge. Unfortunately, the incompetence of the French brought it home to me this year, having to spend Christmas in Scarborough because a bloody useless French-designed train breaks down in snow.

In Brugge I had become used to Christmas markets, with stalls selling hot food and drinks in decorated market squares, ice skating and music and a party atmosphere, with pubs serving the best beers in the world when it was time to get inside out of the cold.

So imagine how drab Christmas in Scarborough is. No markets, no ice skating, pubs which sell beer more akin to water, no shops lit up. Indeed, the shops in this town made little or no effort for Christmas, unlike at Halloween, when all seemed to be in on the act and vying for the darkest displays. All we seemed to get, as a nod to Christmas, was a ghastly display in Boyes which consisted of toadstools, model elves and a grating, horrible racket of a song "we are Santa's elves" repeated over and over again ad nauseum.

If this is the best this boring town can do for Christmas it is time it called it a day.

Sheep on the line

This morning the 09:57 Scarborough to Hull train hit and killed a flock of sheep in the Cayton area.

We were on the train on the way to Filey to collect our Eurostar tickets for our forthcoming trip to Belgium.

I had seen a couple of sheep running at the side of the track, and the next thing the train started jolting and making a rumbling noise, and then we stopped. Initially we thought the train had de-railed, as we were just standing for what seemed like ages, before moving slowly off and then stopping again. A loudspeaker announcement said there had been an "incident on the line" but when we asked the guard we were told that we had hit and killed "alot of sheep".

A clean up team was to be brought in, which could have caused delays for up to four hours on the line.

First the bus cat, now the train cat!

A few months ago, Casper the bus cat made the papers. Casper would regularly board a local bus in Plymouth and travel round until reaching a certain stop, where he would get off.

Now, here in Scarborough, we have Percy the Train Cat! Percy loves to ride on the North Bay Railway towards the Sea Life Centre, where he gets off and goes inside to look at the penguins, which, apparently, are his favourite exhibit there.

Read about Percy here and here.

Litterbugs

The title "Litterbugs" is a little too friendly, however I could not think up a more suitable title and stay in the margins of acceptable language!

Yesterday afternoon we went down to the front in Scarborough to get some fish and chips for our tea. We bought fish and chips from the always-excellent Winking Willie's and ate them outside.

We were not alone in eating our fish and chips outside. Near to Winking Willie's there are some benches and a few litter bins just a few feet from the benches. However, even the close proximity of bins to benches did not prevent the over-sized swine who had chosen to sit on the benches to fill their disgusting faces from leaving behind the remains of their food and also the cartons which went with it. The filthy swine just left all their litter on the benches, they were obviously just too stupid, too idle or too mucky to bother putting it in the bins provided. I dread to think what filthy state their houses are in. They should be tracked down, brought back to their litter and forced to eat every last mouthful of what they left behind.

What must visitors to our country think when they see what filthy swine many home-grown tourists are? I make no apology for what I have said, I would not insult pigs by housing such filthy trash with them.

Scarborough welcomes clean visitors who do not live like trash, we do not welcome litterbugs who are just too idle to get off their over sized rear ends and put their rubbish where it belongs.

Microchipping

This morning we had our cat microchipped - a new vet has opened in Scarborough and we took advantage of his opening offers to have the cat microchipped (free worm treatment was thrown in too - not bad for £12!)

Surprisingly, she was well behaved and quiet, even when the thick needle went in she never made a sound (unlike some animals!) She had a bus ride there and back, and, unlike the first time she went on a bus when she was making a noise the whole way, she was silent!

The only time she made any noise was when she was put into her carrying cage - then the miaowing starts and she sticks her leg out through the front of the cage, but she settled quick and curled up.

After all that she enjoyed her dinner when she got home!

Seamer Road Mere to be ruined

Those who have read my blog from the beginning may remember this post about a pleasant Sunday afternoon walk to Seamer Road Mere in Scarborough.

I have a big soft spot for the Mere, its wildlife is better than Peasholm Park, its waters are cleaner than the dank pools at Peasholm and it is not infested with feral pigeons and grey squirrels, unlike Peasholm.

Now, Scarborough Borough Council have announced plans to "regenerate" the area, so you can guarantee it will no longer be a peaceful haven for wildlife!

The plans include a surf or ski dome or a water park, a hotel, a visitor centre, "eco huts" and provision for cyclists.

Now, as everyone who is familiar with the idiots who ride cycles round Scarborough will know, they regard the pavements as their own personal racing tracks, so this arrogant, smug attitude will soon be apparent at our beloved Mere. On a brighter note, they could always position the cycle tracks across the local quick sands!

Read about this potential environmental desecration here.

More on Pebbles

The other day the local rag carried this update on Pebbles the Sainsbury's cat, who committed the heinous crime of scratching or biting a brat who could not leave her alone.

We would like to see Pebbles back too.

Where is Pebbles?

Pebbles is the black and white cat that, for years, has lived around the Sainsbury's store in Scarborough. Now read the report in the link below:

Family's call after 'store cat' bites boy- COMMENT ON THIS STORY - Scarborough Evening News

Pebbles seems to have vanished into oblivion now, just because parents don't bother to teach their kids to respect animals and never to approach an animal and just start mauling it! Now, when the cat acts entirely naturally, it is blamed and classed as "dangerous"!

As an animal owner, I find kids a damned menace and parents of these kids often ignorant and stupid. I once owned a Dalmatian, and thanks to that damned Disney film, walking him could be a nightmare because stupid parents would let their brats come up and grab him (they never bother to ask whether or not the dog would like to be mauled by their brats, they just stand and let it happen and then blame the owner of the dog if there's a problem). The vast majority of animal attacks on kids would not happen if parents taught their little darlings never to approach and touch a strange dog (or cat). Instead of the owners ending up in court because of stupid parents, let the parents be fined because, at the end of the day, they are responsible for the actions of their kids, or at least they should be.

How many more animals must die needlessly just because of stupid brats and their (even more stupid) parents?

The Orchestra

Last night we went to see The Orchestra at Scarborough Futurist. The Orchestra is made up of members of ELO and ELO Part 2.

There was a big crowd, and we had to queue to get inside, the queue stretched quite a way along the street.

We listen to ELO CDs alot, mostly when we are relaxing with a beer on a Saturday night, and so the songs are ones I am used to listening to as I enjoy a good beer. I have also used several on my holiday videos. The first song of the night - "Twilight" - was one I used on a section featuring a boat ride in Zeebrugge and the ride back from Zeebrugge Strand station! 

There was a good mix of ages there, proof that the music appeals to kids as well as those in their thirties and forties.

All my favourites were sung - "Telephone Line", "Sweet Talking Woman", "Don't Bring Me Down" etc. It was the first proper concert I'd been to, apart from going to see an ELO Tribute band at The Spa back in July.

To find out more about The Orchestra visit their website here.

To visit the site of the ELO Tribute band we went to see, click here. 

Before the concert we stopped off at our favourite pub and had a De Koninck beer.

Holidays 2008 Part Two

We booked our Christmas hotel online the other day. We had to book online or else go and book in Filey or Pickering because Scarborough is the only town in the area which has no proper travel agent. By "proper" I mean an independent one and not one of those tacky high street chains who are only bothered about their commission and how many insurance packages, excursions, transfers etc they can get you to fork out for.

Last year Scarborough had a really good independent agent who we had booked with for years and never had a problem with. Then the owner retired and closed the shop so our main September holiday hotel was booked with a well-known high street chain. We had nothing but problems with this travel agent chain and at one point we contacted our tour operator about them because we weren't happy with the rubbish they were coming out with. We also complained to the manager of the travel agent who did not even have the manners to answer our concerns. Thankfully we booked our flights online with the airline so we didn't have to deal with a high street travel agent apart from booking the hotel.

Our Christmas hotel is the same one we stayed in last year, as it was very nice with a minibar (great for storing your beer in), nice rooms, a nice location and freshly-cooked eggs at breakfast (soft boiled as well - very rare in Belgium!) I always had the scrambled eggs with my buffet breakfast, they were gorgeous and tasted really buttery. The only downside to the hotel is the depressing classical music they insist on playing in the lounge and breakfast room.

Seamer Road Mere, Scarborough

A favourite Sunday afternoon walk! We have spent the last two Sunday afternoons at the Mere walking round and feeding the birds. It is so much nicer thanPeasholm Park, which is a stangant, commercialised, ugly blot on the landscape. It is full of feral pigeons and grey squirrels with a smaller variety of birds than at the Mere. Also the water is stagnant and black as hell.

Some photos taken yesterday at the Mere:


A resident Chinese goose


A coot with young. Coots will kill their own chicks


A family of geese


A goose with half of its top beak missing! It was able to feed OK though









Some views of the Mere


A swan on the Mere

As a kid I used to love going to the local pond or river with my fishing net and jam jar to see what I could catch - usually water snails, pond skaters, tadpoles and sticklebacks. The freshwater environment is my favourite natural environment, I would probably have been better doing freshwater biology instead of marine biology at university.