The Postcard
A postcard that was published by Wray, Stationer, of Scarborough. The card was produced in Great Britain.
The card was posted in Scarborough on Tuesday the 22nd. August 1916 to:
Mr. & Mrs. Keen,
126, High Street,
Notting Hill Gate,
London W.
The pencilled message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"25, Victoria Road,
Scarboro.
22/8/16.
Dear F. & C.,
Just a line to say that I
arrived here quite safe
& am feeling better for
the change.
We are staying here
another week so I shall
want to extend my hotel
stay until Sept. 11th.
We are having very good
weather.
Hope you are both well.
The address after this
week is
School House,
Marske-by-the-Sea.
Kind regards from yours
truly,
B. & M."
Scarborough
Scarborough is a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire. The town lies between 10–230 feet (3–70 m) above sea level, rising steeply northward and westward from the harbour on to limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour, and is protected by a rocky headland.
With a population of just over 61,000, Scarborough is the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire coast. The town has fishing and service industries, including a growing digital and creative economy, as well as being a tourist destination. People who live in the town are known as Scarborians.
The Development of Scarborough as a Resort
In 1626, Mrs Thomasin Farrer discovered a stream of acidic water running from one of the cliffs to the south of the town. This gave birth to Scarborough Spa, and Dr. Robert Wittie's book about the spa waters published in 1660 attracted a flood of visitors to the town.
Scarborough Spa became Britain's first seaside resort, though the first rolling bathing machines were not noted on the sands until 1735. It was a popular getaway destination for the wealthy of London.
The coming of the Scarborough-York railway in 1845 increased the tide of visitors. Scarborough railway station claims to have the world's longest platform seat. From the 1880's until the First World War, Scarborough was one of the regular destinations for The Bass Excursions, when fifteen trains would take between 8,000 and 9,000 employees of Bass's Burton brewery on an annual trip to the seaside.
The Grand Hotel
When the Grand Hotel was completed in 1867 it was one of the largest hotels in the world, and one of the first giant purpose-built hotels in Europe.
Four towers represent the seasons, 12 floors represent the months, 52 chimneys represent the weeks, and originally 365 bedrooms represented the days of the year.
A blue plaque outside marks where the novelist Anne Brontë died in 1849. She was buried in the graveyard of St. Mary's Church by the castle.
Maritime Events Associated With Scarborough
During the Great War, the town was bombarded by German warships. Scarborough Pier Lighthouse, built in 1806, was damaged in the attack.
In 1929 the steam drifter Ascendent caught a 560-pound (250 kg) tunny (Atlantic bluefin tuna), and a Scarborough showman awarded the crew 50 shillings so he could exhibit it as a tourist attraction.
Big-game tunny fishing off Scarborough effectively started in 1930 when Lawrie Mitchell-Henry landed a tunny caught on rod and line weighing 560 pounds (250 kg).
A gentlemen's club, the British Tunny Club, was founded in 1933, and set up its headquarters in the town at the place which is now a restaurant with the same name.
Sir Edward Peel landed a world-record tunny of 798 pounds (362 kg), capturing the record by 40 pounds (18.1 kg) from one caught off Nova Scotia by American champion Zane Grey. The British record, which still stands, is for a fish weighing 851 pounds (386 kg) caught off Scarborough in 1933 by Lawrie Mitchell-Henry.
On the 5th. June 1993 Scarborough made headlines around the world when a landslip caused part of the Holbeck Hall Hotel, along with its gardens, to fall into the sea.
Although the slip was shored up with rocks and the land has long since grassed over, evidence of the cliff's collapse remains clearly visible from The Esplanade, near Shuttleworth Gardens.
Peru's Neutrality
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, on the 22nd. August 1916, Peru declared neutrality during the Great War.
The Battle of Delville Wood
Also on that day, the Germans inflicted nearly 200 casualties when the British launched a direct assault in the Delville Wood in France.
However a counter-attack at midnight allowed the British to capture the road to Flers, along with over 200 German prisoners and a dozen machine guns.
The Sinking of a U-Boat
Also on the 22nd. August 1916, the German submarine SM UC-10 was torpedoed and sunk by British submarine HMS E54 with the loss of all 18 of her crew.
Geoffrey Keen
The day also marked the birth in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, of the English actor Geoffrey Keen.
Geoffrey is best known for his role in the James Bond films.
Keen was cast mainly as establishment figures, including government ministers, senior police officers and military figures, though he also appeared in working class roles in Millions Like Us (1943) and Chance of a Lifetime (1950).
He often portrayed balding, cold-hearted, and sarcastic executives or lawyers. On television, he was one of the leads in BBC TV's long-running drama about the oil industry, The Troubleshooters, between 1965 and 1972.
On the big screen, he played the role of Minister of Defence Frederick Gray in six James Bond films between 1977 and 1987:
-- The Spy Who Loved Me
-- Moonraker
-- For Your Eyes Only
-- Octopussy
-- A View to a Kill
-- The Living Daylights
Geoffrey also appeared in such notable films as The Spanish Gardener, Doctor Zhivago, Cromwell, and Born Free, as well as in numerous TV programmes.
He even appeared in a leading role in the Hammer Horror Film Taste the Blood of Dracula that starred Christopher Lee, playing a rather sarcastic Victorian/Edwardian gentleman who is one of a circle of three who betray Dracula whilst seeking wicked pleasures.
In all, Keen appeared in 100 films before he retired in 1991.
Keen was married three times and had two daughters, Jemma and Mary. He died at the age of 89 on the 3rd. November 2005 in Northwood, Middlesex, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.
