The Postcard
A postcard that was printed and published by E. T. W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. of Scarborough.
The card was posted in Scarborough using a 2½p stamp on Tuesday the 28th. September 1971. It was sent to:
Mrs. Stockwell,
The Street,
Old Basing,
Basingstoke,
Hants.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Tuesday 28th.
I am enjoying my visit.
The weather at first was
warm and sunny, but broke
up at the weekend with
thunderstorms.
Love to all,
Muriel."
Peasholm Park
Peasholm Park is an oriental-themed municipal park located in the seaside town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. It opened in 1912, and became a venue for galas, displays and exhibitions.
In 1924 the park was extended to include Peasholm Glen, a natural ravine. Attractions include an artificial boating lake, where mock naval battles are staged, a putting green and a champion tree walk.
The park suffered a decline in use from the 1970's as the number of holidaymakers visiting Scarborough decreased, but it has been restored using Heritage Lottery Funding.
The Setting of Peasholm Park
Peasholm Park is sited on the north side of the town of Scarborough in a mainly residential area. The site is about 14-hectares, and takes in a narrow steep-sided valley running north-east towards North Bay. The valley gradually broadens until it opens out on to low-lying ground closer to the sea.
The south-west tip of the site adjoins a cemetery which was opened in the late 19th. century. There is iron fencing on the perimeter of the park in some places, but most of the park boundary is defined just by pavements or grass verges alongside the perimeter roads.
The History of Peasholm Park
The park is on the site of the medieval manor house of Northstead which was part of the Crown Estate from the 14th. century. By the beginning of the 20th. century, the area was open land used for farming and public allotments.
In 1911, Scarborough Corporation bought some land called Tuckers Field from the Duchy of Lancaster to create a public park.
It was the borough engineer, Harry W Smith, who had the idea of setting out the gardens with a Japanese theme. Japanese style statues in the park were purchased from Killerby Hall, and exotic shrubs and flowers were imported from the home of a local retired banker who was living on the French Riviera.
In 1924, the park was extended south-westwards along Peasholm Glen following the purchase of more land from the Duchy of Lancaster in 1921. Parts of the east side of the Glen were in private ownership, and these were donated to the Corporation.
The park was used for aquatic displays, musical performances and evening firework displays. It became immensely popular in the immediate pre- and post-Second World War era.
After a period of decay a programme of restoration was initiated. Improvement works were made possible by a £300,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and additional funds from Scarborough Borough Council.
Following the draining of the lake, work was undertaken to remove the large amount of silt on the lake bottom.
The park was Grade II listed in 1999.
Peasholm Park was closed in 1999, following a fire at the pagoda started by vandals. Heritage lottery funding has since allowed the restoration of the pagoda itself, the Half-Moon Bridge and the gardens.
Features of Peasholm Park
The Peasholm Glen Tree Trail has rare and unusual trees. The lottery-funded project there aims to conserve the trees, and provides a leafleted trail identifying the most interesting and important species. The leaflet is free, and is also available to download from the Internet.
During restoration of the site, the Dicksonian Elm, a tree that was previously believed to be extinct, was discovered alive and well in Peasholm Glen.
Japanese-themed gardens and lake with a pagoda said to be based on the Willow Pattern pottery design, are a central feature of the park. The lake has an island which is accessible from a Japanese-style bridge during school holidays and tourist seasons in the daytime when the gate is unlocked.
There are also waterfalls and wildlife in the more tranquil wooded areas.
Peasholm Park Events
The Naval Warfare event, the Battle of Peasholm, has been played out for half an hour three times a week during the summer season for over 80 years.
The model boats used are mostly man-powered, earning the fleet the title of "The smallest manned navy in the world".
All the boats were man powered until 1929, when electricity was introduced, and now only the larger boats need to be steered by council employees. In the early days, the models were First World War battleships and a U-boat. Then, after the Second World War, the fleet was replaced with new vessels, and the battle that was recreated was the Battle of the River Plate.
Other events staged in the park include silver and brass band concerts, party in the park, proms in the park and lantern displays.
Remedial Work at Peasholm Park
A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled the Scarborough Borough Council to rebuild the Pagoda in its original form using fire retardant wood. The Half-moon Bridge connecting the Island to the mainland has been replaced, the cascade renovated and the gardens restored and upgraded.
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.
A Deadly Air Crash in Brazil
So what else happened on the day that Muriel posted the card?
Well, on the 28th. September 1971, all 32 people on Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 332 were killed when the Brazilian DC-3 airliner suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff from Sena Madureira on its flight to Rio Branco.
Dr. Amalia Fleming
Also on that day, Dr. Amalia Fleming, a physician and the Greek-born widow of penicillin developer Sir Alexander Fleming, was sentenced to 16 months incarceration by a military court in Athens.
This was after she had confessed to being a part of a conspiracy to help a would-be assassin attempt an escape from prison.
Born Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, Lady Fleming had retained her Greek citizenship after marriage, and took an interest in a plot to liberate Alexandros Panagoulis, who had attempted in 1968 to kill Greek premier George Papadopoulos.
She served one month before being deported to Great Britain.
Radivoj Uvalic
The 28th. September 1971 also marked the death at the age of 59 of Radivoj Uvalic.
Radivoj was a native of Serbia and an Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Yugoslavia.
He was killed in an automobile accident near the city of Gorgan in Iran.
Uvalic, who had recently been re-appointed as Yugoslavia's Ambassador to India, had decided to drive from Belgrade to New Delhi.
