South Bay

My gym time is limited to just going in to train my clients during the Easter holidays and I’m enjoying the wind down from training myself. Luckily with two lively boys though I knew that I would remain active. So I might not be pushing, pulling and lifting my way to fitness but I’m sure feeling like I’ve had a good workout each day! Now into the second week of the holidays and my step count must be off the scale. And there’s a good reason for that.

Along with touring the numerous play parks, playing football in the garden and walking around every 2p machine that Scarborough’s South bay has to offer, at the beginning of the holiday I was informed that the trams to take us down do the beach weren’t working. If you’ve ever visited Scarborough you will know that there are either steep hills or steps to go up and down the cliff or there are the trams. And seeing as all the trams have been taken away for maintenance I now have buns of steel.

The beauty of where we live is that we’re out of the tourist hot spot of South Bay enough to appreciate the quieter side of Scarborough but close enough to dip our toe into the packed beach and amusements to feel like a day tripper over the holidays. My favourite bays are by far the hidden gem of Cornelian Bay where we live and the calmer Cayton Bay, but the kids are attracted to the fun and games that South Bay has to offer and I must admit when the 2p’s start falling I get a little carried away myself!

I’ll look back fondly at the Easter holidays, but I’ll also breath a sigh of relief when I pack the boys off to school too. I need to go back to work full time for the rest!

But if the boys are like me they will look back at the amusements, the donkey rides and ice cream on the beach as fondly as I remember my childhood holidays at Scarborough. My days at Skipsea, Hornsea, Primrose Valley and Morcombe stay with me much more than the holidays abroad as a kid. The sun, food, culture and intrigue at being in a different country was always a wonderful experience, but having parents, grandparents, cousins, aunties and uncles all squeezing into a caravan to play cards on the coast of England was magical. I can still hear the laughter. And now with some of those family members no longer with us, those memories become even more special.

Our plan is to transfer our business ideas to France one day, but the more memories we can create here in England the better. I know that many memories can be created along the beaches of La Rochelle but I’m not sure it is famous for its fish and chips, joke shops, candy floss or saucy postcards. Perhaps if our business fails in France we could try selling Kiss Me Quick hats to the locals.

The cliffs at Scarborough are tough to get up and down but as a tight Yorkshire man even if the trams were working I’d be telling the family that we’re walking just to save a couple of quid! But also I don’t really want to pass on the opportunity to get the heart rate up a little and have a decent walk. As I always tell my clients, if you can’t get to the gym make sure that you manage a decent walk in the fresh air. Just make sure that if you ever walk down to the beach at Scarborough you can get back up again!