A FIRST VISIT TO SALTBURN-BY-THE-SEA
Where is Saltburn-by-the-Sea? I fancy I hear someone say, and if a smile goes forth at such ignorance, I must confess that, until it was recommended to me this Spring as a seaside resort, I never heard of it before. But that others may have enjoyment similar to that which I have experienced, I will endeavour to tell where it is and what it is. It is situated on the North Yorkshire coast, near Middlesbro’, between Whitby and Redcar, and is a run of six hours from London. To the jaded and weary man, exhausted with the fierce battle of every-day life, longing for rest and quiet, and to his equally tired wife (servant troubles included), I can imagine no better place to spend the Summer holiday. The air is clear, pure and bracing, and reminds me much of Cromer in this respect – you can drink in ozone all the day long (and night, too, if you keep your windows open), and the houses being built high up on the cliff give every facility for inhaling the fresh sea breeze. There is a plentiful supply of seats all along the sea cliff; they are eagerly sought for from early morning till late at night, some reading, some lounging, others laughing and chatting, and I have seen – but name it not – others making love.
An Incline Tramway takes you down to the sands if you are too idle to walk, and here ‘Paradise’ begins, both for old and young. The sands are so long and firm that cycling and horse exercise are indulged in daily, when the tide recedes sufficiently.
The bathing accommodation is excellent, and for those who can swim in the briny deep, a boat is always in attendance in case of accident. But this is not all, the little folk have their spades and buckets, and it curious to note the wonderful and many devices they make so cleverly in the sand. Then there are the ‘Star Minstrels’ to enliven the scene, not ‘Black Christy’s’ but ‘White Minstrels,’ whose honest English faces beam with good humour and intelligence; one sings songs of a superior class to that generally heard on a sea-beach, and certainly worthy of a concert hall.
Another has a very kindly and enticing way with children; they join with him in his chorus songs, and it was quite a site to see him surrounded by a happy crowd of laughing little ones, joining with heart and glee in the lively and innocent ditties. A third minstrel is so comic: well to look is to laugh! The minstrel trio is accompanied by a harp and violin. For those who are of a more solid turn of mind there are very nice children’s mission services higher up on the beach; addresses are given, the children instructed, and, while a
young lady plays a harmonium, the sweet voices of the children ring out to the still sweeter hymns.
A clever ventriloquist displays his talents through his marionettes, and I must confess it was a very unique and amusing entertainment. There is a pier on which the band plays in the afternoons and evenings; also in the Gardens. It is a fairly good one, ably conducted, and the men are of one accord in their playing, not running after one another like fugitives from justice.
With regard to house accommodation there are furnished houses to be had, and plenty of rooms, both large and small, also several very fine hotels. The Zetland and Alexandra are quite palatial and have a lovely view of the sea over the land.
I had the good fortune to stay at the Stanley and Huntcliffe House, a boarding establishment, with, I may say, the finest view (par excellence) in the whole place. It directly faces the sea, a balcony runs along the front of the house, and the delicious sound of the ever-murmuring waves goes on for ever and ever. The moans of the ‘sad sea waves’ does not seem to apply to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. They rather suggest the bright hope that the same Almighty Power which