ROP 4 Scarborough Review
6
July - Issue 47
Honour for gardener who “goes Merchant navy club recruitment drive goes well at 3,000mph six days a week” by Dave Barry A RECRUITMENT drive by the Scarborough branch of the Merchant Navy Association proved successful. “It was a great success, with the club gaining some new members and some ex-members rejoining”, said secretary Keith Eade. At an open night, at the Anglers Club in Friars Way, members considered new ideas and the use of social media to promote the club and its activities. They celebrated branch president Terry White’s birthday with a tot of rum. On 12 July, the branch will welcome shipmates from Hull, Goole, Harrogate and Redcar to the association’s North East get-together at the Railway Club. The branch’s Christmas get-together will be
at the Anglers on 12 December and its annual dinner dance will be at the Royal Hotel on 31 March 2018. The branch meets on the third Tuesday of the month at the Anglers. Keith said: “We would like to hear from any seafarers, male or female, who are still working at sea or who have retired from any departments including those serving in, or having served on, any merchant navy vessels and cruise ships, or worked offshore and in fishing. “Our main gaols are to bring together people with a common interest in seafaring and to enjoy various social functions including day trips throughout the year”. n For further information, email keith.eade@btinternet.com.
Young wizards celebrate Harry Potter landmark Words and photos by Dave Barry HARRY POTTER fever struck North Bay Railway in Scarborough this week. Every pupil in year 4 at Gladstone Road Primary School – about 120 children – dressed up and took a train to wizarding school. Head teacher Keith Wright dressed up as Hagrid and met the children off the train. He told them the rules for Hogwarts and checked that they had been sorted into the correct houses before sending them off for activities in Peasholm Park and on the beach. The adventure was part of a week of activities to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first Harry Potter book, The Philosopher’s Stone. “From an idea born on a train journey to its creation in a small cafe in Edinburgh, the book started a global phenomenon”, said year-4 teacher Lesley Dodd. “It has sold over 450 million copies in 79 languages, inspired a major movie franchise, a spellbinding theatre production and captivated readers of all ages for 20 years”. Back at the school, Lee Threadgold of Animated Objects Theatre gave a magical themed story session for children and parents. Children played quidditch, decorated classroom doors as book covers, wrote poetry and made golden snitches, house ties and wands. They designed magical creatures, house shields and versions of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
Youngsters spot Hagrid and slowly realise who it really is
Words and photo by Dave Barry ROGER BURNETT has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the community, in the Queen’s birthday honours list. Roger joined Scarborough Council’s parks department in 1974, working in the nurseries at Manor Road. He studied horticulture and business at Askham Bryan College near York before returning to the council and being appointed foreman gardener at Filey. Roger went on to various positions within the council, including head of parks and countryside services. He now leads the community environment unit, supporting volunteering opportunities throughout the borough. Roger is a national flower show judge for the Royal Horticultural Society and chairs the judges panel for the Britain in Bloom campaign, promoting community horticulture locally and nationally. However, his passion for gardening and supporting the voluntary sector is most important to him in Scarborough. Roger said: “I have been very lucky over my career to be able to both work with plants and people to promote gardening and have always considered my job as a vocation, one I have loved every minute of. “My current role brings me into contact with all sorts of amazing people. This award is recognition of all the hard work that those volunteers have done in supporting community horticulture in the borough. I am overwhelmed by the good wishes and kind thoughts of everyone who has contacted me since it was made public”. One of Roger’s mammoth tasks at the
Roger Burnett and the British Empire Medal (to order photos ring 353597) moment is helping the Friends of Dean Road and Manor Road Cemetery restore the cemetery to its former glory. He works with the Community Payback scheme to repair thousands of damaged headstones and is supporting the restoration of the old chapel. Roger says: “This labour of love is so important to many people in the town as there is a tremendous amount of local history contained in and around the cemetery. It is a good example of the strong community spirit that is evident in every walk of life in the borough”. Already, well over 1,500 memorials have been made safe and repaired. Roger’s assistant, Sheila Johnson, said: “We are all thrilled and delighted for him. It is the culmination of many years’ work in the community and it's a great honour”. Sheila said she had been working with Roger for about 12 years and there was never a dull moment. “There’s never a chance to get bored working with him because he goes at about 3,000mph six days a week and he’s always plotting his next schemes”.
Scarborough’s other summer visitors
L-R: Minerva McGonagall (aka school librarian Hazel Palmer), Hagrid (head Keith Wright) and Dolores Umbridge (year-4 teacher Lesley Dodd)
A minke whale off the Scarborough coast
Words by Dave Barry, photo by Stuart Baines SOME exciting visitors turn up off the Yorkshire coast from June until October. Minke whales are the smallest and most abundant of the baleen whales, although still a big animal at 7-11 metres. They have a slender, pointed, triangular head with a single central ridge. The dorsal fin is relatively tall, sickle-shaped and situated nearly two-thirds of the way along the back. The head and body are dark grey to black but with grey areas or chevrons on the flanks and a distinctive diagonal white band Hagrid and the Harry Potter wizards (to order photos ring 353597)
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on the flippers. Minke whales are regularly seen from Scarborough, Filey, Cloughton and Bempton. They eat by swallowing huge mouthfuls of sea water and straining out the sand eel, mackerel, herring, etc. It is thought that they follow their food on an annual journey around the North Sea. Whales can also be seen by going on a boattrip with Whitby Whale Watching. n For further information on dolphin, porpoise and whale sightings, check out the Scarborough Porpoise Facebook and Twitter pages and the Sea Watch Foundation website or send an email to scarboroughporpoise@btinternet.com.
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