Skip to main content

Other Websites

Here are some other websites you might want to look at:

 

Books by the Beach

An annual literature festival, taking place in various venues across Scarborough. In 2023, the festival will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th June.


Mrs Lofthouse's Book Emporium

A second-hand book shop that I used to go to quite a bit, in the days when I visited Scarborough regularly. I never came away empty handed. Much more satisfying than buying books from ebay. The address is  2 Queen St, Scarborough YO11 1HA (near Boyes).


Scarborough Library (North Yorkshire County Council)

The website itself isn't too exciting, but you can use it to check opening times and see what activities are taking place. There is also a link to join the library (if you haven't already) and there is a link to the online catalogue (which is exciting). As with all of NYCC libraries, once you join one, you have access to all of them. If you're visiting Scarborough for the day, and you live somewhere else in North Yorkshire, then why not browse the shelves? Any books you borrow can be returned at your nearest NYCC library. 

I used to enjoy regular visits to Scarborough Library. In my teens, these tended to be focused on the rather excellent CD and DVD collections, but being around all those books did increase my interest in reading. Whilst a career as a librarian would come almost a decade after finishing school and moving away, I'm sure that my time in Scarborough Library influenced my decision to apply for graduate trainee library positions in my mid-twenties. 

On the first floor of the library is the concert hall which is used occasionally for special events. It was the original home of the Stephen Joseph Theatre and known as The Library Theatre. Details of the history can be found on Alan Ayckbourn's website.

 

Sci-Fi Scarborough

An annual event run by fans for fans. It is described as "a whole weekend Unconventional Convention". 

 

Stephen Joseph Theatre

Scarborough's finest theatre. If you're arriving by train, this fantastic building will be the first that you see after exiting the station. Richard Hawley liked it so much that he used a photograph of the entrance for his album Coles Corner. Find out what's on and how the SJT are supporting new writing by visiting their website.


Valley Press

An independent publishing house based in Scarborough.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Little Voice - Film (Miramax, 1998)

  A critical and commercial success, Little Voice is perhaps the most well-known film to have been shot on location in Scarborough. Whilst the town's name is not used by the characters, and does not appear on any signage, there is significant use of the South Bay seafront and harbour area as well as a particular residential street, Barwick Terrace (off Gladstone Road). The closest the film comes to verbally acknowledging its setting is when showbiz agent, Ray Say (played by Michael Caine) mentions that he will be picking up a London-based talent scout from The Grand. Released in December 1998, with a 15 certificate, I was too young to go and see it at the time. I was certainly aware of its release though; I had seen the posters and I remember it being the talk of the town. I would have to wait for it to be broadcast on terrestrial television, which might have been around four or five years later. I can't remember now what I thought of it at the time, I imagine I was just impre
Post a Comment
Read more

JookBoxFury by Kevern Stafford - Novel (Matador, 2009)

  I first discovered JookBoxFury when I saw a promotional display for it in Mrs Lofthouse’s Book Emporium (see the Other Websites page for details on this shop) in 2009. It was rare to see multiple copies of any book in this wonderfully shabby shop, let alone new and shiny copies. I wasn’t really in the market for paying the full RRP for a book at that particular time, but when I saw it in Scarborough Library, perhaps a year later, I immediately picked it up and took it to the issue counter. The photo used on the front cover was clearly taken inside Scarborough’s Harbour Bar and with the woman in the photo holding vinyl singles and sipping a bright green drink, I was intrigued, enthused and raring to read. I remember thinking it was brilliant; a funny concept with funny characters. With some of it being set in Scarborough and many mentions of songs and bands that I like, it is a book I have thought about occasionally ever since finishing it. Last year I decided I wanted to read it aga
Post a Comment
Read more

Scarborough - TV Comedy (BBC, 2019) written by Derren Litten

  I used to think that a comedy series being filmed in Scarborough was very unlikely. I didn't think anyone would even suggest it. That's why, in 2012, I wrote my own sitcom script. It had the title Hawaiianesque and was set in a surf shop in Scarborough - I was picturing Cool Classics Surf Shop on Museum Terrace as I wrote it. In 2017, I wrote another script; Coasters was also set in Scarborough. The main characters worked in a gift shop and there were lots of outdoor scenes and some crime-based drama. Other than a few nice comments on the second script from an independent production company, nothing happened with those scripts.  It would take a writer with a lot of experience to get a prime time Scarborough sitcom on our screens. Derren Litten had huge success with the ITV comedy, Benidorm . It ran for ten series and attracted millions of viewers - according to the Wikipedia entry , series 4 and 5 attracted an average of over 7 million across all episodes. It made sense for
Post a Comment
Read more