Ray Edmonds stories of the Old Town in Scarborough
Ray Edmonds lives in Princess Terrace and spent many years at sea. He has recorded some of his old stories on a DVD which has been placed on Youtube.
If he had a pound for every time he passed the bridge onto Scarborough's Lighthouse pier he would have been a rich man. He used to fish from the far pier many times too - angling. He spent many happy days there - nearly his whole life on that pier.
Ray remembered many of the old characters such as Arthur Blogg(who had the Orcadian which is still on the go),Eric Appleby,Ronnie Bayes, John Cunnell, Dickie Larne,Blondie Wood, Bill 'Jitter' Sheader(coxswain of the Lifeboat), Tommy Rowley(second Coxswain), Cooksie Leader. Then there was Johnny Normandale who had the Floreat(SH3) who he used to go to sea with. Then there was Johnny Norms brother Bill and Ral Crawford. Ray used to come out of the pub about twelve o'clock at night get his fishing gear and go off to sea... "still half kettled."
One good story Ray remembered concerned an old boat he used to pass down by the jetty. One time he decided to give it a 'kick' and the whole side fell off. It sank - the 'Betty Blue' it was called. The lad who owned it wasn't very happy either.
He remembered times by Old Corrigans as a child. They used to wait under the amusements and catch money as it fell - until they got wise to it and stopped it.
When he was about ten years old he went down with a gang of lads who decided to walk from one side of the harbour to the other. They didn't think about it being thick mud. One of the lads got stuck up to his head in mud - there he was 'only his ed stuck out of the mud'. That was "real hilarious" and they got a belting for that from their dads. They never walked across it again!
When he got his new boat Ray felt "as proud as a peacock" as it was lauched. It was a little wooden coble held together by bits of putty and nails. He got it off big George Eves - he knew what it was like when he sold it to him - must have seen him coming.
The old times have passed into history. He remembers the herring boats that used to come is September. You could go from one side to the other - you could literally walk across the decks of the boats. The herring fleets were a marvaleous site. He says " But what have you got now - half a dozen trawlers and thats yer lot!"
OTHER ARTICLES
• Tommy Rowley - stories about loss of life at sea
• Children of the fishing families in Scarborough
• Watching for ships by the harbour walls in Scarborough
• Life in the Old Town of Scarborough and harbour - the fishing families
• The early years of the Scarborough Lifeboat
• The national RNLI and the Scarborough lifeboat of 1861.
• Harwood Brierleys description of Scarborough harbour at the opening of the 20th century
• The Allen and Truman Scarborough fishing families
• Fishing names in Scarborough's Old Town - Cammish Jenkinson and Sheader
• Scarboroughs Old Town and its connection to the sea
• The loss of the Scarborough trawler Heritage in 1993
• The Harwood and Bullamore fishing family history in Scarborough
• Stories of human interest from the sea port of Scarborough
• Tunny fishing in Scarborough in the 1930's
• The history of the Scarborough fishing industry
• Dennis Allen - stories from the sea
• Witches and black cats in the Old Town in Scarborough - superstitions
• The port of Scarborough in the late 15th Century
• Article by the granddaughter of James Ruffen Bayes
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