Pilloried Yorkshire town hits back at sports writer

Scarborough Council and Welcome to Yorkshire went on the offensive after Michael Henderson, who writes for The Times and visited for the cricket festival, pilloried both town and the local authority, pulling no punches in what he found on his visit.

While praising its “atmospheric” cricket ground, he attacked the town’s pubs, hotels and businesses.

However Welcome to Yorkshire insisted Scarborough was undergoing a renaissance. A spokeswoman said: “Attendance figures over the four days at North Marine Road last week topped the 15,000 mark – the highest in county cricket this season.

“There’s been investment into Scarborough Spa, the harbour and the refurbishment of the Open Air Theatre. There’s also the recent opening of the multi-million pound Alpamare waterpark and the incredible crowds which turned out to support the finish of the Tour de Yorkshire.

“Traders tell us business has been booming this summer and let’s not forget Scarborough was recently named as the most visited destination outside London by holidaymakers.”

Scarborough Council’s cabinet member for tourism, Coun Andrew Jenkinson, said the writer had been “very harsh” and in future should “stick to trying to write about (cricket) rather than travel writing.

“Scarborough is undergoing a renovation but that does not happen over night.

“Our visitor figures show that people are coming to the town and are returning, that would not be the case if they were not liking what they found here.

“He may have some points about some of the seafront, but once the Futurist is sorted out then the area will start to improve but you only have to look at Sandside to see the improvements that are being made. The area down there used to be a bit of a mess and now it looks fantastic.”

However, one local resident hoped the council would act on the issues raised. Richard Bedford of Cayton said: “One can only hope some of our elected members may have read [the article] as its contents are in no way conductive to encouraging tourism in Scarborough.”

Manchester-born Mr Hendersion wrote: “The town, first: what a sad place it has become. What a sad place it has allowed itself to become. Charles Laughton was born here, and another actor-manager Sir Alan Ayckbourn has brought it world fame through his superb tragi-comedies.

“Those are things worth bragging about, if only to supply a fresh coat of varnish to a town that urgently requires a restoration that will never come.”

He went on: “The grand hotels have not been grand for decades, yet, like a fading actress, each one imagines that a spot of rouge will mask the passing of years. It’s terribly sad. A walk to the seafront revealed an art gallery full of kitsch that marked its “final season”, putrid pubs and, by the score, tatty shops in buildings that used to be handsome.”

The journalist, whose Wikipedia page reveals that he once described people who do not watch cricket from ‘The MCC Presidents box’ as ‘Riffraff’ said Scarborough could be twinned with “Chavsville, Kentucky”, adding: “Tattoo parlours and body piercing for teenage girls of the parish, by way of initiation into the adult world.

“A painted body and ripped nose is as desirable for these modish cases as a bonnet and dance card used to be in the Regency Bath.”