Biography, Autobiography, Old Steve of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

1. We had refurbished and were several more thousands of pounds in debt, when the Bank Manager moved on and his successor decided he wanted 'his' money back a little quicker, so moving the goal posts, as banks do, with monotonous regularity, we ended up, once again, struggling to pay off loans. On top of that the twenty-week season that we had enjoyed for years, rapidly reduced as the boom in cheap overseas holidays escalated. Then our traditional recruiting grounds dried up after the collapse of the mining industry and the depression in the shipyard and other industries, particularly in Scotland. It became a one and two day Bed and Breakfast trade and where then, the few that did come, wanted to keep you up into the early hours of the morning, in the bar, where they made a half pint last all night, and expected you to plan the whole of their next day for them or moan to you if the day before had not gone as they expected. Advanced bookings became almost a thing of the past and the people, in the trade, became desperate and very bitchy. It reached the stage where those trading close by us would, when people knocked at their door and enquired prices etc. quite openly say, and we knew this because customers would tell us, 'I don't know what they are charging around here but we will do it a pound cheaper, than the cheapest.' Gone were the days of price fixing at Hotels Association Meetings after the close of official business. Gone were the days when the Hotels Association meant something and so the local authority began to ride rough shod over us with things like business rates, secondary licensing and charges for advertising with the local Tourist Board. Their revenue had gone down and so they would recover it from us, thus killing any chances of becoming competitive with the overseas holiday trade. Then everyone else jumped on the bandwagon, health and safety, hygiene inspectors, self elected groups of Hotels Association inspectors, made up of the so-called committee who would go to great lengths to squeeze out competition and at the same time creep round the Tourist Department for favours and personal gain. Big hotels pushed for the conference trade at the expense and inconvenience of everyone else. A local mentality developed, at every conceivable level, where visitors were not welcome but old folks, the unemployed and the unemployable, all with no spending power, were and so the local authority run amenities, for the visitor, were drastically run down. Theatres, concert halls and public places were either shut down or abandon and so the unstoppable negative spiral set in. No visitors, no money, no money no amenities, no amenities, no visitors, hence, obviously, no money. People who came along with innovative ideas were blocked as it soon proved easier for those in authority to just draw their, self calculated and grossly inflated, salaries and perks, than to work for them and all this was backed and approved of, by a group of very sad local councillors. They say a sick society will always throw up sick leaders and that was very much the case in Scarborough at that time. Whether the town will ever recover is wide open to debate and many doubt that it can as they feel it was allowed to sink too low.

2. But all that proved to be no problem for the banks. They just sent out a letter saying, 'We want our money or else.' and that in turn was no problem to some of the worst struggling, middle sized hotels. They converted them into flats and catered for the lower end of the market, which, for a while, seemed to be there until the death. Some even went in for students, a demand having been created by the rapidly expanding 'University of Hull, Scarborough Campus.' Students maybe a nuisance and wreck the place but the local education authority pays up for all that and you can move out and live somewhere else while they help to lower the tone of the area you leave behind. Then why not go one further, advertise inland and in the prisons, 'Why be on the dole here when you can be on the dole at the sea side and still draw your money?' What they didn't say and these people quickly latched on to, was, 'There is less for you to do but plenty of accommodation, paid for by the local DHSS, for you to do it in, and there are rich picking for the petty criminal who has an expensive habit to feed.' It was stated around that time that anyone with a drugs related problem needed to thieve or 'acquire,' other peoples property and goods to the value of eighty thousand pounds per year and then sell them to the 'second-hand outlets,' that sprung up on every street corner, or to the 'fences' and dealers that skulked in the background, for around twenty thousand to feed an average heroin addiction. Of course then, it didn't take long for the 'do-goody' organisations to spring up and shout loud for big chunks of public money using as their battle cry that the area had one of the worst drug problems in the country and per head of population, the highest percentage of single, under age, mothers. True or not, it didn't help the holiday industry and so the lifeblood of the town began to drain away.

3. That was how it was when we decided, and the attitude of the Bank played a major role in that decision, to leave the holiday trade. But we were not to leave entirely for another thirteen years or so.

4. The Banks, bless them and may everyone that belonged them, that we dealt with, rot in hell, moved the goal posts so many times it was incredible and the more you struggled the quicker they came in with the big sticks. The first Bank we dealt with in Scarborough calmly told us that things were not going too good and because of that felt that we should talk about paying off some of our loans a little quicker than we had originally planned to and they had agreed to. I was so annoyed that I walked into the next bank, a few doors away, and said, 'You don't know me and I don't know you but would you like my business?'

'Come in. Sit down. Have a cup of coffee. How much do you want to borrow? We will send our man to see you.'

5. So we changed banks and things went smoothly for a while but we had to get out of our existing business where we had begun to feel like rats on a sinking ship.

6. But, and it was a big but. Where did we go and what did we do? I still wanted to be an artist or a writer or anything where there were 'big bucks' for what, I then believed, was for little effort. I still had my Complementary Medicine Practice that I had successfully set up and although that was going very well, it was insufficient to support us all. My Son got married and that eased the financial burden somewhat. Well it did in so much that I then had petrol in the car when I needed it, there was usually something left in the fridge and the practice of bringing back a dozen motorbike mates, who only had a couple of pints of beer each, from off my bar, and ate two loaves of bread, a full tub of butter and a seven pound tin of Baked Beans, popped in the microwave to warm, with their fish and chips, but was not the answer. To my surprise my wife talked seriously of a Pub. They were the only businesses that, at that time, were making any money and she expressed an interest in one where there was catering and some 'Bed and Breakfast.' The business side was no problem as we had had many years experience and with nearly all of them, in some way, attached to a Bar or Licensed outlet. I didn't want to leave Scarborough as I loved the place and had many and varied interests based there so I loosely said that if she could find one, in Scarborough, then we would seriously consider it. She did and a good one at that and where the then Landlord was being forced to retire due to ill health.

But before that!

7. Whilst in the Bed and Breakfast trade, which it really was, despite the fact that most of those in it, loved to call themselves 'Hoteliers', we worked very hard and long hours in the summer months, or we did initially, and had time in the winter to do our own thing and any refurbishment and maintenance. My wife, an avid lace maker and for years an active member of the Towns Woman's Guild, did her thing while I, and typical of me, tried all sorts. Prior to leaving Bradford I had taken up Oil Painting, so along with that and the Glass Engraving, I took them up again. I went along and joined a couple of the local art groups or 'societies' as they insisted on calling themselves and what a surprise. In Bradford they had been a cross section with one common aim, to paint and to socialise, and the talent ranged from very poor to very good, with many selling their work regularly and for substantial sums. In Scarborough the 'Snob' element was incredible and the talent, with the exception of only a small few, ranged for poor to worse and every one of them believed they were wonderful. They graded their artistic talent according to their own defined social status and the 'blue rinse and glass earring brigade' were way out on top. 'She's very good, her husband is a Stock Broker.' 'Isn't he good, he lives in Holbeck Road, the Filey Road end you know,' and their exhibitions, well what they put out for public display even the most scathing art critic would have found hard to describe. I never considered myself to be anything more than average and at least my works were original and quite a few of them sold over the years, so I didn't last long with them, particularly when they would pass remarks, within earshot, such as, 'He's not bad to say he is from the north side.' My glass-work did not impress them one bit, as none of them could do it, and it wasn't as clever as making an indescribable daub and being married to a Bank Manager.

8. Long before that, however, in fact shortly after going into engineering, I had started and still pursued my life long obsession and interest, sparked off by the Careers Officer, in the subject of Human Behaviour, or what the experts call Psychology. It is a subject, as I have said, that I have long studied and have done so in great depth and I am qualified to call myself a psychologist, with letters after my name, and I had a private practice for many years. The 'Hotel' business was ideal as I could practice almost unlimited hours in the winter and reduced hours in the summer, taking on staff to cover some of my hotel work. My wife did not object as she claimed that women are more adaptable to catering work and as long as I did all the administration and ran the bar etc, at night, it was fine by her. Also she backed me one hundred percent, not only in that, but in one of my other great interests and for that I shall be eternally grateful. They say that behind every great man there is a greater woman and I am sure that is true in my case, although I would never consider myself to be great, either before or now, but I could not have achieved some of the things, I am so proud of, without the backing I got.

9. Shortly after arriving and settling in Scarborough, the local News Paper ran a feature on the local Coastguard and it basically said that they had restructured and were having an open day and recruitment drive. Being a naturally curios person and with little else to do on that particular day, I went along and met the late Billy Walker and, as I was soon to discover, a finer man never drew breath. He explained what it was all about and the fact that they had recently reorganised and the number of full time officers had been reduced and a new guy had come along and taken over and was currently recruiting a team of auxiliaries. He explained further that an Auxiliary was a fully trained and uniformed officer, who formed part of a disciplined group and who would be governed by the Official Secrets Act, be required to train on a regular weekly basis and then be called out, via a bleeper and telephone system as and when required. Therefore, there was attached to it a fairly heavy commitment. He asked me if I had any sea experience and I told him that, of recent times, I had been twice round the local lake in a rowing boat, had come home from Cyprus on a Troop Ship called the 'Empire Orwell', had seen pictures of the 'Queen Mary' and had learned to swim in the Leeds/Liverpool canal. The later statement not being true: as I had learned whilst serving with the Royal Air Force in Cyprus. He thought that having been in the services would help. Anyhow he introduced me to the new guy, who I never liked from the beginning and could never get on with, and where I think the feelings were mutual. He thought everyone was brain dead, (although the actual term he used would be more associated with a self-abuser) and that they had no intelligence. But it was his own shortcomings and lack that failed to let him see otherwise. Anyhow perhaps he was desperate for recruits because he said he would see how I went on during the initial training. That is basically how I became a Coastguard and despite the fact that I never got on with the Officer in Charge, Billy Walker and the V in C (Volunteer in Charge) more than made up for that, as did the rest of the crew and all the Senior Officers, who were and still are, a super group of people and with whom I am very proud to have known and been associated with. My thanks must also go to one of the then serving and now like myself, retired, auxiliaries, who despite his criticism of me when I was sometimes tied down with the Pub and the fact that he often had to let the team down due to his own work commitments, with whom I teamed up. Two man teams often being an integral part of the job. For it was he who would constantly remind me, whenever there was a clash of personalities or what have you, that the Coastguard was bigger than 'those bastards' and 'we' were the Coastguard. That stopped me from walking away on more than one occasion, particularly when the verbal diarrhoea was flying about, as sadly it often did. Later, our man was posted and we got a new Officer in Charge and I will say little about him other than he was entirely different and was, and I assume still is, a super guy and so laid back it was unbelievable after all the other pressures and inabilities to handle people.

10. Throughout the fifteen years I saw many changes and some I didn't like, particularly when they would constantly cut back the service, but then time has proven them right. With progress in modern technology and the introduction of improved radio and radar communications and satellite navigation, better equipped and informed skippers, on the larger vessels, and the decimation of the fishing fleets, that got rid of a large proportion of the dick heads working locally, the pressure on the Coastguard has been greatly reduced. Yet, despite all that, when called upon they still manage to come up trumps. Stick with it lads. I though I did a good job and I am sure you think you do also and you are right. The same happened to the Lifeboat Service that I also got deeply involved with, and which put my wife through even more anxious moments and caused her even more concern although she would always claim that it didn't. The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) have not been cut back quite as such as the Coastguard Service, but the demand for their services, particularly along our stretch of the coastline, has declined noticeably since I became involved. Anyhow I am well past my sell-by date now, so what ever happens in either service, they will not be seeking my help and advice. Although to date, I am still a member of the RNLI and serve on the Management Committee of the local branch. But enough of my pathetic claim to fame, although my mother would have been proud of me but then surely, and purely, only because of the fact that the Duke and Duchess of Kent are deeply involved in the RNLI and we have photographs, where both my wife and I appear with them, and you can't get much closer to the aristocracy than that. My father would have taken the mickey and probably have likened me to a member of 'Dad's Army.'

11. Have I any criticism or adverse comments? No, not really, but I do have one deep regret. In all the years that I served in the Coastguard Service, and I hope served conscientiously, we were called out many times and on some of those occasions it was to search for missing persons and although we would search as a unit, I was never in the team that actually found them. Sometimes very close but never actually there and even on practice nights, when one of the team would be sent out to hide and then we, the remainder, with very little information, as one usually got in most real cases, had to go out and find them, I never did. A full time Officer from Humber District joined us one night and along with one of our lads set out to hide among the rocks. You guessed it, I didn't find them but some other members of the team did and later our lad married that Lady Officer from Humber. I never knew the rocks under Burniston were so romantic and on such a cold, dark and wet night. I always found them to be covered in weed, the rock that is, and to be slippery and good for barking ones shins and collecting bruises. Maybe cuddling up close for warmth had something to do with it?

12. I had not been in the Coastguard Service long when along came a guy, who claimed he was the subcontractor hired by the local corporation to remove loose boulders and earth from around the Castle Headland Cliffs, that overhung the Marine Drive. This was an annual job and was done to prevent materials, loosened by the winter rain and frost, from falling onto locals and visitors alike as they either drove or walked round the Drive. What this guy wanted was to hire someone on a daily basis, with experience, to go down the cliff face and set small charges and dislodge the potentially dangerous stuff. It would pay well and one of our lads jumped at it. The idea, apparently, was to do it in the early hours of the morning, when things were quiet, and simply allow any loosened materials to drop down and be trapped behind the retaining wall, originally constructed as a safety barrier for minor falls that could take place at any time of the year. Things went well for a couple of days and some quite large amounts were loaded onto wagons and driven away for disposal. Then came the awkward one, apparently looking potentially dangerous but at the same time being difficult to get at. Struggling, a charge was placed. Everyone stood clear as it was fired and then they stood and watched, in amazement, as a tremendous boulder left the cliff face, hurtled down, smashing its way through the protective wall before ending up in the middle of the road and completely blocking the traffic in both directions. A large earth moving type of vehicle was hired and following the removal of several, large, sharp pointed projections from the boulder, it was, with tremendous effort, rolled back through the hole in the wall. The wall was built back up and to this day the boulder can still be seen projecting way above the top. I wonder how many people, who can't help noticing it, realise that had it gone a few yards futher it would have gone through the railings and into the sea, creating some but solving a lot of problems. I don't think our man got paid for that day and how the contractor faired is anyone's guess. Sufficient to say that particular guy never came back nor were the Coastguard ever approached again, for volunteers, to supply 'skilled labour.'

13. Despite the highs and lows and there were many of those, my favourite and most pleasurable time was playing out with the Search and Rescue Helicopters, which are based at Leconfield, and covered our area. We did some great exercises with them and some very serious jobs and I enjoyed all of it, even if at times they dipped us in the sea. Then there was the social side, often officially classed as an exercise, where we would visit their home base and these were second to none. My thanks to them and to everyone else, for some very fond memories, many of which prompted and inspired the writing of my book,

'Station Calling Coastguard.'

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