By Audrey Dewjee
The town of Bridlington was originally in two parts – the Quay, which grew up around the harbour, and the inland Old Town, which surrounds the Priory. Its first hotel opened in 1805 and the town soon became a popular holiday resort.
Performers
Like Scarborough, Bridlington also attracted famous performers, such as Paul Robeson in 1931 and Layton and Johnstone, an American vocal and piano duo, in 1933. Turner Layton and Clarence Johnstone were highly successful in England between 1924 and 1935, appearing in top venues and selling over 10 million records. Little Richard appeared at the Spa Royal Hall on 14th May, 1964, with his backing group The Flintstones. Interestingly, Little Richard chose a man from Scarborough to write his authorised biography – Charles White (aka BBC Radio York’s “Doctor Rock”).
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Various Black circus proprietors and performers came to Bridlington in earlier years, including Pablo Fanque in 1855. Renowned lion-tamers Sargano [William Dellah] and Maccomo appeared in 1869 and 1885 respectively.
The Bridlington Free Press of Friday 17 August, 1906, advertised:
…..Mr. W. PAYNE SEDDON has much Pleasure in Announcing the Engagement, at Great Expense, of the
NATIVE CHOIR FROM JAMAICA
Artistes:
Miss ADELINE McDERMOT (Soprano), Miss CONNIE COVERLY (Mezzo-Soprano), Mrs. AMFROSINE LAWRENCE (Soprano), Miss EVELYN GORDON (Contralto), Mr. J. PACKER RAMSAY (Bass), Mr. CARLTON BRYAN (Bass), Mr. LOUIS DRYSDALE (Tenor)[1], Mr. J. T. LONCKE (Tenor), Mr. HENRY NATION (Pianist), Mr. T. ELLIS JACKSON (Director)
The Native Choir consists of six native gentlemen and four ladies. They are remarkable musicians and vocalists, cultured and educated, and give performances of original coon songs and of the celebrated "Song of Freedom." They made their first appearance outside the West Indies at Liverpool on January 26th, 1906, and caused a furore.
The choir, actually the Kingston Choral Union of Jamaica, was renamed for their tour of Britain. When they appeared in Whitby, immediately before their arrival in Bridlington, the Whitby Times of 24 August described them as "remarkable musicians and vocalists, their whole programme being full of charm and interest." [2]
Beaches
Bridlington’s glorious beaches have attracted visitors for 200 years. In more recent times, exiles from Africa have visited the town and enjoyed its pleasures.
Bridlington’s glorious beaches have attracted visitors for 200 years. In more recent times, exiles from Africa have visited the town and enjoyed its pleasures.
In the 1990s, Dr. Teboho Maitse and her daughters, Keke and Lerato, spent a day on Bridlington beach with some of their white friends. Before Teboho left South Africa, such a gathering would not have been possible, as beaches there were racially segregated until 1989.
A great fighter for racial equality and women’s rights, Teboho Maitse was born in Vereeniging, South Africa in 1951. A member of the Women’s League of the ANC (African National Congress), she was a political activist in the days of the apartheid government for which she was imprisoned, spending a year and half in solitary confinement. With the aid of an international charity, she came to Britain to further her education. She obtained a Masters and a PhD from the Women’s Studies Department of Bradford University, where she subsequently taught research methods to students reading for Masters degrees.
After the ending of apartheid, Teboho returned to South Africa where she helped set up the “Women's Empowerment Unit” for parliament. She was appointed a Commissioner of the Commission for Gender Equality and served in that role from 2002 until 2012. Dr. Maitse died in Johannesburg on November 9, 2013.
Writer and poet Jack Mapanje, former Head of English at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, was imprisoned in 1987 after he published a book of poems which allegedly criticised the Government of Dr. Hastings Banda.[3] International protests were organised to try and effect his release. After three and a half years, he was finally released but told he would have to reapply for his professorship at the University.
After a long delay in his application, Jack Mapanje decided to emigrate to Britain, and he and his family settled in Yorkshire. He was awarded a fellowship at the University of York and later became a visiting professor at Leeds University. He has also taught creative writing in prisons.
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On a visit to Bridlington with his family, he was inspired to write a poem, The Seashells of Bridlington North Beach (published in 2002).
Local characters
Over the years, Bridlington also had its share of African 'characters', residents and passers-through. One man, who made bead jewellery outside Walkington’s Jewellers in Queen Street, visited annually for the summer season. He spent his winters working in Gamages, a large department store in London.[4] Another Bridlington character was known as “Black Sam". According to an account in I Remember, Reminiscences of Old Bridlington, 1884-1961, Sam "had lost all his fingers whale fishing" and "sold bait to fishers” by the harbour. He was also said to enjoy teacakes from Jordison’s or Grantham’s bakery.[5]
Over the years, Bridlington also had its share of African 'characters', residents and passers-through. One man, who made bead jewellery outside Walkington’s Jewellers in Queen Street, visited annually for the summer season. He spent his winters working in Gamages, a large department store in London.[4] Another Bridlington character was known as “Black Sam". According to an account in I Remember, Reminiscences of Old Bridlington, 1884-1961, Sam "had lost all his fingers whale fishing" and "sold bait to fishers” by the harbour. He was also said to enjoy teacakes from Jordison’s or Grantham’s bakery.[5]
Newspaper reports gave glimpses of people’s lives (and deaths) from time to time. The Bridlington Free Press of 18 February 1871 contained a long article about a tremendous storm that hit Bridlington – “A storm so destructive has not occurred here in living memory” – which resulted in huge loss of life:
One body [was] that of the coloured man who escaped from the brig that struck near to the end of the Pier, and whose splendid swimming would have saved him but that he was disabled by breaking his leg in some way, and the poor fellow was thus compelled to succumb to the waves through which he had battled so bravely, and sank close to the north side of the Pier.
- Bridlington Free Press, 18 February 1871
Filey
In 1944, residents of the Filey district must have been aware of the large number of West Indian recruits training at nearby RAF Hunmanby Moor – about 4000 in total in two different intakes. (The site became Butlin’s Filey Holiday Camp after the war.) Strangely very few people seem to remember their presence. However, in 2004, award-winning novelist Andrea Levy published Small Island, which is partly set in the area and features a main character who trained at Filey. The novel was turned into a two-part television drama in 2009, but a different seaside location was used for the filming. As air force recruit Alford Gardner recalls, the sea at Filey attracted himself and some of his friends when they arrived for their initial training in June 1944. One day they decided to take a dip, although the beach was probably out of bounds and could have been mined. Despite the sun and seemingly glorious weather, the sea temperature was a terrible shock to men who were used to the warm Caribbean Sea. They jumped straight out and never ventured in again!
Holidays at the seaside gave people the opportunity to meet new friends, and soon after the war people flocked to the East Coast once again.
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In 1959, when Margaret from Yorkshire met Sharon from Lancashire at Filey, it was the first time she had seen another little girl who looked like herself.
Footnotes
- Louis Drysdale later settled in England. For more about his life, see the Jamaica History website.
- Thanks to Allison Edwards for information about the Jamaican Choir.
- Jack Mapanje, Of Chameleons and Gods, 1991.
- Information obtained in a conversation with Carol Stephenson of Walkington Jewellers, January, 2012.
- S. Gawthorp, I Remember, Reminiscences of Old Bridlington, 1884-1961, Woodhouse Printing, 1961.