Anne's
Sea-view From Wood's Lodgings
ABOVE: Taken
from the main balcony of the Grand Hotel; this is the view Anne would have
had looking slightly to the left through her Wood's Lodgings room window.
(The view to the right is shown below).
| Extracts from Ellen Nussey's account of Anne's
last night: 'The evening closed in with the most glorious sunset
ever witnessed. The castle on the cliff stood in proud glory, gilded by
the rays of the declining sun . . . The view was grand beyond description.
Anne was drawn in her easy chair to the window, to enjoy the scene with
us. Her face became illumined almost as much as the glorious scene she
gazed upon . . . ' |
Anne 'passed a reasonable night' but died at
2 p.m. the following afternoon.
On the skyline, extreme left,
is St. Mary's Church, where Anne is buried; below it can be seen a building
with a yellow and red front - this is the Futurist Theatre, and just to
the right and beyond this is a white/red coloured building which is currently
Corrigan's Amusement Arcade - at the foot of Bland's Cliff. From 1868 to
the early 1900s this building housed the sea-front 'indoor
seawater baths' (25K / 21K / 19K). Prior to 1868, and through
the period when Anne visited Scarborough, these baths were located 'this
side' of the Futurist Theatre (the site is indicated by a white asterisk
in the photograph). In the concluding section of Anne's novel, Agnes
Grey, Agnes resides at a seaside resort that Anne names only as 'A------',
but is clearly identifiable as Scarborough. She gives a graphic description
of Scarborough's South Bay, and mentions the 'water-cart' fetching the
sea water for the baths.29n
Very early one morning (6.00 am), Agnes takes
a stroll along the beach -
| '. . . when my foot was on the sands and my face
towards the broad, bright bay, no language can describe the effect of the
deep, clear azure of the sky and ocean, the bright morning sunshine on
the semi-circular barrier of craggy cliffs surmounted by green swelling
hills, and on the smooth wide, white sands and the low rocks out at sea
- looking, with their clothing of weeds and moss, like little grass-grown
islands . . . Nothing else was stirring - no living creature was visible
besides myself. My footsteps were the first to press the firm, unbroken
sands . . .'. |
A little later, after walking some way along the
beach, she turns around and looks back to see 'one
water-cart coming out of the town to fetch water for the baths'.
'The
Sands'
ABOVE: The
view to the right - towards the Spa buildings. On the extreme right is
the Spa Bridge.
(View to the left - top of page)
'. . the semi-circular barrier of
craggy cliffs surmounted by green swelling hills, and
the smooth wide, white sands .'
The 'low
rocks out at sea . . with their covering of weeds and moss'
can be seen in the distance - as a dark patch stretching out into the sea
(just left of centre - also see later). The 'South Cliff' extends from
the Spa Bridge to beyond these 'low rocks';
and among the greenery, though not visible in this photograph, are a myriad
of pathways that twist and weave their way in and out of the wooded areas
that are scattered along the uneven slopes. Some of these paths emerge
onto slight plateaus that jut out from the general line of the cliffs,
and tower above the sands - giving magnificent views back across the bay
towards the castle. Anne would have taken many walks along these pathways (see
'Anne Brontë Was Here (2)'
- from 'Main Page').30n
'The
Sands' Quotes from the penultimate chapter of Agnes
Grey (with relevant pictures) (44K) (56K).
Copyright ©
1999 Michael Armitage
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| 26
- June - 99 |
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