We try to keep busy in the world of IPA at Scarborough, typically organising a couple of events per month, usually a walk and a meal out somewhere but September 2023 proved to be a particularly busy and exciting month for some of its members.
It all started on 2nd September when Branch Chair Mark Faunt, and Branch Secretary Chris Charlton took part in the 76th Airborne March at Oosterbeek near Arnhem in the Netherlands along with good friend and Dutch IPA member, Aart van Dijk and just over 32,000 other marchers. It was an honour to be a part of such an amazing and memorable event. Sadly, but inevitably, the number of Veterans that are able to attend is reducing and this year, only five veterans were able to make the journey to
Oosterbeek. They laid a wreath at the ‘Soldier with Flower Girl’ Memorial opposite the Hartenstein Museum (formerly the Hartenstein Hotel used as Headquarters by the British Airborne troops) before waving to the thousands of marchers & walkers that respectfully saluted them as they passed by. Our 15Km route took us through the Arnhem and Oosterbeek Military Cemetery where nearly 1700 Commonwealth and other servicemen are buried or commemorated. We stopped and laid a Poppy Cross on behalf of the Branch on the Stone of Remembrance in memory of those soldiers that gave their lives during Operation Market Garden (A Bridge Too Far). It is very touching that local people, some of whom were children at the time of the failed Operation, still tend the graves and headstones within the cemetery as a mark of respect and thanks.
After returning home, Chris and Branch Treasurer Judith Smith collected IPA Section Canada member Jim Dallimore from his holiday accommodation in Whitby on the 5th September and took him on a tour of North Yorkshire’s coast. It was a gloriously sunny, if a little hazy day, but Jim was able to see the best the Yorkshire Coast could offer. This included stops at Robin Hoods Bay, Ravenscar, Oliver’s Mount near Scarborough and an open top bus ride around Scarborough’s South and North Bays. Jim treated us to lunch at a local pub in West Ayton near Scarborough where he enjoyed what he described as the best fish and chips in England! After meeting Mark Faunt for afternoon coffee, we took Jim back to Whitby stopping off at Whitby Abbey, the famous Whitby Whalebones and the Captain Cook Memorial Monument.
The 6th September was a long planned regular lunch date and 13 Branch members and guests enjoyed lunch at Walker’s Fish Restaurant in East Ayton near Scarborough – just pleased that Jim was the only one to have fish and chips the day before!
A visit to the Humber Bridge Country Park on 11th September saw 5 members completing an 11Km walk which included passing under and across the Humber Bridge, once the longest single span suspension bridge in the world. It’s difficult to fully appreciate the design, architecture and engineering that goes into a structure such as this until you see it from these different and unusual view-points. You certainly don’t appreciate it from within the confines of a car while driving across it!
Strong wind and rain didn’t put 24 members and guests off a planned visit to the International Bomber Command Centre at Lincoln on the 20th September. Very much supported by members and guests from Branches across the UK including South East Essex, Avon & Somerset, Leicestershire, Stafford, West Yorkshire and London ‘K’ Branch, this proved to be an interesting, thought provoking and sometimes emotional visit to acknowledge and remember the sacrifices and commitment of the men and women, from 62 nations, who came together as part of Bomber Command during World War II. The visit also captured the stories of some of those who suffered as a result of the bombing campaigns and others whose survival depended upon, and was guaranteed by, the humanitarian operations of Bomber Command (Operation Manna, a humanitarian mission to drop food in the German occupied Netherlands in April & May 1945). Importantly, it also allowed at least one member to find information for lifelong friends now living in New Zealand who had lost their father, a member of Bomber Command Air Crew in World War II and struggled to find out even basic information.
So what do we have to look forward to in October? Very much back to the norm with a 10Km walk around Whitby and an evening Pie Fest meal at Hunmanby near Filey.
On a wider front, perhaps I should also mention that Chris & Judith, together with Spike and Helen Elliott from Cheshire Branch are also making the final arrangements for a Section UK IPA Walking Group Walking Weekend based in Harrogate at the end of October. If all goes to plan, the weekend will be attended by 52 members and guests who will complete two 11Km walks, one in Harrogate and one in Temple Newsam near Leeds. More on this event to follow…….
Chris Charlton, 3 Region, Scarborough Branch