THE WHITBY TO SCARBOROUGH LINE

Words & Music by Christopher Rowe

If you go from Hawsker to Robin Hood's Bay,
You will find there's a railway line hidden away;
Ignored and concealed by the grasses of time,
And they call it the Whitby to Scarborough line.

There's a crowd at the platform at Robin Hood's Bay,
The Victorian east coast is off work today;
And they're waving the flags and they're pouring the wine,
To open the Whitby to Scarborough line.

For nearly a century steam engines reigned,
Till the interest of tourists and businessmen waned,
No steel from Teesside and no coal from the Tyne,
Hard times hit the Whitby to Scarborough line.

A North-Eastern railway sign rusts in the sun,
Giving warning of the dangers that trespassers run,
But gorse takes no notice of a forty-bob fine,
And weeds choke the Whitby to Scarborough line.

The viaduct at Scalby, the Staintondale Clock,
The damp, desolate tunnel through Ravenscar rock,
The rest rooms at Fyling where lights never shine,
Now radar guards the Whitby to Scarborough line.

There's a ghost train in the distance and it's garlanded black,
There is dust on the signal and rust on the track;
No oil in the lantern, no paint on the sign,
And the wind rules the Whitby to Scarborough line.

Notes [by Christopher Rowe?]
        "The Whitby to Scarborough railway line opened in 1885 and closed in 1965. Some who saw the opening as children, (when they were given the day off school), also saw the closing when the last train was garlanded in black. In its heyday it was popular with holidaymakers and invaluable to industry further up the coast. But as other communications improved, so its popularity declined, and today it is derelict and overgrown. The area is now better known for the huge radar globes at RAF Fylingdales than for its peaceful scenic railway line.
        Inspired by a section in "Just a Few Lines" by Paul Jennings, published by Guinness."

Copyright EFDS Publications 1973 (From 'Sounds Like Folk No. 2 - The Railways in Song')

I'm not sure whether Christopher Rowe and Ian Clark may have recorded this on their LP 'Patterns of a Journey' Galliard GAL4021, 1973.