My experience of working and living in Scarborough

Scarborough is a small coastal town located in North Yorkshire. I am going to discuss a few things here:

THE WEATHER 
This is the UK. The weather is wet and windy! However you will be surprised what a pleasant ( and quite warm) summer we had in 2019 in Scarborough.
There are 2 words which scare people when they thing of this region: Yorkshire ( they picture floods) and North ( They picture blizzards). This is certainly not the case. With global warming , which is quite unfortunate, the weather is quite pleasant in summer. 
Winter is harsh, like everywhere else. However being a coastal town, it is more windy but not intolerable. As long as you wear warm clothes, you will be fine. 

 THE TOWN 
Scarborough town has everything you would expect in a city.

SHOPPING
Marks and Spencer
Debenhams
Boots
Sainsbury's extra ( 5 minutes walk from town center)
Tesco Extra ( 10 min walk from town center)
Next
Superdrug 

 RESTAURANTS
McDonalds
KFC
Pizza Hut
Subway
Loads of seaside stalls where you can get fish and chips, ice cream, waffles, etc. 

 THE SEASIDE 
This is the main highlight of Scarborough. It is beautiful! You can stare at it for ages. And the best part is that it is just a 10 min walk from town.
Access:
As you can imagine, the town center is a bit high however there is a step free access to the coast as well as 3 lifts ( known as cliff lifts) in different areas. 

 SWIMMING 
This is not a good idea! I tried and the water was very cold even in summer. However it is nice to go for small dip. You can buy a swim suit though which will keep you warm.

CAR PARKING 
Brunswick shopping center has a secure and covered car park
https://www.brunswickshopping.com/visit-us/parking/
There are a few more mentioned here:
https://www.scarborough.gov.uk/home/parking/car-parks
There are also loads of car parks on the coast. The best one is near Scarborough Spa
https://www.scarborough.gov.uk/spa-drive-car-park
However these can be taken quite easily as there are just 33 car parking spaces.
There is a huge one along marine drive:
https://www.scarborough.gov.uk/home/parking/car-parks/marine-drive-and-royal-albert-drive-car-park
However this one is a slightly longer walk ( 15 to 20 minutes) from the main coast.

THINGS TO DO:
Speed boating
Adults only ( there is an age restriction):
https://www.facebook.com/scarboroughspeedboatrides/
This is worth every penny. It costs around 5 GBP ( yes, just 5 GBP! ) and you get the thrill of your life! 
Coastal walk
This is an hours walk from marine drive to Scarborough Spa. 

 Scarborough Spa
https://www.scarboroughspa.co.uk/
This always has some sort of event on. 

 Steampuss Cafe
A cat cafe in town center
https://www.facebook.com/Steampuss/

 Sealife
https://www.visitsealife.com/scarborough/

Scarborough Castle
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/scarborough-castle/

 Olympia leisure center https://www.olympiascarborough.co.uk/bowling/
For bowling. Has a lot of gaming arcades as well.

A few more mentioned here:
https://www.discoveryorkshirecoast.com/scarborough/what-to-do/

MUSLIM SPECIFIC PLACES:
Halal restaurants
Az Scarborough ( Turkish)
http://www.azscarborough.co.uk/
Tikka Tikka (Indian)
https://thetikkatikka.co.uk/

Halal butcher:
Little Asia indian spices
You may need to call and place your order beforehand.
This small grocery store also has other Asian spices and condiments. 
PREMA
https://www.facebook.com/PremaAsianStoreOnline/

 PLACES TO RENT
If you work in Scarborough Hospital, there are nice houses on Scalby road and around the hospital. If you would prefer the seaside, there are excellent places on The Esplanade and South Bay.
The rents are very cheap - you can get a 2 bedded apartment/ new build house which is clean with all the basic necessities for around 500 to 700 GBP per month. I have explained more about this here:
http://omarsguidelines.blogspot.com/2017/05/my-guideline-on-accommodation-in-uk.html

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
There is a regular bus service which goes from town to the hospital and all the other main areas. However it is not very good - especially in winter when it is windy. I would strongly suggest that anyone who plans to work here must have a car.

OWNING A CAR
The insurance rates are quite low in Scarborough as it is a relatively safe place. We do have the usual morning rush hour but it is not an issue. Owning a car is a must as Scarborough is a small town and there are amazing places nearby to visit - which include York, Filey, Robin Hoods Bay and a few more ( This is Yorkshire - there is beautiful scenery everywhere!)

HOSPITAL
Please read this post:
https://omarsguidelines.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-st3-post-in-acute-medicine.html
Overall, Scarborough is a very nice seaside town to live in. It is cheap and is just an hours drive from York and Hull. 
However it is important to have your own car. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My experience of applying for British Citizenship via naturalisation

Image
As you all might be aware, my wife and I received our ILR in March, 2021. I have shared the whole process here: All about ILR and getting a UK citizenship - an introduction: https://omarsguidelines.blogspot.com/2021/03/all-about-ilr-and-getting-uk.html We then decided to apply for naturalisation in March, 2022 - one year after we were granted our ILR.  STEPS:  1. Apply online  https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain/how-to-apply 2. Submit application after paying for it.  3. The UKVCAS team will email you once you have applied stating that they are going to assess your application to see if you can use the IDV app ( A phone application on which you upload all your documents, take your picture and this way do not need to attend a face to face biometrics appointment).  4. Once you get the email from the UKVCAS team that you can now download and sign-in to your IDV app, upload the necessary documents ( like you would do on the UKVCAS website...
Read more

My experience of buying a house

OUR TIMELINE  1. 11th March : Got a call from Barratts that the house we are interested in has been released  2. 12th March: Booked an appointment with a sales team  3. Reserved the house the same day  4. 14th March: contacted mortgage advisers , provided scanned documents via email.  5. 15th March: contacted Solicitors , provided scanned documents via email.  6.  22nd March - property surveyed by solicitors  7. 29th March - mortgage approved 8. 24th March - paid the 5% deposit to our solicitors and exchanged contracts 9. 11th May - Had a choices appointment to add options ( upgrade kitchen, flooring, carpets, etc) and paid 25% of the extra options we went for.  10. 18th August - had the first viewing of the house ( at this stage, the initial coat of paint was done) 11. 20th August - Booked a snagger: https://www.tonge-robinson.co.uk/ 12. Booked a second viewing of the house on the 18th of September to measure spaces for cupboards. We were al...
Read more

Table of contents

                    To open each post, kindly right click on the post and click on open in a new window/tab. Everything in the UK is online - Kindly check the official guidelines along with going through this blog. This is merely my experience and opinion. Google the details of the relevant teams and contact them directly if you are unable to find the official guidance. PRE PLAB: I am a medical student. What do I need to do to work in the NHS? https://omarsguidelines.blogspot.com/2021/09/i-am-medical-student-what-do-i-need-to.html An introduction to working in the NHS, UK. http://omarsguidelines.blogspot.com/2015/06/my-interactive-session-with-medical.html PLAB guideline for medical students http://omarsguidelines.blogspot.com/2015/05/plab-for-medical-students.html Checklist for future NHS doctors http://omarsguidelines.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/checklist-for-future-nhs-doctors.html My message to IMGs who are discouraged by other people to ...
Read more