Herring Girl House
300 years ago, Herring Girl House was set back from the harbour and had no sea views. As part of the construction of the Marine Drive 1897 - 1908, many of the houses and buildings overhanging the harbour were demolished, and Sandside as we now know it came to be.
The little door to the side of the house is our basement door. In days gone by it used to be a tabacconist and sweet shop.
As the space is below street level people always ask if it floods. In 2013 the storm surge that affected the whole East Coast did indeed fill our basement, floating my kayak, a pram and some wheelie bins. By the next morning the water had disappeared: the basement floor was made of sand, and the house built on the sand and rock that had once made up the harbour.
Prior to this it hadn't flooded since the previous storm surge of 1953.
The original Herring Girls
Read more about the history of Scarborough's fishing history and Old Town
Over the last twenty years my father (Me Dad) Fred Normandale has written five books chronicling Scarborough's 'Bottom End'; its history and character's, hi-jinx on land and at sea, preserving a bygone era for future generations to read about.
Fred Normandale - Me Dad
To purchase these books click here:
First of the Flood
Slack Water
The Tide Turns
Ebbing Tide
Low Water
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