 The Shellies are getting ready for the Shrove Tuesday Skipping Festival at Scarborough South Bay from midday till about 5pm on the 17th of February. Great fun for all. The road by The Spa is closed. For more details please click here On the same day you can also see the Scarborough Pancake Olympics (pancake races,) and the ringing of the Pancake Bell at the junction of Newborough and North Street. Scarborough Town Center. For more details click here  Around 1595 Mother Redcap's Inn was built in Wallasey, Merseyside. Over the years it changed names and uses many times. Polly 'Poll' Jones ran it as an Inn from the year 1770. Because of her fondness for wearing red hats or hoods she quickly became known as Mother Redcap, the Inn was given the same name
Sadly the building is no longer standing, but if it had been the following description might have appeared to attract visitors. 'Set in an attractive location offering some views of the coast and within easy walking distance of the beach and pier. Upon arrival a weather vein awaits to greet or warn. Should customs officers be searching the building the arrow on the vein is made to point away from the Inn, otherwise the arrow will point to the entrance. Attached to a wood bench rests a board showing a portrait of Mother Redcap holding a frying pan alongside the words to a little ditty: 'All ye that are weary Come on in and take a rest Our eggs and ham are of the best......' A virtual history or mystery tour of smuggling, sailors, press gangs lost or hidden treasures awaits lnquisitive visitors. The many attractions include, a substantial reinforced entrance door which also operates a trap door (just inside the entrance) to surprise the hapless guest. The downstairs rooms are adorned by a multitude of tab holes (hiding places) some even large enough to conceal a person. For the more adventurous, the basement leads to darkened tunnels which supposedly connect to other parts of New Brighton. Whispers from the past tell of hordes of treasure waiting to be discovered somewhere in the labyrinth underneath. One account by James Stonehouse in his book 'Recollections of Old Liverpool' suggest these treasures could be as rich as the Anglo Saxon and Danish hordes discovered in 1840 at Cuerdale Even though the building is no longer standing, the treasure might well be!' |