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The Norman Conquests

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The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn . Each of the plays depicts the same six characters over the same weekend in a different part of a house. Table Manners is set in the dining room, Living Together in the living room, and Round and Round the Garden in the garden.

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54-570: The plays were first performed in Scarborough , before runs in London and on Broadway. A television version was first broadcast in the UK during October 1977. The small scale of the drama is typical of Ayckbourn. There are only six characters, namely Norman, his wife Ruth, her brother Reg and his wife Sarah, Ruth's sister Annie, and Tom, Annie's next-door-neighbour. A seventh unseen and unheard character

108-575: A council leader, who in turn appoints up to nine councillors to form an executive cabinet. It replaces the former non-metropolitan county which had a cabinet-style council of 72 councillors. The area is the largest local authority area in England . Larger towns and settlements include Harrogate , Scarborough , Northallerton , Selby , Skipton , Richmond , Malton , Thirsk , Stokesley , Great Ayton , Norton-on-Derwent , Catterick Garrison , Pickering , Helmsley and Knaresborough while Ripon

162-535: A housing development in Eastfield , Scarborough, revealed a Roman luxury villa, religious sanctuary, or combination of both. The building layout is unique in Britain and extends over an area of about the size of two tennis courts. It included a bathhouse and a cylindrical tower with rooms radiating from it. The buildings were “designed by the highest-quality architects in northern Europe in the era and constructed by

216-403: A licence to go into a large-scale commercial operation from 2019. SeaGrown have an intent to move into the bioplastics market. The tourism trade continues to be a major part of the local economy with Scarborough being the second most-visited destination in England by British holidaymakers. While weekend and mid-week-break trade are tending to replace the traditional week-long family holiday,

270-401: A mix of quality hotels and flats. The ITV television drama The Royal and its recent spin-off series, The Royal Today were both filmed in the area. The South Bay has the largest illuminated 'star disk' anywhere in the UK. It is 85 ft (26 m) across and fitted with subterranean lights representing the 42 brightest stars and major constellations that can be seen from Scarborough in

324-698: A more pedestrian-friendly promenade, street lighting and seating. The town was badly damaged in a 98 plane bombing raid by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War , on 18 March 1941. Twenty eight civilians were killed and hundreds were injured and over 1,400 buildings were damaged. The South Cliff Promenade above the Spa and South Cliff Gardens has wide views of the South Bay and old town. Its splendid Regency and Victorian terraces are still intact, with

378-626: A natural space for picnics, fishing and walkers. In 2012 a new snack bar was built alongside the Mere. The lake is now part of the Oliver's Mount Country Park and the Hispaniola now sails out of Scarborough harbour during the summer season. Surrounding the River Derwent as it flows into the sea are high hills with tall, dense grasses and fertile soil, due to the stream ' Sea Cut ' leading from

432-589: A new boat house was added in 2018. For many years a mock maritime battle (based on the Battle of the River Plate ) has been regularly re-enacted on the boating lake with large model boats and fireworks throughout the summer holiday season. Northstead Manor Gardens include the North Bay Railway and three other attractions: a water chute, a boating lake with boats for hire during the summer season and

486-539: A number of Royal Navy vessels, including HMS Apollo , HMS Fearless and HMS Duncan . The town has an Anglican church, St Martin-on-the-Hill , built in 1862–63 as the parish church of South Cliff. It contains works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti , William Morris , Edward Burne-Jones and Ford Madox Brown . A young Malton architect, John Gibson, designed the Crown Spa Hotel , Scarborough's first purpose-built hotel. Notable Georgian structures include

540-642: A smaller market on the South Bay. Boyes (based on the town's outskirts in Eastfield ) is a discount department store chain which has over 70 stores across principally the north of England and in the English East Midlands with a flagship shop on Queen Street. Manufacturers based in Scarborough include the Plaxton Company (a division of Alexander Dennis ) which has been building coaches and buses since 1907. Sirius Minerals , which

594-424: A stronghold here – hence 'Skarthi's burh'. The town is claimed to have been founded around 966 AD as Skarðaborg [ˈskɑrðɑˌborɡ] by Thorgils Skarthi , a Viking raider. There is no archaeological evidence to support this claim, which was made during the 1960s as part of a pageant of Scarborough events. The claim is based on a fragment of an Icelandic Saga . However, due to coastal erosion over

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648-405: A theme of time: four towers represent the seasons, 12 floors the months, 52 chimneys the weeks and the original 365 bedrooms represented the days of the year. A blue plaque outside the hotel marks where the novelist Anne Brontë died in 1849. She was buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Church by the castle. An amount of 20th century architecture exists within the main shopping district and in

702-649: Is a seaside town in the district and county of North Yorkshire , England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the fourth-largest settlement in the county. It is located on the North Sea coastline. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire , the town lies between 10 and 230 feet (3–70 m) above sea level, from the harbour rising steeply north and west towards limestone cliffs. The older part of

756-580: Is developing a potash mine near Whitby, has its headquarters in Scarborough. McCain Foods has a factory in the town for over 50 years, and sponsored the previous football stadium . Scarborough power station supplied electricity to the town and the surrounding area from 1893 to 1958. It was owned and operated by the Scarborough Electric Supply Company Limited from 1893 to 1925, then by Scarborough Corporation until

810-403: Is far above sea level compared to the immediate coastline, where the climate is likely slightly milder year round. Scarborough's fishing industry is still active, though much reduced in size. The working harbour is home to a fish market including a shop and wooden stalls where fresh, locally-caught seafood can be purchased by the public. A seaweed farm has been in operation since 2018, with

864-567: Is for a fish weighing 851 lb (386 kg) caught off Scarborough in 1933 by Laurie Mitchell-Henry. On 5 June 1993, Scarborough made international headlines when a landslip caused part of the Holbeck Hall Hotel , along with its gardens, to fall into the sea. Although the slip was shored up with rocks and the land has long since grassed over, evidence of the cliff's collapse remains clearly visible from The Esplanade, near Shuttleworth Gardens. Scarborough has been affiliated with

918-705: Is in the house, upstairs: the bedridden mother of Reg, Ruth and Annie. The plays are at times wildly comic, and at times poignant, in their portrayals of the relationships among the six characters. Each play is self-contained, and they may be watched in any order. Some of the scenes overlap, and on several occasions a character's exit from one play corresponds with an entrance in another. Similarly, noise and commotion in one room can sometimes be heard by characters in another. The plays were not written to be performed simultaneously, although Ayckbourn did achieve that some twenty-five years later in House & Garden . The premise

972-430: Is that Annie lives in a countryside house taking care of her demanding mother, and has decided that she needs a weekend off. Reg and Sarah have agreed to come and take care of Annie's & Reg's mother for a week-end while Annie goes on a short trip. However, Annie is secretly planning to meet up with her sister Ruth's charming, rakish husband Norman for an illicit weekend together (something Annie has never done before, and

1026-643: Is the eastern terminus of the York-Scarborough line , part of the North TransPennine route. TransPennine Express operates an hourly service to York , with alternate trains continuing on to Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly . Northern Trains operates a service to Hull on the Yorkshire Coast Line . It has the longest station seat in the world at 152 yards (139 m) in length. The town used to be connected to Whitby , via

1080-640: Is unsure about). However, things go wrong when Norman shows up at the house early to pick up Annie contrary to plan, and everybody ends up at the house for the entire week-end, and various arguments ensue while the characters have differing degrees of understanding about what's actually happening. The plays were first performed in Scarborough , before a season in London, with a cast that included Tom Courtenay as Norman, Penelope Keith as Sarah, Felicity Kendal as Annie, Michael Gambon as Tom, Bridget Turner as Ruth, and Mark Kingston as Reg. The plays originally premiered on Broadway in 1975 for 69 performances at

1134-603: The City of York and the boroughs of Middlesbrough , Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees (south of the River Tees ), forms the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. It is governed by North Yorkshire Council . The non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority area on 1 April 2023, following the merger of the above boroughs and districts as part of the 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England . North Yorkshire Council has 90 councillors which elect

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1188-525: The Domesday survey of 1085. (The original inland village of Falsgrave was Anglo-Saxon rather than Viking.) A Roman signal station was built on a cliff-top location overlooking the North Sea. It was one of a chain of signal stations, built to warn of sea-raiders. Coins found at the site show that it was occupied from c.  AD 370 until the early fifth century. In 2021 an excavation at

1242-655: The First World War , the town was bombarded by German warships of the High Seas Fleet , an act which shocked the British (see Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby ). Scarborough Pier Lighthouse , built in 1806, was damaged in the attack. A U-boat assault on the town, on 25 September 1916 saw three people killed and a further five injured. Eleven of Scarborough's trawler fleet were sunk at sea in another U-boat attack, on 4 September 1917. In 1929,

1296-399: The First World War . The promontory divides the seafront into two bays, north and south. The two bays are linked by Marine Drive, an extensive Victorian promenade, built around the base of the headland. Both bays have popular sandy beaches and numerous rock-pools at low tide. The South Bay was the site of the original medieval settlement and harbour, which form the old town. This remains

1350-566: The Morosco Theatre , directed by Eric Thompson and featuring Richard Benjamin , Ken Howard , Barry Nelson , Estelle Parsons , Paula Prentiss , and Carole Shelley . The first major London revival of The Norman Conquests was presented at The Old Vic Theatre in 2008 with Matthew Warchus directing a cast including Stephen Mangan as Norman, Jessica Hynes as Annie, Ben Miles as Tom, Amanda Root as Sarah, Paul Ritter as Reg and Amelia Bullmore as Ruth. The Old Vic auditorium

1404-796: The Rotunda Museum , Cliff Bridge and Scarborough Pier Lighthouse . Victorian buildings include the Classical Public Library and Market Hall, the Town Hall , Scarborough Spa , the Art Gallery , the South Cliff Methodist Church, and Scarborough railway station . The architecture of Scarborough generally consists of small, low, orange pantile -roofed buildings in the historic old town, and larger Classical and late Victorian buildings reflecting

1458-811: The Scarborough and Whitby Railway along the Yorkshire coast; this closed in 1965, as part of the Beeching cuts . Seamer railway station , in the suburb of Crossgates , is a stop on both lines. North Yorkshire District North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan county and unitary authority area (legally known as the County of North Yorkshire), in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire , England. It covers seven former districts : Craven , Hambleton , Harrogate , Scarborough , Richmondshire , Ryedale and Selby . The non-metropolitan county has an area of 2,483 square miles (6,430 km ), and, with

1512-529: The Scarborough–York railway in 1845 increased the tide of visitors. Scarborough railway station claims a record for the world's longest platform seat. From the 1880s until the First World War, Scarborough was one of the regular destinations for The Bass Excursions , when fifteen trains would take between 8,000 and 9,000 employees of Bass's Burton brewery on an annual trip to the seaside. During

1566-529: The 18th century, and is commemorated in the song Scarborough Fair : Scarborough and its castle changed hands seven times between Royalists and Parliamentarians during the English Civil War of the 1640s, enduring two lengthy and violent sieges. Following the civil war, much of the town lay in ruins. In 1626, Mrs Thomasin Farrer discovered a stream of acidic water running from one of the cliffs to

1620-584: The 2008 Enterprising Britain competition, with representatives from Woodend Creative Workspace and Scarborough-based Electric Angel Design representing the town in the Yorkshire and Humber regional heats. In the finals in London on 16 October 2008, Scarborough won the title of Britain's Most Enterprising Town, and subsequently went on to win the European Enterprise Awards as Great Britain's representative, on 13 May 2009 in Prague . In 2010

1674-707: The A64 and A165. Buses run from each terminus to the town centre and South Bay at least every 12 minutes, seven days a week, with stopping points around the town centre. Buses from the Filey Road terminus on the A165 also stop at the University of Hull 's Scarborough campus. Open top tourist buses, branded Beachcomber , also run along the sea front and Marine Drive, linking the South and North bays. Scarborough railway station

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1728-580: The British Tunny Club, was founded in 1933 and set up its headquarters in the town at the place which is now a restaurant with the same name. Scarborough became a resort for high society. A women's world tuna challenge cup was held for many years. Colonel (and, later, Sir) Edward Peel landed a world-record tunny of 798 lb (362 kg), capturing the record by 40 lb (18.1 kg) from one caught off Nova Scotia by American champion Zane Grey . The British record which still stands

1782-525: The River Derwent to the estuary at the North Sea. The area has flourishing and vibrant flora and crop growth. The climate is temperate with mild summers and cool, windy, winters. The hottest months of the year are July and August, with temperatures reaching an average high of 17 °C and falling to 11 °C at night. The average daytime temperatures in January are 4 °C, falling to 1 °C at night. The station's elevation of 110 m (360 ft)

1836-405: The beaches and attractions are busy throughout summer, a contrast to quieter winter months. Scarborough's town centre has a multiple boutique shops (such as on Bar Street and St Thomas Street) with a main pedestrianised shopping street and a shopping centre with many major chains. The town also has an indoor market hall with a large range of antique shops and independent traders in its vaults, and

1890-558: The cast featured Tom Conti as Norman, Penelope Wilton (who had played Ruth in the original 1974 London stage production) as Annie, Richard Briers as Reg, David Troughton as Tom and Fiona Walker as Ruth. The three plays were directed by Herbert Wise and produced by Verity Lambert and David Susskind . Keith won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress for her performance. Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough ( / ˈ s k ɑːr b r ə / )

1944-426: The finest craftsmen.” Historic England described the finds as “one of the most important Roman discoveries in the past decade.” There are plans to revise the housing development layout, recover the remains and incorporate them in a public green area. Historic England is to recommend the remains be protected as a scheduled monument. Scarborough recovered under King Henry II , who built an Angevin stone castle on

1998-560: The form of surrounding suburbs. Buildings from this century include the Futurist Theatre (1914), Stephen Joseph Theatre , Brunswick Shopping Centre (1990), and GCHQ Scarborough , a satellite station on the outskirts of the town. The North Bay has traditionally been the more peaceful end of the resort and is home to Peasholm Park which, in June 2007, was restored to its Japanese-themed glory, complete with reconstructed pagoda ,

2052-417: The headland and granted the town charters in 1155 and 1163, permitting a market on the sands and establishing rule by burgesses . Edward II granted Scarborough Castle to his favourite, Piers Gaveston . The castle was subsequently besieged by forces led by the barons Percy, Warenne, Clifford and Pembroke. Gaveston was captured and taken to Oxford and thence to Warwick Castle for execution. In 1318,

2106-477: The hospital but promised to maintain the site's Accident and Emergency department. A new £47 million Emergency Department is under construction and is due to open in early 2024. The town's built-up area population was 61,749 in the 2011 UK census , most of the Newby and Scalby civil parish population was included in the area. Its unparished area has a larger population than the rest of parished areas of

2160-411: The main tourist area, with a sandy beach, cafés, amusements, arcades, theatres and entertainment facilities. The modern commercial town centre has migrated 440 yd (400 m) north-west of the harbour area and 100 ft (30 m) above it and contains the transport hubs, main services, shopping and nightlife. The harbour has undergone major regeneration including the new Albert Strange Pontoons,

2214-525: The nationalisation of utilities by the Attlee ministry in 1948. The coal-fired power station had an electricity generating capacity of 7 MW prior to its closure in October 1958. Creative industries have been cited as playing a vital role in the regeneration of Scarborough; a report in 2005 estimated that they comprised 19% of the town's economy. They were also a major focus of Scarborough's winning entry in

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2268-453: The northern skies. To the south-west of the town, beside the York to Scarborough railway line , is an ornamental lake known as Scarborough Mere . In the 20th century the Mere was a popular park, with rowing boats, canoes and a miniature pirate ship – the Hispaniola – on which passengers were taken to 'Treasure Island' to dig for doubloons. Since the late 1990s the Mere has been redesigned as

2322-474: The oldest operational diesel-hydraulic locomotive in the world. Neptune was built in 1931 by Hudswell Clarke of Leeds and is appropriately numbered 1931. The most striking feature of the town's geography is the high rocky promontory pointing eastward into the North Sea with Scarborough Castle on the top. The castle was bombarded by the German warships SMS  Derfflinger and SMS  Von der Tann in

2376-468: The open-air theatre . The water chute is now grade II listed and is one of the oldest surviving water chutes in Britain, with the ride of today being the same as when it was opened in the 1930s. The North Bay Railway is a miniature railway running from near Peasholm Park, through Northstead Manor Gardens to the Sea Life Centre at Scalby Mills. The North Bay Railway has what is believed to be

2430-495: The south of the town. This gave birth to Scarborough Spa , and Dr Robert Wittie's book about the spa waters published in 1660 attracted a flood of visitors to the town. Scarborough Spa became Britain 's first seaside resort, though the first rolling bathing machines were not reported on the sands until 1735. It was a popular getaway destination for the wealthy of London, such as the bookseller Andrew Millar and his family. Their son Andrew junior died there in 1750. The coming of

2484-405: The steam drifter Ascendent caught a 560 lb (250 kg) tunny ( Atlantic bluefin tuna ) and a Scarborough showman awarded the crew 50 shillings so he could exhibit it as a tourist attraction. Big-game tunny fishing off Scarborough effectively started in 1930 when Lorenzo "Lawrie" Mitchell–Henry, landed a tunny caught on rod and line weighing 560 lb (250 kg). A gentlemen's club,

2538-525: The time during the 19th century as it expanded away from its historic centre into a coastal spa resort. A notable landmark in the town is the Grand Hotel on St Nicholas Cliff. Designed by Cuthbert Brodrick of Hull, it was completed in 1867; at the time of its opening, it was the largest hotel and the largest brick structure in Europe. It uses local yellow brickwork with red detailing and is based around

2592-410: The town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland which extends into the North Sea . The town has fishing and service industries, including a growing digital and creative economy, as well as being a tourist destination. Residents of the town are known as Scarborians. Scarborough was founded by Danes in the 10th century, when Thorgil (also known as Skarthi, meaning 'hare-lip') built

2646-571: The town was burnt by the Scots , under Sir James Douglas following the Capture of Berwick upon Tweed . In the Middle Ages , Scarborough Fair , permitted in a royal charter of 1253, held a six-week trading festival attracting merchants from all over Europe. It ran from Assumption Day , 15 August, until Michaelmas Day , 29 September. The fair continued to be held for 500 years, from the 13th to

2700-504: The town was the winner of the 'Great Town Award', as nominated by the Academy of Urbanism, beating Chester and Cambridge respectively. Scarborough Hospital is the local district general NHS hospital. It is run by the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , and is the largest employer in the area employing over 2,400 staff. A review of acute healthcare in the town in 2019 identified problems recruiting staff at

2754-521: The town; these also link it to other major towns and cities: Scarborough has 25 main bus routes, operated by Scarborough Locals , Arriva North East , Shoreline Suncruisers and Yorkshire Coastliner . These link the town centre with its suburbs, the North York Moors and local towns and cities such as Bridlington , Whitby , York , Hull , Middlesbrough and Leeds . The town is also served by two Park and Ride services, with locations on

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2808-424: The wider Borough of Scarborough , including the coastal towns of Whitby and Filey . The borough as a whole has a population of around 108,000; during the peak season, tourism can double these figures. 7.5% of the population are aged over 60, compared with an average of 20.9% nationally. Only 21.9% of the population are aged between 20 and 39, compared to 28.1% nationally. Scarborough has four major roads serving

2862-641: The years, evidence may have been lost to the sea. In the 4th century, there was briefly a Roman signal station on Scarborough headland, and there is evidence of earlier settlements, during the Stone Age and Bronze Age . Any settlement between the fifth and ninth centuries would have been burned to the ground by a band of Vikings under Tostig Godwinson (a rival of Thorgils Skarthi ), Lord of Falsgrave, or Harald III of Norway . These periodic episodes of destruction and massacre means that very little evidence of settlement during this period remained to be recorded in

2916-591: Was transformed to a theatre in the round , known as the CQS Space, especially for this production. The 2008 Old Vic production opened on Broadway with the London cast at the Circle in the Square Theatre on 7 April 2009, official opening 23 April, and scheduled closing on 25 July 2009. In 1977 the plays were adapted for television by Thames Television . Penelope Keith reprised her role as Sarah. The rest of

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