After my success with the article on sinking of the sinking of the Scarborough fishing fleet I was asked to research the visit to the town 100 years earlier. Again it was a case of looking back through the cuttings to retell the story. Unfortunately the illustrations were artists’ impressions rather than actual photographs.

2006 marked the 100th anniversary of one of the visits to Scarborough by the Channel Fleet. It was a big occasion for the town and organisers pulled out all the stops to make the sailors feel welcome. Reporter IAN DUNCAN looks back to the events from a century ago.

THERE was an air of anticipation in the town, because everybody was looking forward to the arrival of the Channel Fleet.

They were hoping that inclement weather would not to spoil the occasion, as it had in previous years.

The fleet, which consisted of several battleships and cruisers which cost millions of pounds, visited coastal towns around the country every few years to allow citizens the chance to see what their taxes had paid for.

Between 1874 and 1906 the fleet visited the town a total of seven times – 1874, 1888, 1890, 1895, 1901, 1903 and 1906 – as well as a planned visit in 1887 which was cancelled due to bad weather.

Many of the London and larger provincial newspapers devoted many column inches to the event and the Scarborough Evening News published a programme of events and background information about the ships of the fleet.

One event, a searchlight display, was seen from 13 miles away by villagers in Yedingham.

The fleet arrived on Thursday July 26 1906, and it was claimed schoolchildren would not forget the occasion for a long time, as they had an extension to their holidays.

Paint and putty were in great demand in the East Ward during the previous couple of days and on the approach road men could be seen repairing cobles and then coating them in vivid red or blue colours.

The Scarborough Evening News claimed “the visit of the fleet must have been wonderfully remunerative to the paint shops”, because of the increase in trade.

During the weekend more than 200 small boats and several steamers were kept busy ferrying visitors to see the warships and there was a big rush by people to view the fleet on the Sunday.

The vessels of the fleet included six battleships and five cruisers. Most of which were built within the previous 10 years and represented state-of-the-art naval hardware.

HMS Albemarle was one of the latest additions to the fleet, having been laid down in 1900, launched the following year and completed in 1903, at a cost of £1,009,635.

She was a first class battleship of the Duncan class, with an overall length of 429ft, a displacement of 14,000 tons and a top speed of 19.8 knots-per-hour.

The ship was armed with four 12in wire guns, each weighing 50 tons, protected by 11ins of steel and firing an 850lb shell. In addition to these there were 12 6in guns and 12 12-pounders.

Her armour weighed in at 3,500 tons and measured 285ft long, 14ft wide and a maximum thickness of 7ins.

She was powered by engines which produced 18,000hp, from 24 boilers and carried 2,000 tons of coal – enough for 30 days, steaming at 10 knots an hour

A programme of events had been arranged which began on the Thursday morning, when the mayor and members of the Reception Committee met at the Lighthouse Pier.

At noon about 400 men from the fleet landed at the pier to be received by the Entertainment Committee and a procession, headed by the band of the Scarborough Artillery Volunteers, went through the town to the restaurant at the Grand Hotel for a meal.

Each man was presented with a souvenir tin containing a 2oz packet of navy cut tobacco and a pipe.

Later, at 2.15pm there was a special performance by Mr Tom Carrick’s Pierrots on the skating rink above the restaurant.

At 4pm a meat tea was served, which was free to the men of the fleet on production of tickets at cafes in the town.

In the evening, at 7pm, 30 warrant officers were entertained at the Castle Hotel on Queen Street.

There was a similar programme of events arranged for each of the following days. At 11am on Friday there was a cricket matchbetween the town and the Channel Fleet.

In the evening there was a gala and fireworks display at the Spa and at 10pm there was a Grand Ball at the Spa.

At 3pm on the Saturday there was a sports and a display by the naval men in the castle grounds and between 8am and 10pm the Spa Promenade and gardens were opened to officers and warrant officers.

During the Sunday afternoon it was planned for the bands of the fleet to come ashore and entertain the crowds in Clarence Gardens and Valley Park.

At 4.30pm members of the ships’ bands and 90 boys from the ships’ crew were entertained at tea at the Olympia Café on South Foreshore Road. The fleet finally left Scarborough on the Monday.

Visitors travelled from miles around to marvel at the ships and despite the threat of rain on the Sunday morning all people were bathed in glorious sunshine during the afternoon.

During their stay members of the fleet enjoyed the town’s hospitality and were able to stay in various night shelters in the town or the Missions to Seamen, where billiards, writing materials and hot and cold baths were available.

Over the weekend thousands of people visited the town. The 1906 visit was a ‘brilliant success’ that increased the town’s reputation for hospitality among the crewmen and officers.

From the Scarborough Evening News on Saturday, October 21, 2006.