i get around

[The Grand]

We had to drive to Scarborough and back yesterday. 560 miles, 1o hours in the car, goodness knows how many inches of rain on the motorway, four very tired eyes. We had only an hour to spare in the town but managed to look inside at the incredible public rooms of the once-grand Grand which needs quite a few million pounds to restore it to its former glory (even then I think it's not what people want now), see one of the funiculars (now boarded up), admire the view of the bay, harbour, castle which is still something like the poster below minus the glamour, the tie, the Brylcreemed hair, the wide-brimmed sun hat, the warmth, notice the north's colourful answer to Brighton's bow fronted terraces on Falsgrave Road, catch a glimpse of the 1845 station, and exclaim from the car at the 1936 Odeon cinema, now a theatre.

But the highlight was the entrance to a holiday home park on the A64 between Scarborough and York, where the corner of the busy road is filled with tall, strong tulips of all varieties and the scheme is so far removed from the usual red-and-yellow public planting that  I had to stop to look at and enjoy the glorious mix of shapes and vibrant colours.

It's the work of the nearby Daisy Garden Centre; never mind the Chelsea Flower Show, this deserves a medal.

Just down the road is the old Castle Howard station, now a holiday home which would be a great place to stay if you have longer than an hour to spare.

And yes, Sunday's tulips were indeed 'bonny and blithe and good and gay'.

[great Beach Boys 'I Get Around' footage here]

And yes, Sunday's tulips were indeed 'bonny and blithe and good and gay'.