As I began to read through this amazing story of Flamborough's history it soon became evident that I was opening a door into recent living history.  Not a word should be lost.  It was my hope that a local historical society will publish this wonderful collection in its entirety.  We are able to glimpse into a world, which has all but vanished – and yet we are looking back over some sixty or seventy years – not hundreds of years!

What is most striking is the close community spirit.  For most folk, life was hard but there was plenty of fun and laughter, fresh vegetables from the garden and the disputes and intrigues, which were the very stuff of village life until the final decades of the twentieth century.

One of our characters remarks that in “not all change is good”.  When one discovers how many shops and trades flourished in the village, these good souls have witnessed the slow demise of a community which was totally self sufficient.  In my experience, real Flamborians are justly proud of their heritage – long may the sword dance continue to flourish and all the old traditions be kept alive.

I heard of one old lady who walked every Saturday night from Ocean View Farm to the village so that she could buy her fish and chip supper.  Fish and Flamborough go together like salt and pepper.  Go down to North Landing and, like as not, you will find a van with the slogan, “Father Catches Em”.  If you haven’t eaten Flamborough crab, you don’t know what you are missing!  There are few fishermen now but if you read the memories of these old folk, you will realise that this community has it’s roots as much on the sea as on the land.  In recent years we have revived the Harvest of the Sea Service at the parish church.  The days are long gone when people queued to get a seat – but you only have to hear the hundred or so who do come sing “Pull For The Shore” and “Eternal Strong To Save” to know that salt water still runs in the veins.  Or come to South Landing on an August evening to hear the RNLI and their supporters sing their songs of praise.

Like most coastal communities, the old ways and old sayings are diluted by changing life styles and new developments.  For this reason this document of “Other Days and Other Ways” deserves to be preserved and to be read in Flamborough and beyond.

Michael Cartwright

(Vicar of Flamborough, 2003)