Sand of hope and glory?

It's a Tuesday; but the sun is shining, the air is fresh and clean, and the beach is sprinkled with happy holidaymakers.

On the promenade the smell of fish and chips drifts from a restaurant, and the amusement arcades, postcard boutiques, and fresh crab and lobster stalls are doing steady business.

It may not be packed to the gunwales, but Scarborough is looking prosperous and pleased with itself. Who said Britain's seaside towns were in crisis?

No one, apparently.

The traditional British seaside resort, home of the naughty postcard and coachloads of day-trippers slurping on ice creams, may have been having a hard time of it in the age of the cheap package holiday.

But, according to a new report by experts at Sheffield Hallam University, many may be beginning to bounce back.

Yes, it's true that 20 years or so ago Britain's seaside towns took a dip in popularity as cheap holidays abroad became available.

And yes, it's true that there are on-going problems of high unemployment in many resorts.

But the new report suggests that the British love of the seaside may be more deep-rooted than many thought - and many of our resorts more resilient.

During the last three decades or so, it points out, total employment in seaside towns has grown by about 320,000, or more than 20 per cent - faster than the national economy as a whole.

Certainly Scarborough, Whitby and Filey give good impressions of seaside towns that are on the up.

But is that really so?

It depends on who you ask. The girl selling cockles from a stall near the harbour clearly doesn't think so.

Trade is so bad, she says, her boss is thinking of packing it in. Why? "It's the car parking," she says, "£4 for a ticket? It's too much."

With his donkeys' lunch over, Guy Smith is more upbeat. Things could be a lot worse, he agrees.

Does he think Scarborough is on the up? He hums and haws. "Yes, I do. After September 11 in America, people are holidaying more in Britain - that's the theory."

Fear of travelling abroad may be part of the reason. But Coun David Jeffels, cabinet member for tourism, leisure and community services on Scarborough Borough Council, believes the resurgence of the town and its neighbouring resorts Whitby and Filey goes further.

Whitby, he says, has never looked back since Endeavour sailed into the town's harbour in 1997.

Filey, always a genteel town, has benefited from the revamp of the seafront.

And Scarborough itself is being enormously boosted by having been designated an urban renaissance town by Yorkshire Forward.

That has been the springboard for unlocking a series of phased investments involving local, regional and European cash that are transforming the once-shabby resort into a modern holiday and conference destination once more.

David is not short of examples. There is the ongoing £1.4 million scheme to infill and landscape the South Bay pool; the recently-completed £600,000 upgrade of St Nicholas Gardens; and the £33 million ongoing scheme to improve the coastal defences of North Bay and the Castle headland.

On top of all that, an application has been submitted for an £80 million-£100 million redevelopment on North Bay that could include upmarket holiday apartments, hotels and leisure facilities; and the borough council is seeking funding for a feasibility study which would investigate upgrading the town's Spa complex, and restoring the Grand Hall and ballroom to their original Victorian splendour.

Get that right, and there could be a return to the great days of Tory, Liberal and Labour conferences in the seaside town, David enthuses.

It all sounds - and is - exciting. But, nevertheless, Scarborough remains a town with problems.

Unemployment in the borough is running at 3.4 per cent - about double the national average of 1.7 per cent.

And in areas such as Scarborough's Castle ward, down by the harbour, it is as high as 12.4 per cent.

The sense of decline down by the harbourside is almost palpable. The air is cool and rank with the stench of fish and salt water.

Nets and lobster pots are heaped at the quayside, and a harbour official lounges in the door of an office. But it is notably quieter here than on the busy beach.

In one of the wooden boatsheds Mike Handley is repairing lobster pots. He's just come back from a morning at sea in his traditional 31ft wooden coble, the Venture.

The former mechanic bought her in 1989, for £20,000, and has made his living from lobster fishing ever since.

He can still make a go of it, he says - but things aren't easy.

"It's been a bad year," he says, as his hands work deftly on the netting. "We have to wait for the fish to come to us: and they haven't come to us this year."

He says the life of coble fishermen was made tougher three years ago when new restrictions were brought in on the size of lobsters they were allowed to take.

The minimum size went up from 85mm to 87mm in an attempt, presumably, to preserve young lobsters and ensure future populations.

But it didn't make the coble fisherman's job any easier.

In 1989, Mike says, there were 15 wooden cobles like his working out of Scarborough.

"I think there are five left, now. It is a matter of surviving."

Mike remains optimistic - insisting the fish will come back one day. David Jeffels would rather not rely on the vagaries of the fish population for his town's resurgence.

The fishing industry is in decline, he says bluntly. Tourism and conferencing will always be an important part of Scarbough's economy - between them they provide about 9,000 jobs and £320 million a year.

But if Scarborough and its neighbouring resorts are to continue to thrive, they can't afford to rest on their laurels.

Holidaymakers and conference-goers these days expect quality, says David - which is why the borough council is keen to encourage investment to upgrade conference facilities and accommodation and improve the resort's appearance.

"We want to attract a more up-market and high-spending tourist," he says.

Rather than just relying on the lure of the sea, tourist bosses are also going to have to work harder to market the attractions of the whole region, he adds - the North York Moors, the market towns of Ryedale and the glories of York Minster and city.

And equally important, if jobs lost in fishing and agriculture are to be replaced, the borough will have to encourage new types of industry, he says.

It can no longer afford to put all its fish in one basket.

Economic diversity is the name of the game in Britain's new-look seaside towns. In Scarborough, the borough council has already allocated 20 acres of land for expansion of the business park. "And if we could get a few hi-tech companies in there ..." says David.

But time and tide...

Updated: 11:17 Thursday, June 26, 2003