Scarborough Marine Drive the history board 7

Early in 1906 Harry W Smith, the Borough Engineer, submitted plans for the toll houses at the north and south ends of Marine Drive to the Town Council. Their total cost was estimated at under £1,000.

The toll houses were necessary because people were to pay for using Marine Drive, which cost the town over £120,000. The tolls were set at one penny each way for every person walking, riding on a horse or bicycle, or riding in a carriage, motor car or bathchair. There was a toll of two pence for a motor cycle, plus one penny for the person riding or wheeling it. Tolls for pedestrians were abolished in 1943 and for vehicles in 1950.

Harry W Smith and Scarborough

Harry W Smith, Borough Engineer from 1897 to 1933, supervised the completion of the Marine Drive project. He is, however, much better known for his other work in Scarborough, including St Nicholas Gardens and the Town Hall, Alexandra Gardens and the Floral Hall, Peasholm Park and Glen, the Italian Gardens, the Mere, the South Bay Pool, the North Bay Miniature Railway and the Open-Air Theatre. His was the hand that laid out Scarborough, transforming the town into a modern seaside resort with a particularly fine collection of parks and gardens.

Trams

When Scarborough’s tram system was being planned, it was intended that tram lines would be laid along Marine Drive, but when the tram service began in 1904, Marine Drive had not been completed. By the time it was finished, the tramways company could not afford the cost of extending the system. Services along Foreshore Road and Sandside terminated near the south toll house.