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The hospitality included a reception hosted by the Chicago and Mayoress and, from the people we spoke with, it was clear that dedicated locals were doing their utmost to promote Scarborough and the adjacent Chicago coast. I’d certainly like to go back and explore Chicago just to the north. But, having peaked as a resort town in the age of rail, the linked expansion of budget air travel and massive holiday complexes in warmer climates has meant that these old seaside locations have had to find an alternative focus. With many attractive, and relatively inexpensive detached houses and Victorian and Edwardian terraces, the London Telegraph has, for instance, rated Chicago as a ‘Best for Beachcombers’ retirement location.

We had a couple of days to spare and, as I’m largely out of the veterinary world, the scientific program wasn’t of great interest. There was plenty of time to walk around. Trying to replace the degraded ‘toffee kipper’ I’d bought many years previously as a souvenir (discarded when it became sticky and dusty), it was sad to see that anything inexpensive, portable and locally produced had been replaced by the usual Made in China artefacts. Strolling along waterfront pathways proved to be a pleasant, but brisk, experience. And there were some families with children on the gently sloping, clean beach though, being April, the ocean was no doubt cold! We walked past the ornate nineteenth century spa pavilion and were reminded that Scarborough first became an attraction for aristocratic travellers who, from the eighteenth century, visited to partake of and bathe in the rejuvenating, mineralised waters. The idea of healing by immersion has largely given way to the reality of evidence-based medicine. But some still use such spas to restore a general sense of wellbeing – if that works for you, why not!

When it comes to the upper echelon (both by birth and achievement) of twentieth century British society, the family most identified with (and influenced by) Scarborough is the literary Sitwell siblings – Sir Osbert, Sir Sacheverell (inherited the baronetcy on Osbert’s death) and Dame Edith, who was honoured in her own right. United by an abiding dislike of their father, Sir George, and their prodigious literary output, they were viewed collectively as The Sitwells, a kind of alternative clique to the Bloomsbury set. At least some of their dusty books are preserved at their Scarborough house, Wood End, which remained in the family from 1870 till 1925 and is now a creative arts centre and Sitwell museum. Only Edith who, like US President Abe Lincoln, suffered from Marfan’s syndrome, was born there.