Memories of family trips to Bridlington
We didn’t go on holiday much in the 1950s, but I do have a distant memory of day trips to Bridlington. Being a railway family, we always went by train, pulled by a steam engine, from Bolton on Dearne station where we lived in the station house. It took around about two hours.
Bridlington was one of the popular places on the East Coast, alongside Scarborough and Filey. Most Sundays in the summer we would be busy at the station with excursions. A couple of weeks before, I would go around the local villages with my father, who was the station master, pasting up handbills on railway billboards. Then on the day of the excursion, I would help with handing out tickets for the journey and collecting them when the passengers returned tired but happy after their visit to the seaside.
I found this picture from a family day trip to Bridlington. It shows Grandma with her sister, Mabel and me talking a stroll along the promenade.
Recipe for Bridlington cake
Grandma had a recipe for Bridlington cake. It has a light meringue type texture and a lemony flavour. It was one of the most popular ones in her collection.
Bridlington cake
½ lb (225g) butter
½ lb (225g) sugar
4 eggs (separated)
Grated rind of one lemon
½ lb (225g) cornflour
½ tsp baking powder
Beat the butter to a cream and add the sugar, grated lemon rind and yolks of eggs (well beaten). Whisk the whites of eggs until stiff and then add the cornflour, stirring the mixture as lightly as possible. Finally, add the baking powder. Bake in a slow oven (300F, Mark 2, 150 C) for about 1 hour. Decorate with water icing.
With the covid restrictions still in place, it might be a little while before we can safely take a trip down memory lane. But in the meantime enjoy Grandma’s Bridlington cake and reminisce about those summer days!
Read more about Grandma Abson’s life, her passion for baking and recipes on www.grandmaabson.com and head over to Instagram @potsaway to check out how Meryl and Patrick are cooking together again.
