Crowds turn out for Victorian lift celebrations

Crowds of people turned out to celebrate the 150th anniversary of one of Britain's oldest funicular railways.

Built in 1875, Scarborough Spa Cliff Lift is marking a major milestone with a host of live performances, activities and heritage exhibitions at the spa and lift itself.

On the first day of celebrations on Saturday, a ceremony took place echoing the lift's original launch accompanied by a brass band.

Alan Wilson, the lift's longest-serving supervisor who has worked there for 24 years, said: "It isn't a job, it's a hobby."

Mr Wilson said he loved working as a lift supervisor and, within the first two hours of starting the job, he knew he wanted to stay.

"It's the scenery, meeting all the people, I love it."

The Spa Cliff Lift was heralded as "a marvel of Victorian engineering" and transports passengers between the hotels on the Esplanade and the spa.

It cost £8,000 to build and was originally powered by water and gas engines until it was converted to run on electricity in the 1950s.

Christopher James, Scarborough Spa and cliff lift manager, said the lift was very popular with about 200,000 journeys made each year.

He said: "It's like a fairground ride with a beautiful view. When you're travelling down in it, it's spectacular."

The programme of entertainment events, which have been organised by North Yorkshire Council and Scarborough Spa, will continue until 17:00 BST on Sunday.

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