Today it is known as ‘Vista Mar’, but in the 1930s it was known as The Saltburn Cafe, featured in this series of postcard views; starting with an exterior view from Spa Bank towards Huntcliffe. Reg Wilson tells the Archive: “My mother worked at the cafe in the 1930s and had many happy memories of her time there.”
Image and information courtesy of Reg Wilson, additional information courtesy of Ancestry, Find My Past and Callum Brown.
My mum, Grace Flintoff, was born in 1926. She told me that as a young girl, she worked as waitress for a time at the Café. In turn, I came along in 1961 and throughout my early years I can remember that the terminology used by we locals, was ‘The Bank Café’, relating to ‘Saltburn Bank’,(as in, the winding road which torturously meanders up the hill (The Bank), from the sea front up to the town).I also remember the interiors of the Café as shown in many of the uploaded pictures on this site. It seems to me that little had changed in and around the Café by the 1960’s era,(as my memory serves me), well, up until it was totally refurbished and named Rosie O Grady’s. This would be somewhere in the 1980’s I think.
Hello Martin, your name has got me wondering. I’m fairly sure there was a Martin Rajn who was the son of Oscar Rajn who was the proprietor of Rajn’s shop on Milton St on the corner of the subway 1960’s-70’s . I see your surname isn’t spelt the same but crikey it’s got me thinking! Not sure if you’ve read this articlehttp://www.saltburnbysea.com/sanderson/saltburn.html. Paul Sanderson quotes “Rajn’s” as a Gift Shop, my memory seems to think it was a ladies & gentleman’s up-market outfitters. There was a few other Cafe’s in Saltburn in that era I recall, but your probably correct in The Bank Café.
Forgot to mention Martin, on the same terrace of shops as Rajn’s was a very small Café roughly mid away along. Next door to the Wool Shop if I’m not wrong.