Backscratcher and Spurn: Difference between pages

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Revision as of 17:38, 8 May 2007

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:''"Spurn" can have other meanings, see the [[wikt:spurn|Wiktionary entry]].''

[[Image:Back_scratcher.jpg|thumb|right|A common wooden backscratcher in action relieving an itch]]

A [[þ

== '''backscratcher''' (occasionally known as a '''scratch-back''' or '''magonote''') is a [[tool]] used, as the name would suggest, for relieving [[itch]]es for areas that cannot be reached just by one's own hands, typically the [[human back|back]].

[[Image:Spurn_point_with_lighthouse.kirin.jpeg|thumb|right|A photograph of Spurn in May, showing the lighthouse and sand-dunes.]]

==Composition and variation==

'''Spurn''' is a narrow sand [[spit (landform)|spit]] on the tip of the coast of [[Yorkshire]], [[England]] that reaches into the [[North Sea]] and forms the north bank of the mouth of the [[Humber]] estuary. It is over 3 miles (5 km) long, almost half of the width of the estuary at that point, and as little as 50 yards (45 metres) wide in places. The southernmost tip is known as '''Spurn Head''' or '''Spurn Point''' and is the home to an [[RNLI]] lifeboat station and disused lighthouse. It forms part of the [[civil parish]] of [[Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire|Easington]], [[East Riding of Yorkshire]].

They are generally long slender rod-shaped tools, with a knob on one end for holding and a [[rake (tool)|rake]]-like device, sometimes in the form of a human [[hand]], on the other end to perform the actual scratching. Though a backscratcher could feasibly be fashioned from most materials, most modern ==

]] backscratchers are made of [[plastic]], though examples can be found made of [[wood]], [[whalebone]], [[tortoiseshell]], [[horn (anatomy)|horn]], [[cane]], [[bamboo]] or occasionally [[ivory]]. Backscratchers vary in length between 12 and 24 ins. (30-60 cm.).

Spurn, owned since 1960 by the [[Yorkshire Wildlife Trust]] and covering 113 [[hectare]]s (1.13 km²) above high water and 181 hectares (1.81 km²) of foreshore. It is a designated [[National Nature Reserve]], [[Heritage Coast]] and is part of the Humber Flats, Marshes and Coast [[Special Protection Area]].

==Backscratchers through history==

Little is known of the history of the backscratcher, or when it was first used as a tool. However, in recent history it was unquestionably also employed as a kind of rake to keep in order the huge "heads" of powdered hair worn by ladies in the 18th and 19th centuries.

==Wildlife==

In the past, backscratchers were often highly decorated, and hung from the waist as accessories, with the more elaborate examples being silver-mounted, or in rare instances bearing carved rings on [[ivory]] [[finger]]s. The scratching hand was sometimes replaced by a rake or a [[bird]]'s [[claw]]. Generally, the hand could represent either a left or right hand, but the [[China|Chinese]] variety usually bore a right hand.

The mud flats are an important feeding ground for [[wader|wading birds]], and the area has a [[bird observatory]], for monitoring [[bird migration|migrating]] [[bird]]s and providing accommodation to visiting birdwatchers. Their migration is assisted by east winds in autumn, resulting in [[drift migration]] of [[Scandinavia]]n migrants, sometimes leading to a spectacular "fall" of thousands of birds. Many uncommon species have been sighted there, including a [[Cliff Swallow]] from North America, a [[Lanceolated Warbler]] from Siberia and a [[Black-browed Albatross]] from the Southern Ocean. More commonly, birds such as [[Wheatear]]s, [[Whinchat]]s, [[Common Redstart]]s and [[Old World flycatcher|flycatcher]]s alight at Spurn on their way between breeding and wintering grounds elsewhere. When the wind is in the right direction migrants are funnelled down Spurn Point and are counted at the Narrows Watchpoint, more than 15000 birds can fly past on a good morning in autumn with 3000 quite normal.Spurn point is one of the spcialist places that was ever made

[[Image:Spurn_point_lighthouse.jpg|thumb|left|Spurn Point Lighthouse in the distance]]

==Geography==

Since becoming essentially obsolete as an appliance of daily life, the backscratcher has become scarce except as a cheap novelty item at [[discount store]]s or souvenir stands and it is one of the innumerable [[collector's item|objects]] which attract the attention of modern collectors.

The peninsula is made up from sand and shingle eroded from the [[Holderness]] coastline washed down the coastline from [[Flamborough Head]]. Material is washed down the coast by [[longshore drift]] and accumulates to form the long, narrow embankment in the sheltered waters inside the mouth of the Humber estuary. It is maintained by plants, especially [[Marram grass]] (''Ammophila arenaria''). Waves carry material along the peninsula to the tip, continually extending it; as this action stretches the peninsula it also narrows it to the extent that the sea can cut across it in severe weather. When the sea cuts across it permanently, everything beyond the breach is swept away, only to eventually reform as a new spit pointing further south. This cycle of destruction and reconstruction occurs approximately every 250 years.

The second of the ''Six Studies in English Folk Song for Cello'' composed in 1926 by [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], the ''Andante sostenuto'' in E flat "Spurn Point" celebrates this peninsula.

This object is very complex. IT RELEIEVS ITCH. YAYAYAYAY THANK GOSH

It was featured on the television programme ''[[Seven Natural Wonders]]'' as one of the wonders of Yorkshire.

==References==

*{{1911}}

== History ==

{{tool-stub}}

The [[lifeboat]] station at Spurn Head was built in 1810. Due to the remote ___location, houses for the lifeboat crew and their families were added a few years later. The station is now the only one in the UK which has full-time paid staff.

[[Category:Tools]]

In [[World War I]] two [[coastal artillery]] 9.2" [[Artillery battery|batteries]] were added at either end of Spurn Head, with 4" and 4.7" QF guns in between. The emplacements can be clearly seen, and the northern ones are particularly interesting as coastal erosion has partly toppled them onto the beach, revealing the size of the concrete foundations very well. The Information Centre has a leaflet describing the defences.

{{commonscat|Spurn}}

==External links==

* [http://www.britainexpress.com/countryside/coast/spurn.htm Spurn Head Heritage Coast]

* [http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/ecolodge/25/spurn.htm Spurn Point- A cyclic coastal landform], showing an excellent aerial photograph

* http://www.eastcoastline.co.uk/

* http://www.spurnpoint.com/

* [http://www.spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/ Spurn Bird Observatory]

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[[Category:National Nature Reserves in England]]

[[Category:Special Protection Areas in England]]

[[Category:Peninsulas of England]]

[[Category:ToolsHolderness]]