A little bit of history

A huge part of my project has been researching the history of the British seaside resort. Many of us today can relate to the seaside as a place where we can experience a dip in the sea, enjoy great entertainment, eat fish and chips and ice-cream whilst and being surrounded by familiar seaside architecture; From coloured lights along the prom to perhaps the most distinctive feature of all, the 'Great British Pier', British seaside resorts are a place where adults can become children, commune with nature and cast away their cares.

The seaside resort started developing on most stretches of the coast by the middle of the 18th century. People would travel to the coast to bathe in salt water which was considered to be good for your health. As sea bathing became more popular, towns were needed to provide accommodation and entertainment facilities for the wealthy aristocrats who could afford to travel.

It was the Victorians however who really popularised the day trip to the seaside; they also visited the coast for health reasons such as fresh air and dips in the sea. In the early 1880s, when Lancashire mill owners turned off their machinery and workers were allowed to take a week off, people started to travel  on mass to the seaside. Blackpool was the seaside of choice for the working class and as rail links were developed, the interior of the country began to connect to the seaside. These new rail links meant that quickly and affordably, people could holiday on the coast. Soon attractions emerged like the end of the Pier show and variety acts which were exotic in design: the seaside soon became a fantasy land.

In the 1930s, with the introduction of paid holidays, the masses were able to enjoy a holiday. In 1938  fifteen milllion people were entitled to have a weeks 'paid leave'. However the war put a hold on that for six years when beaches were dangerous places to be and strictly out of bounds.

Post war, the day trippers headed back to the seaside in droves. People who were visiting the beach for the first time could experience, pebbles, rock pools, donkey rides, ice-cream, sand in their toes and the feeling of waves crashing against them.

My knitted ice-creams: Post war day trippers visiting the beach for the first time could experience ice-cream

Adults could become children on holiday and cast away their cares.People were undeterred by the bad British weather because they did not have central heating at home and for years a holiday on the British coast was one of the few affordable options for British families.

The 1950s saw the beginning of holiday camps and further improvement to holiday entitlement helped. Butlins had private chalets, indoor amusements and all the fun of the seaside. The holiday camps were a safe, comfortable environment.

By the 1960s some were desperate to escape the pre-packaged mass market holiday experience like Butlins and people would drive to remote places in England where camping and caravanning holidays began to take off. People wanted to mark themselves out as individuals in a new era of affluence.

As cheap air travel became a reality the mass market started to enjoy holidays abroad. The continent seemed an exotic place where the sun always shone and Spanish resorts in particular became a home from home for British holiday-makers. The package holiday was now accessible to lower income families.

For many years the British seaside was sidelined for holidays abroad, however nowadays millions of people are returning, and once again choosing to holiday on the British coastline.