Figure 1.--This snapshot shows a brother abd sister about 10-12 years old. The girls wears glasses and a beret, while the boy is wearing an over-sized jacket. Both wear white plimsolls and are seen standing on a seaside pier. The snapshot is undated, but looks like the 1930s to us. They are charmingly cheeky and laughing, a wonderful picture of pre-World War II British childhood. A British reader adds, "Cheeky and mischievous too."

Britain is an island nation. Its maritime tradition is well known. Britain's island configuration also means a long and varied coastline. All of the country lives within a three-hour drive of the coast. Most live even loser. The seaside is primarily associated with the beach and fun in the water and sand. An English vacation promoter writes, "The seaside has always enjoyed a special place in the affections of we Brits." And "The British, more than any other nationality, have an unbridled delight in a day at the beach." We are not sure this is the case, but it is certainly true that the British love the beach. An endless supply of beach snapshots testify to that. Little kids can play in the sand and ride the donkeys. Older kids can enjoy the surf and dig in the sand. Teenagers can swim. There are of course plentu of tretes, especially ice cream. British beaches are, however, different than America beaches. For one thing the water is much colder even in the summer. Also a lot of the beaches are rather rocky rather than sandy. So the amusement piers and promenade are very important part of the seaside fun. An English seaside pier is rather like the American boardwalk, only it juts out into the ocean. The piers became important as soon as the railroads turned the seaside into mass entertaiment for ordinary people.

The Pier

Another Victorian innovation which formed the centrepiece of many resorts was the pier. They were sort of like an American boardwalk that projected out into the ocean. A kind of forerunner of the amusement park. Many British seaside towns built piers. They were hugely very popular in Victorian times as a seaside vacation became a national institution. These magnificent structures contained all manner of amusements, and the idea caught on. At Southend-on-Sea in Essex a pier was built over a mile long. It is still the longest in the world. It even had a railway to carry holiday makers from one end to the other. Many piers are still packed with amusements, and a variety of first class entertainment is usually on offer especially between May and September. Blackpool was the most famous for its pier, which was the longest in the country. Many towns still have their Victorian-era piers. Many now are, however, only shortened structures or demolished all together due to the huge funding needed to maintain structures exposed to the sea, especially the turbulent North Sea.

The Promenade

In most seaside resort towns a paved public walk runs along the beach front. This is known as the promenade. The term originated from the French denoting a leisurely walk in public. Usually an English promenade stretches between the shore and a vehicular road. The beach and promenade provide the destinctive eture of every English seaside resort. The town buildings areon the otherside of the prmenade and the road. Some promendes face stately hotels, in some cases towerig over the promenade nd beaches on high bluffs. The hotels are not set on the beaches as is often the case in America. Others face more humble accomodations. This is somewhat like what Americans would call a boardwalk but it is usually asphalt or concrete for durability and not a wooden structure over the beach. The arcades and fun food of an American boardwalk are situated on the many piers running out into the sea. Almost every English seaside resort town has a promenade. They can range in length from a few hundred yards in tiny villages to several miles in larger towns. They are nor as commercialized as an merican boardwalk. But there are venders and photigrphers and perhaps special displays or sale efforts.

Beach Play

Beaches were a great fmily getway. There weea a lot offun sctivities for children that both boys anf girls enjoyed. Children did not normally go swiming at English beaches. In fact many did not even wear swim suits. And the cold water meant that the children could ot spend much time in the water anyway. More likely they would takes off their shoes and socks and go paddling in quiet waters. At some beaches there were quite, shallow tidal waters where it was safe for the children to paddle. Another great beach activity is building sandcastkes. Buckets and small shovels were standard beach items. W alsosee them as props used in beach resort studio portraits. Another popular activity was riding burros which were often available on English beaches.

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Created: 1:23 AM 8/23/2017
Last updated: 1:58 AM 4/2/2018