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The British seaside between the wars.
Most of us have fond memories of childhood holidays by the British
seaside. An annual holiday of a week or two by the sea is something
the generation born in the 'sixties grew up with. However, it was
only in the inter-war years that an annual holiday became accessible
to large numbers of people. In the Edwardian era it was, for many,
a distant dream or a once in a lifetime experience. By the end of
the 'thirties, fifteen million people were going away to the British
seaside.
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The origins of the annual holiday by the sea can be traced back
as far as 1626 when a lady called Mrs. Farrow first discovered a
spring at Scarborough. The popular habit of taking spa waters for
medicinal purposes was then brought to the seaside. It was only
a short step for the doctors of the day to recommend taking sea-water
and sea bathing. Drinking sea-water was thought, conveniently enough
for the medical profession and the early boarding-house keepers,
to cure gout. Bathing in the sea was a general pick-me-up. The first
bathers were nude and men and women bathed together. It took nineteenth
century prudery, combined with equally nineteenth century commercialism,
to introduce the bathing machine.
Holidays started to become more popular when the railway networks
extended towards the coast. The railways actually transformed former
fishing villages into thriving resorts. With them they brought large
numbers of visitors - more still when Bank Holidays became law in
1871. The majority of working people in those days would have been
day trippers taking advantage of the Bank Holidays. Many people
simply did not have any time off work except Sundays, which were
meant to be spent in religious observance. Some towns welcomed the
extra visitors, some, however, like Bournemouth actually tried to
stop the trains, as local businessmen thought the arrival of the
masses would put off the wealthy invalids who had thus far made
the town's fortunes.
What changed in the inter-war years was the advent of holidays with
pay. The real breakthrough came in 1938 when the "Holidays
with Pay Act" became law. All industrial workers were entitled
to at least one week's paid holiday a year. Although this seems
comprehensive, there were still some groups excluded. It might then
seem that only at the end the 'thirties were holidays enjoyed by
people in large numbers. This was not the case. By the time the
legislation came into force, many trade unions had negotiated private
deals with employers for annual holidays. Many more could take unpaid
leave. In the Lancashire cotton towns as early as the 1880s, workers
were given a week off unpaid whilst the mill machinery was serviced.
Most of them managed to go to the seaside in that week. These early
working-class holidaymakers transformed Blackpool into the resort
it is today. The town's business people learnt, very early on, how
to cater for the changing tastes of the mass market and have managed
to stay ahead of the game ever since.
Blackpool's Winter Gardens were built in 1875 with a capacity for
six thousand people. By the turn of the century the resort had not
one, but three piers, its trams and the famous tower. The Pleasure
Beach evolved from a gypsy encampment in the early years of the
twentieth century and by 1905 Blackpool already had a helter-skelter
and switchback rides.
Throughout the 'twenties the Pleasure Beach was improved - the famous
'Big Dipper' was added in 1923. In the 'thirties it was completely
redesigned in modern style by architect Joseph Emberton. The new
attractions included the Grand National and the Fun House. The Grand
National was a double switchback ride with two cars that raced each
other. The Fun House announced itself to visitors with a sign composed
of rotating letters. Once inside, customers could enjoy, if that
is the right word, a number of experiences. There was a giant slide
with a drop of over thirty feet and a moving staircase. The staircase
had two sections, each of which moved at different times. Perhaps
the strangest of the attractions was a stage of moving barrels over
which people walked. Whilst doing so they were subjected to an upward
current of air strong enough to raise the ladies' skirts. It must
have been very funny for those watching their friends as seats were
provided for spectators, perhaps less so for those actually taking
part!
The huge increase in the number of visitors in the inter-war years
spurred the councils of many seaside resorts to introduce improvements
and to cater for the fashionable tastes of the period. One of the
most popular pursuits of the inter-war years was outdoor swimming.
Most major towns and cities had open air swimming pools or lidos
(named after the Venice Lido). In the 'twenties and 'thirties most
seaside towns had them too. By the 'thirties became as common as
piers had been thirty years before.
The traditional seaside pier remained just as popular in the inter-war
period. Many were revamped and given a new lease of life in this
period. Sometimes fire or a shipping accident provided the reason
for the modernisation. In many other cases it was purely to make
the pier more up-to-date.
The entertainment offered by piers and pavilions was very diverse.
The traditional pierrot shows were carried over from the late nineteenth
century in some resorts right through to 1939. In spite of their
name, the pierrots had their roots, not in the pier pavilion, but
in French pantomime. The pierrots wore white costumes with ruffles,
pom-poms and skull caps. Their act usually consisted of comic sketches
and rather sad songs, after which a hat was passed around for contributions.
In the 'twenties the pierrots were joined by that most uniquely
seaside form of entertainment, the concert party. If this was not
to your taste, you could see the "serious" theatre on
a pier. For nine months of the year, avoiding the "high season",
the Repertory Theatre put on many West-End plays at Hastings' Pier
Theatre. They opened in October 1932 with Noel Coward's 'Hay Fever'.
All forms of music were popular entertainment at the pier pavilions
of the inter-war period. All tastes, ranging from the classical
to the light, were catered for. Llandudno Pier, for example, employed
a young Malcolm Sargent to conduct its orchestra. Many resorts had
full-time municipal orchestras based on the pier. In the Summer,
the programme tended to be light classical. In the Winter months,
it was more high brow. Military bands were also highly popular in
the Summer months and many played in open-air bandstands, either
on the pier, or near the pier entrance.
The traditional slot machines were as popular as ever. By the 'thirties,
the "What the Butler Saw" type of magic lantern slide
machines or mutoscopes had become a touch more racy. One-arm bandits
started to appear in numbers and pinball had invaded our shores
from America. The pinball machines often necessitated a new amusement
arcade to be added to the pier. One other machine, which is familiar
to us today, the crane hovering over a glass container full of prizes
which are always just out of reach, made its first appearance in
the 'thirties.
Yet another form of entertainment that could be found on the pier
was dancing. It was highly popular throughout the inter-war period,
perhaps only second to the cinema for popular recreation. Many piers
played host to the Charleston and the Black Bottom in the 'twenties,
and in the 'thirties it was quite common to see the words "OPEN
AIR DANCING" lit up in neon on many piers. Indeed, the holiday
atmosphere often made people more inclined to participate than in
their home towns.
The holiday season came to an abrupt end in September 1939 when
War was declared. Many seaside towns produced brochures for the
1940 summer season with the theme "business as usual".
The reality of war was very different. Piers were often breached
leaving the seaward end marooned from the shore. Holiday camps became
army camps. When peace returned, however, it was boom time for the
British seaside holiday. Returning servicemen were keen to make
up for lost time and there were, as yet, few opportunities for travel
abroad.
This article was taken and adapted from "Sun,
Fun and Crowds" by Steven Braggs and Diane Harris, published
by Tempus Publishing Limited.
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