Laura Ball

Why do so many men fish from the beach near Lowestoft when they catch so little? “They just want to be in a place where they have the world behind them, and before them nothing but emptiness” wrote W G Sebald in his book The Rings of Saturn. In my opinion, when it comes to Lowestoft thats the best place to have it, behind you and out of sight! However, I was reminded of this quote when flicking through this months Coast Magazine and it got me thinking about why people still flock to our coastline. We are, after all, inherently an island nation so perhaps our genes naturally gravitate towards the sea but has it’s appeal remained the same as it has always been? What has kept us British so interested in our beaches and seaside resorts?… I have already discussed in a previous blog the beliefs of the ocean and sea air’s health giving powers but as seaside resorts and social attitudes evolved, so did the coasts appeal.

In 1924 The Sunlight League was established, indicating that medical attention had turned away from sea bathing to sun bathing and therefore by the 1930′s tanning had firmly gripped the nation. Laws regarding gender segregation and modesty were dropped and the seaside was no longer a place for prudence and “proper” ladies. It was then, in the 30′s, that the common sight of women in bathing suits and quite often even less was emerging. You could say there was no longer a need for those slot machine telescopes which lined the promenades. Shockingly, the earliest evidence of moral deterioration at the coast can be seen as early as 1860 in a sketch by Thomas Rowlandson. It portrays Scarborough beach in the distance with the cliffs in the foreground exposing turning telescopes spying on the naked dippers. Therefore, even with the segregation of the sexes (which lasted over 100 years in selected resorts) prurience and voyeuristic attitudes were a part of seaside resorts from their outset. After all, what else do you do on holiday if you can’t relax and have fun?

One of my favorite forms of seaside entertainment has to be the What The Butler Saw mutoscopes, showing risque flip books of peep shows and through the key hole images. Musical and comical performances quickly replaced pretentious orchestras, beauty contests began to take place on piers, Punch and Judy shows were in even shown inland and hotels were increasingly used for open sexual relations. George Orwell once said that crude comedy and frivolity was a “staple of seaside entertainment” and this it true. The double entendre entertainment implies a common background with all visitors to the seaside, the only difference is upper class holiday makers were a little bit more reserved. As you can see this soon changed. I do think therefore, that the British seaside has always been an attraction to holiday makers because of it’s ability to break down social attitudes and boundaries. Whilst on holiday people, whether they are from the Victorian era, inter-war times or the twenty first century will always act more garish and will never fail to let their hair down.

In answer to my initial question then, the seaside’s appeal hasn’t changed and W G Sebald was correct in thinking that people go to the coast to face their back on the world. But in doing so they also created a new world of fun, frivolity and risque past times that we all still enjoy now-a-days. We may have lost the true meaning of the Punch and Judy tale and Donald McGill’s naughty postcards may not be as outrageous as they once were but they never fail to still raise a cheeky smile.