Seaside 100: A History of the British Seaside in 100 Objects

Description

Sandcastles, donkeys, piers and sticks of rock. Beach huts, paddle steamers, promenade shelters and ice cream cones. Our modern seaside is the sum of its parts and all those parts have their history. This book explores the best-loved features of our favourite holiday destinations, each object and building adding its own layer to the story of our shared seaside heritage. Using a mixture of historic images and modern photographs the book takes a roughly chronological journey through the things that have made our seaside distinctive. The places where we have chosen to take our holidays for the past three hundred years have been transformed from mere stretches of coastline but they are not like inland towns. Inside these pages can be found a celebration of all that makes our seaside special.

Kathryn Ferry grew up near the coast in North Devon, but usually only went to the beach out of season in her wellies. In 1998 she fell in love with beach huts during a visit to Herne Bay in Kent. Inspired by this surprising new passion, she began researching their story and, in the summer of 2002, she went on a two-month journey around the English coast to record the state of the nation's huts. She has been researching their history every since and is now the national beach hut expert. Having finished her PhD studying architectural history at the University of Cambridge, she decided to specialise in the seaside. She is the author of eight books, including titles on the British seaside holiday, bungalows, 1950s kitchens and, most recently, the official history of Butlin's.