A nostalgic trip down to the Sea and Sand with Sheila Willis
On a cold, wet, miserable Tuesday morning in February Sheila Willis brightened up our day with “Beside the Seaside” – a nostalgic trip down to the Sea and Sand. Sheila grew up near the coast, where her family ran a café by the sea. She has always cherished her lifelong affection for seaside life.
Each of the “chapters” of her talk was introduced by a well-known song which she had the audience singing along to with gusto.
Early beginnings
Richard Russell, an 18th-century British physician, encouraged his patients to use a form of water therapy that involved the submersion or bathing in, and drinking of, seawater. King George IV transformed Brighton from a small fishing town into a fashionable Regency resort by building the exotic Royal Pavilion and frequently visiting from 1783 onwards. His presence drove massive population growth, construction, and tourism.
Transport
In the 1840s the Railways expanded and by the 1860s & 1870s a cheap, fast and regular service brought day trippers to the coast. Annual visitors to Brighton multiplied at least 30 times to over 3 million.
During the Industrial Revolution the tradition of wakes was adapted into a regular summer holiday particularly, but not exclusively, in some parts of the North of England. Blackpool became a resort in the 1880s when trippers arrived during “Wakes” week. Its iconic tower was built in 1894; its first tram ran in 1914.
Sheila showed old photographs of both working class and middle-class outings (you can tell which was which by the ladies’ hats). One such was a 1913 group posed in front of their canvas topped coach.
Paddle steamers, such as the PS Victoria (pictured in Lulworth Cove), operated round the coast. Today the Waverley is the last sea going paddle steamer in the world. Waverley’s first sailing of the 2026 season taking place on Friday 8th May – a voyage that’s highly recommended by Sheila. The Medway Queen, another paddle steamer, is being restored, but since this restoration has been in progress for over 30 years Sheila wasn’t optimistic of being able to sail on her any time soon.
The other great change has been caused by the increase in the motor car. Sheila showed two adverts one for a 1923 Ford and the other for a 1940s Wolsey Ten which cost £215 (a fortune in 1940). The growth is staggering:
- 1955 - 3.8 million cars on British roads
- 1960 - there were so many cars in Brighton that they blocked the town and even parked on the beach.
- 1965 - 9 million
- 2018 - 32.9 million
- 2025 - at the end of June 2025, there were approximately 34.36 million licensed cars in the United Kingdom.
Where to stay?
Sheila showed an advert for the “posh” Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth (a “posh’ town) and told a story of a 17-year old local girl who was told she could only have a job as a chambermaid if she left her Dorset accent outside and only talked “proper English” in the hotel!
At the other end of the scale how about having a seaside bungalow or camping in an old railway coach? Or indulge in the new craze – the holiday camp.
The first Butlins opened in Skegness in 1936. Sheila painted a rather unflattering (and by today’s standards unappealing) picture of the early days of Butlins, e.g. 2,000 people at a meal sitting on tables for six with no choice of what you ate! There’s no denying that it was a huge operation. In the 1960s Butlins would cook in a year:
- 3.5 million eggs
- 100 tons of sausages
- 120,000 gallons of soup
- 1,570 tons of potatoes
- 34 tons of tea – that’s 20 million cups
- 140 tons of pork chops (requiring 8,000 pigs)
In the 1950s travel abroad was only for the rich and famous and many people liked to go to the same place year after year assured of good value and what they knew they’d enjoy. Butlins had the big advantage of everything being included in the price. With evening entertainment for mum & dad while the staff looked after the children – in reality just raised the alarm if the baby was crying when they listened at the chalet window!
Entertainment
At Butlins
Many famous entertainers started their careers at Butlins. For example, Jimmy Tarbuck appeared at Butlins, notably in the early 1960s. He got his start in entertainment by performing at a talent show during a holiday at Butlins.
Piers
The seaside piers developed (e.g. Ryde Pier [1814], the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare [1904]) and provided many forms of entertainment, or just sitting in one of the many deck chairs that were for hire.
On the beach itself there were donkey rides and of course the Punch & Judy show. But, fashions change today there are fewer than six beach performers. In 2004, a move to ban Punch and Judy in Bodmin, Cornwall, was initiated by a town councillor over complaints that the traditional puppet show was too violent for children, trivializing domestic abuse and child abuse. [Political correctness gone mad?].
Food
- Fish & chips.
- Ice creams – the “99” is the legacy of the owner of a Scottish shop at 99 Portobello High Street, Stephen Arcari, who put a half-Flake in ice cream in the 1920s.
- Rock
- Candy floss became popular following its introduction at the 1904 St. Louis World's Trade Fair.
Fashion
Sheila showed beach fashion through the ages ranging from ladies in 1900, wearing heavy, full-coverage designs, hats, high necks and ankle length skirts – no need to use any sun cream. Knitted swimsuits a popular, form-fitting fashion trend in the 1920s and 1930s. The first modern bikini was introduced in Paris in 1946.
Postcards
Picture postcards were very much part of the scene. Donald McGill was an English graphic artist whose name has become synonymous with the genre of saucy postcards, particularly associated with the seaside.
Memories
Sheila played us out with Acker Bilk playing "Stranger on the Shore" on the clarinet.
3 February 2026