The Decline of the British Seaside Resorts
British Seaside resorts: from glamour and glitz to fish and chips
The history of the seaside resorts in the UK goes back until 250 years ago. However, in that time such a recreation was a luxury only for the wealthy. Prince Regent and Queen Victoria had enjoyed the amenities in Brighton or Isle of Wight and Ramsgate (Wikipedia, 2010), under the pretext of health, social activity, coffee houses, gaming and theatre (Howard & Benn, 1998).
Between 1850 and 1900, the Industrial Revolution and the improvement in transportation allowed less privileged classes to travel away from home. Most holidays were railway day trips to the British seaside resorts (Barrow, 2010).
Along with the twentieth century, the developing of better and cheaper engine automobiles let UK seaside resorts experiment a brief boom up to or even after the Second World War (Walton, 2000). In 1974, more than 40 million took a British Break of four days or more (Brodie and Winter, 2007)
Even in the 1990’s “at least half of all British holidays were still taken in seaside resorts” (John K. Walton, 2000, p.3). In the same book, John K. Walton explains, how resort life, both for residents and visitors, was a highly significant part of lived experience for much of the British population, making an important contribution to British Culture.
However, a study carried out by Beatty, Fothergill and Wilson (2008), over the 37 largest seaside towns in England found that the employment rate in these towns is always below the English average. The Gross Valued Added per head and average earnings for both male and female in the sub-regions, containing seaside towns are substantially below the English average. The share of adults of working age claiming the three main benefits for the non-employed are greater than the average (13.2% compared to 11.2% in England as a whole in May 2007). Furthermore, since 1997 this number has increased by 12% in seaside resorts while only 2.2% in England as a whole (BBC News,
The history of the seaside resorts in the UK goes back until 250 years ago. However, in that time such a recreation was a luxury only for the wealthy. Prince Regent and Queen Victoria had enjoyed the amenities in Brighton or Isle of Wight and Ramsgate (Wikipedia, 2010), under the pretext of health, social activity, coffee houses, gaming and theatre (Howard & Benn, 1998).
Between 1850 and 1900, the Industrial Revolution and the improvement in transportation allowed less privileged classes to travel away from home. Most holidays were railway day trips to the British seaside resorts (Barrow, 2010).
Along with the twentieth century, the developing of better and cheaper engine automobiles let UK seaside resorts experiment a brief boom up to or even after the Second World War (Walton, 2000). In 1974, more than 40 million took a British Break of four days or more (Brodie and Winter, 2007)
Even in the 1990’s “at least half of all British holidays were still taken in seaside resorts” (John K. Walton, 2000, p.3). In the same book, John K. Walton explains, how resort life, both for residents and visitors, was a highly significant part of lived experience for much of the British population, making an important contribution to British Culture.
However, a study carried out by Beatty, Fothergill and Wilson (2008), over the 37 largest seaside towns in England found that the employment rate in these towns is always below the English average. The Gross Valued Added per head and average earnings for both male and female in the sub-regions, containing seaside towns are substantially below the English average. The share of adults of working age claiming the three main benefits for the non-employed are greater than the average (13.2% compared to 11.2% in England as a whole in May 2007). Furthermore, since 1997 this number has increased by 12% in seaside resorts while only 2.2% in England as a whole (BBC News,
References: • Wikipedia, 2009. Seaside Resorts [Online] (Updated 1 April 2010) Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaside_resort • Barrow, M., 2010. Where do British people spend their holiday. Woodland School [internet] Available at: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/holidays.htm [Accessed 2 April 2010] • Walton, John K., 2000. Holidays and Resorts in the twentieth century. Studies in popular culture: Manchester University Press. • Brodie, A. & Winter, G., 2007. England’s Seaside Resorts: English Heriatage. [Accessed 2 April 2010] • Wikipedia, 2009 • MPs call for aid to seaside towns (Anon., 2007) BBC News, [internet] 7 March. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6423969.stm [Accessed 2 April 2010] • Office for National Statistics, 2010. Travel Trends. [Online] Available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp [Accessed 2 April 2010] • English Tourist Board, 1991. The official website for breaks and days out in England. [Online] London. Available at: http://www.enjoyengland.com [Accessed 2 April 2010] • Allan Wood, 2004. Chief executive of clean beach campaigners. Resorts must drop “boozy image”. BBC News, [internet] 4 October. • Seaside Towns “locked in spiral of decline” (Anon., 2007) Mail Online, [internet] 7 March. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-440696/Seaside-towns-locked-spiral-decline.html [Accessed 3 April 2003] • Government Office for the North West, 2010. John Denham: New Support for seaside success. [Online] London: (Published 25 March 20100. • Agarwal, S & Brunt, P., 2004. Social Exclusion and English Seaside Resorts. University of Plymotuh. [Accessed 3 April 2010] • Welsh Tourist Board, 1989 • Austin Macauley, 2010. Deprived seaside towns receive £5m boost. New Start Magazine. [Online] 25 March. • Walton, John K., 2001. "The Victorian Seaside". British History. BBC News. 1 March [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk./history/british/victorians/seaside_01.shtml