‘Champagne Air, Rainfall Rare’. Clacton and the Changing Nature of the Twentieth Century British Seaside Holiday

Article by Sam Wakeford. Edited by Heather Nolan. Additional Research by Ellie Veryard.

From the elitist spa resorts of the eighteenth century to the populist bucket and spade, it is undeniable that the seaside was once and continues to remain a fundamental element of British social and cultural identity. Challenged and forced to adapt most notably over the course of the previous century in response to changing tastes and fashions, twentieth century historiography of the seaside has focused almost obsessively on the notion of ‘rise and fall’ in which scholars have sought to trace the fortunes of the seaside resort from its pomp in the Edwardian and early post war period to its ultimate fall and subsequent decline in the face of foreign competition from the 1970s onwards. In repudiating this superficial and limited approach, however, this article will seek to argue that seaside resorts such as Clacton continue to defy the odds in maintaining their aura as both powerful cultural referents while reinventing themselves in ways that continue to reflect the market and society’s changing demands.

The establishment and subsequent reinforcement of the British seaside myth continues to remain instrumental in firmly rooting the seaside in the popular consciousness. A ubiquitous topic in popular culture, appearing in classic novels such as Graham Greene’s ‘Brighton Rock’ to sitcoms such as Fawlty Towers, portrayals of the seaside as havens of fun and frivolity have consistently drawn holidaymakers to the British coast. Further supplemented by glossy posters and catchy slogans, the selling of the seaside in the visual form was one of the twentieth century’s great domestic marketing success stories. For instance, this is clear in the LNER posters for Clacton, in which motifs such as the coquettish female form and exotic locations in conjunction with gimmicky catchphrase such as ‘Sunny Clacton-Champagne Air, Rainfall Rare’ were successfully used to disseminate the escapist appeal of the seaside to a mass audience.

The role played by local government must also be considered fundamental in both shaping the character and image of the seaside resort during the previous century. Faced with the unenviable task of balancing and regulating the expectations of the paying holidaymaker with those of the permanent residents, local authorities crucially had to market their towns to a suitable audience. As a working class town, easily accessible by railway and with connections to London’s East End, Clacton’s local authorities created an image for itself that catered to the mainstream populist audience, in which beaches were less constrained by private codes of behaviour and where seaside entertainment such as the Westcliff Theatre and Pier were at the forefront of the resort’s allure. Working in conjunction with one another, it must thus be surmised that the combination of popular culture, image and local government did much to make the seaside ‘exist in mind as well as in actuality’, reinforcing and entrenching notions of fun and escapism in the popular consciousness.

Moving aside from the cultural sphere, social change further compelled the changing nature of the twentieth century seaside holiday. From the Victorian and Edwardian appetite for curiosities and peculiarities to the increasingly commercial and family orientated entertainment that was starting to emerge in the 1960s and 70s, the seaside experience was transformed innumerably over the course of the century. Driven primarily by the changing demands of the market, the first divergence from the traditional seaside experience can be pinpointed to the 1930s. Indicative of the increasing, although carefully segregated, democratisation of the seaside, which is perhaps best reflected in the landmark Holidays with Pay Act of 1938, the seaside experience became less formal and more mainstream in nature. For example, this was evident in Clacton where greater numbers of working class clientele were able to flock to the coast as a result of being less constrained financially, helping to launch the careers of up and coming entertainers such as Stanley Holloway at the Westcliff Theatre. Moreover, domestic holidaying reached a post war peak in the 1950s in which 11-12 million citizens were now covered by the Holidays with Pay Act. Adroitly observing this change, a Canadian businessman Billy Butlin was the first to spot this new gap in the market. Cast to the backburner by war as his first holiday camps at Skegness (1936) and Clacton (1937) were completed, Butlin’s camps combined large-scale communal living with an ‘emphasis on fun, pervasive heartiness and schoolboyish immaturity’ that sought to satisfy the holidaymaker’s desire for post war frivolity. Achieving great success, as is testament to the 1⁄2 a million people that took their holidays to Butlins in 1958, it would not be until the advent of the package holiday that the hegemony that the seaside had so long enjoyed could finally be challenged.

Offering British people the sun and sea that could not be guaranteed during a domestic season at an affordable price, package holidays were undoubtedly an attractive alternative to the domestic ‘wet weekend’. Yet while Spain, to an extent, became the new Skegness, it is salient to note that British domestic holidays actually reached their height of popularity at the very time the package holiday was supposedly omnipotent, with 30 million choosing the seaside over the airport between 1973-4. Furthermore, local authorities responded proactively to the new demands of market forces by endeavouring to find new ways to make their resorts both distinctive and desirable to the paying holidaymaker. In Clacton this was achieved by devoting greater attention to the day tripping and weekend away market for which new caravan parks were constructed and one off events, such as an August Carnival and the Red Arrows Airshow, were specifically tailored towards. Finally, British seaside resorts strove to preserve their image and heritage at the end of the twentieth century. Tendring District Council, for example, works painstakingly to ensure their resorts such as Clacton maintain their award winning beaches while initiatives such as the Tendring Coastal Protection Strategy and the approval of a windfarm have not only boosted revenue but more significantly safeguarded the reputation and image of Clacton and the surrounding coastline for the foreseeable future.

From the continued strengthening of the seaside myth, as supplemented by a combination of popular culture, railway advertising and the diligence of local authorities in the cultural sphere, to the ongoing adaption of resorts in response to changes in society as seen over the course of the century, the death of the British seaside has, in the words of Walton, been ‘prematurely anticipated and greatly exaggerated’. Conversely, as this article has attempted to illuminate, British seaside resorts like Clacton arguably showed even greater resilience in the times of hardship they witnessed over the course of the previous century, finding new means to reinvent themselves in ways that continued to appeal to domestic holidaymakers. What’s more, this a precedent that looks set to continue, as it has done in the early twenty first century, as British seaside resorts continue to preserve a strong cultural image while responding intelligently to society’s changing demands.

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In 1871 modern day Clacton was founded as a holiday resort by Peter Bruff. Clacton pier opened in the same year as a dock for steamships. In 1893 the pier was lengthened and the entertainment facilities were opened, beginning a lasting tradition of the pier’s usage for fun and games.

Stanley Holloway met his wife whilst appearing at the theatre in Clacton, and lived there between 1912 and 1914.

In the 1920s London Road was opened to cope with the growing influx of holiday visitors.

The 1950s and 1970s are typically viewed as the heyday for holiday tourism to Clacton.

The train line serving Clacton-on-Sea is called the Sunshine Coast Line.

In 1964 rival gangs of Mods and Rockers rioted and fought against each other at Clacton on Sea.

For more information on Clacton and the tourist industry in Britain see the National Rail Museum website at http://www.nrm.org.uk

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