The British, notoriously averse to cold water, avoided their own sea shore for many centuries. Then, the mid eighteenth century claim that seawater was good for one, especially if drunk or bathed in, took the fashionable and wealthy from inland spas to seaside watering places. Royal patronage helped: The Prince Regent at Brighton, and George III at those south coast towns which could now proudly add Regis after their names, spread the idea that the seaside was there to be enjoyed. Later the paddle steamer and the development of the railway encouraged the invasion of the hitherto genteel seaside resorts by hordes of day trippers in search of amusement away from the industrial city surroundings. With its carefully researched collection of contemporary prints, photographs, postcards and posters, this book takes the reader on a seaside excursion, tracing the many aspects of how the resorts of Victorian and Edwardian Britain blossomed into lively and wonderfully garish places packed with people intent on enjoyment. Illustrated with over 200 B/W photographs....