AWAY 1 : There used to be home and away. Home was where you lived fifty-one weeks of the year. Away was your week at the seaside. This, however, was quite a late shot: the give away is that the fish and chips are in polystyrene boxes. By the 1980s, away was more likely to … Continue reading Away 1 : Fish And Chips On The Front
Tag: Seaside
The Classic British Seaside
The classic British seaside: sands, sea, boats and buckets. It doesn't matter where it is or when it is. It can be a precious day snatched from the steam-filled clutches of a Victorian mill, or an escape from a Corona-driven lockdown. I have photographs of my Uncle Frank and Aunty Miriam sat on a beach … Continue reading The Classic British Seaside
PIER REVIEW
I spent a few weeks in Eastbourne in the early 1980s. My wife and my friends were all working, I was left to wander the streets and promenades, taking photographs. When it rained, I would go into the County Court and listen to trials. Strange times.
Between The Blurred Edges Of Time
This is such a busy photograph: a summer day on the English coast ninety years or so ago. It looks as though it has been taken from a raised height - a pier or a tower or some such. The camera couldn't quite cope with the wide-angle of the shot, and the edges blur into … Continue reading Between The Blurred Edges Of Time
In Search Of Neighbours
This is a classic British "snap" from the 1930s. Amongst our island nation, there is some compelling desire to take to the nearest small boat and explore our coastline. It doesn't matter that the sea is grey, and the coastal wind is sharp enough to cut your jib on - we take to the water. … Continue reading In Search Of Neighbours
Sea, Sky And Seagulls
The British seaside: sea, sands, sky, fish and chips, ice cream, and seagulls.
Southwold Sky
Sometimes the seaside gets squashed between the sea and the sky like the custard cream in a sandwich biscuit.
Different Times, Different People
Our Sepia Saturday image for this week features a lonely soul sat on the beach in Bridlington in 1922. My photograph moves forward nineteen years and switches coast from the East to the West coast of England. The print comes from one of the photograph albums of my Uncle, Frank Fieldhouse, and therefore we know … Continue reading Different Times, Different People
The Porthcawl Ventriloquist
This is a scan of a tiny print from an equally tiny album of photographs taken in Wales in the early 1930s. This particular print is captioned "The Ventriloquist, Porthcawl : Whit Monday 1932". "Tommy Porthcawl" - whose real name was Sydney Valentine - was famous for his sketches and ventriloquist act on Porthcawl beach … Continue reading The Porthcawl Ventriloquist