In the 1840’s the railways arrived, bringing thousands of day-trippers from the factory towns in the Midlands and the North. In Victorian times the seafront was transformed as hotels, piers and entertainment venues sprang up along the prom.

Holidaymakers continued to flock to Great Yarmouth though out most of the twentieth century. During WWII the town was bombed and the beach was covered in mines and barbed wire to defend against enemy invasion.

After the war the resort was busier than ever. Paid holidays were introduced allowing many working class people to have holidays for the first time. During the season top showbiz stars came to entertain the visitors.

From the 1970’s less visitors arrived in Great Yarmouth as many people took cheap package holidays abroad. At the start of the new millennium there are signs that seaside resorts like Great Yarmouth are becoming more popular again with people taking more holidays and short breaks in Britain.

Learning how to swim
Change worries us. Every time there is a new fashion or craze we are told that it will lead to trouble. When swimming became popular there were worries about the effects it could have upon people’s behaviour.

Taking the Waters
People had to learn to enjoy swimming in the sea. Great Yarmouth’s first bathhouse opened in 1759. The first visitors did not bathe for fun. It was thought that bathing and drinking seawater cured illnesses.

Attitudes to sea bathing changed during the nineteenth century. Healthy activities were encouraged. People saw that swimming was a good way of keeping fit. The fashion for swimming spread and people began to enjoy the exercise. Our love of swimming in the sea was born.

Bathing Machines
In Victorian Britain swimming was seen as a threat. It was thought that swimming in the sea could encourage men and women to behave indecently. It also allowed rich and poor people to mix together as equals.

The first bathers were not worried about being seen. Until the 1850s many men bathed naked. However, attitudes changed as more people visited the seaside. Men and women were forced to bathe on separate beaches. They were fined if they were caught swimming in the wrong areas. Bathing became a complex attempt to protect swimmers from the gaze of onlookers. Bathers rattled down to the sea in horse-drawn bathing machines. They changed into swimming costumes, which were designed to conceal every curve of the body. They could then step out into the safety of the water.

Fun in the Sun
People have been doing the same things at the seaside for years. The Victorians enjoyed swimming, paddling and digging in the sand as much as we do today.

For many visitors in the past the seaside must have seemed like a perfect world. It was clean and bright. It was a place where you could forget the grime of the cities and dream of a life of leisure. The happy chaos of the crowded beach gave a sense of freedom from normal life. Punch and Judy shows, donkey rides and goat-carts provided entertainment for children. Streams of beach sellers walked the sands selling food, beach toys and souvenirs.

Visitors in search of relaxation could stroll on the Wellington Pier or view the town from the 150-foot high Revolving Tower. They could watch the military band playing amongst the exotic flowers in the Winter Gardens or take refreshments in genteel tearooms. In the evening they dance the night away or buy tickets for one of the many shows on offer.

Visitors seeking excitement could lose themselves amid the noise, colour, and excitement of the Golden Mile. The sea front offered the thrill of the Pleasure beach and the excitement of the Hippodrome Circus with its exotic animals and death defying performers.

Weird and bizarre sights were on show at the Vicarium. Visitors were terrified by a huge collection of poisonous snakes, complete with glamorous snake charmer.

Those who liked to gamble could chance their arm at one of the many amusement arcades while those looking for better luck in the future could have their palms read by a gypsy fortune-teller.

A Home from Home
The arrival of the railway brought a great influx of holidaymakers to Great Yarmouth in the second half of the nineteenth century. Most of these could not afford to stay at expensive sea-front hotels. They found cheaper accommodation in guesthouses and private houses.

I am a bug, a seaside bug, When folks in bed are lying snug, About their skin we walk and creep, and feast upon them while they sleep. - Popular song

The first guesthouses had a reputation for being dirty places, ruled by tyrannical landladies. Their lists of draconian rules and regulations provided much material for the comedians of the time. Fortunately, standards soon improved. Families returned to the same Yarmouth guesthouse year after year. Many landladies were thought of like members of the family.

Other visitors rented rooms in private houses. This was an important source of income for many Yarmouth families. However, it could be inconvenient. More than one local family was forced to live in a tiny box room during the summer months. In some cases this room was entered by a ladder to avoid disturbing the guests.

During the 1940s holiday camps and caravan parks were built in Great Yarmouth. By 1977 these camps provided more than two-thirds of the holiday accommodation in Yarmouth.

The introduction of annual paid leave after WWII allowed many working-class people to go on holiday for the first time. Holiday camps and caravan parks provided self-catering accommodation at a reasonable price. The camps quickly became self-contained. All the facilities and entertainments that guests needed were provided at the holiday camp.

All Work and No Play
In the 1950’s a local newspaper published a series of photographs of a day in the life of Mrs Hall a Great Yarmouth guesthouse owner. As these pictures show seaside holidays were not just about fun. Many people worked long hard hours during the season to earn enough to keep them throughout the year. But it was not all hard graft. Mrs Hall still found time to have some fun with her guests!

Invasion of the Holiday Makers

The Railways
In 1844 the railway arrived in Great Yarmouth. It transformed the resort. By 1846, 80,000 people were visiting Yarmouth by rail each summer.

Before the coming of the railway Yarmouth was a haven for a small number of wealthy visitors. They enjoyed leisurely holidays which revolved around socialising with one another. The railways changed all this. For the first time the town was open to mass tourism. In the summer season the town thronged with huge numbers of visitors.

The Bass Trips
During the early 1900s large companies like Bass Breweries organised day trips to Great Yarmouth. Entire factories were transported to the seaside in fleets of trains. Great Yarmouth was taken over by thousands of workers and their families.

Most visitors to the town were day-trippers. Working class people could not afford to have holidays. It was only in the 1940s that they were able to take paid leave every year.

The Mods
The 1960s saw a new kind of invasion. Parading on the prom took on a new angle as hordes of ‘Mods’ descended on the town.

The economy was booming. Young people had money in their pockets. They showed their independence by the way they dressed and the music they listened to. The ‘Mods’ rode to Great Yarmouth in convoys of scooters. They wore parkas to protect their sharp Italian suits. They gathered on the sea front and danced at all-nighters. There were occasional scuffles with rival gangs of bikers but most ‘Mods’ just wanted to have fun. Scooter rallies still come to Great Yarmouth today. Along with custom car cruises and truck rallies they continue a grand tradition of parading on the prom.


Historic images courtesy of Great Yarmouth Museums