Tell me about 1940's / 50's Seaside resort towns

[Ian Smeeton]

There is also Largs on the Clyde Coast. Station only 50 or so yards from the beach, and a rather lovely looking station throat. No Minories here, Guv.

 

See : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LARGS-STATION-Ayrshire-May-1954-/190819596100

 

Hopefully the link will work now

 

Regards

 

Ian

Edited May 1, 2013 by Landlord

[Ceptic]

Whilst you are correct about the hiring of the London Buses, I can't see the number / owner on the red and cream bus, and I used to travel on Hants and Dorset buses, in those colours, Down to Bournemouth and I remember going on the trollies. It would be more likely to be a Hants and Dorset bus!

The Q

 Even from a distance, that back of the bus is instantly recognisable as a London Transport RT. In fact, it's an RTL.

 

Bournemouth trolleys ceased their operations, as Western Sunset's previous post points out, on 19th. April 1969.   Hants & Dorset buses didn't change from Tilling Green to NBC Poppy Red, with a White, mid-deck, band, until 1972. The fleet name was also White, on the forward lower body panels, shortly later to become 'Wilts & Dorset'.

 

Regards,  Ceptic.

[Black Sheep]

Thanks to all who contributed before, 

 

I've come to stir the embers a bit on this topic as I've got a good idea of my track plan and topography for the layout, I now need to make the town believable. 

 

Thanks to everyone who's posted photos and linked to videos - my memories of the seaside only differ from how things are now in that the sweets had E numbers in them, mars bars were 35p and mum wouldn't let me drink fizzy pop. 

 

So, I don't remember before the metal clad buildings lining the seafront, would there have been B&B's in amongst amusement arcades and chip shops etc?

 

Thanks again everyone. 

[runs as required]

I've only just happened across this interesting thread.

 

To my mind, the most unchanged seaside resorts are a couple of Welsh ones: Llandudno and Aberystwyth and also Scottish ones - my absolute favourite being Rothesay (though, being on the Isle of Bute, lacking a raiway). The advantage of these is that you can 'visit' them with Google or Bing maps and walk about them using the little yellow man. Sometimes Bing gives you a Birdseye facility to study the buildings from different compass viewpoints (eg a beautiful art deco flat complex on the front at Hastings resembling a cruise liner). I use the screen capture button, then photoshop to generate 4mm scale elevs from these views.

 

You also have to think of how the railway arrives - Southport used to have both types of terminus: the old GCR line that played a 'flanker' arriving at Southport Lord Street along the coastal sandunes from Altcar (likewise Yarmouth Beach and Whitby) or the terminus at right angles to the sea front (Southport Chapel St. - as well as the Blackpool ones and Scarborough).

 

Ventnor and Saltburn had the railway arrive on top of the cliff - in Ventnor the hotels/boarding houses opened both off the top of the cliff and exited down on the prom - very exciting. Saltburn still has a wonderful water powered cliff railway on axis with the pier - and with the former Zetland Hotel (elaborately Italianate Victorian) - with a neat railway terminus, now much reduced, behind it.

 

If you have not already found it, you should look at Hoglington (an N gauge exhibition layout) here:  http://www.hullmrs.org/hoglington.html

It has some wonderful buildings typical of a 1960s E coast resort

 

Good luck with the planning.

 

dhig

 

 

[John_Hughes]

Mars bars for 35p?

 

Good grief, man, they were sixpence - and so were the Walls choc ices!

[PhilJ W]

Mars bars for 35p?

 

Good grief, man, they were sixpence - and so were the Walls choc ices!

As much as that? I remember when they were threepence, when they came off the ration that is. IIRC sweets were amongst the last things to be rationed, about 1952/53.

[Black Sheep]

I was born in a house in Barnsley my parents were trying to sell. Due to Scarigill vs Thatcher they have just managed to sell it 30 years later

 

They gave up for a while and stayed put. Guess I'm a young un

[Fat Controller]

As much as that? I remember when they were threepence, when they came off the ration that is. IIRC sweets were amongst the last things to be rationed, about 1952/53.

5th February, 1953. Does anyone else remember the 1d and 3d bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk? Very popular with tight-wad aunties..

One thing you've got to have in the street scenes is the 'pop' lorry; the ones I remember were the Corona Karrier Bantams.

[Gwiwer]

 

 

Does anyone else remember the 1d and 3d bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk? Very popular with tight-wad aunties..

 

Or with school-boys whose pocket money seldom lasted through the week but might manage a 1d bar on the way home some days

[luckymucklebackit]

And I claim my £5.

 

Cheers

David

 

I had to look this one up, hadn't a clue what you were talking about!!  Something similar still goes on in Scotland, with the "Real Radio Renegade" being tracked down

 

Jim

Edited November 24, 2014 by luckymucklebackit

[lmsforever]

Ah the nostalga Mars bars were bigger in 1953 what about chocolate cream bars heaven also agree about the Corona man drove my parents man to buy from him didn't we get money back on the bottles? I liked Clacton and the neighbouring resort Walton on the Naze the station was very close to the pier and I think that the station building was destroyed in an accident in the sixties? How about Bognor Regis very impressive building and busy still going strong today.

[Gwiwer]

Walton-On-Naze station was severely damaged by the 13.05 from Thorpe-le-Soken which failed to stop in time on August 12th 1987 (not in the 1960s).  Seven people were taken to hospital and the waiting room became a fatality.

 

Bognor Regis still stands as a classic branch and seaside terminus and with among the last semaphore signals on the former SR to boot.  Its pier wasn't so lucky.  While Walton's was storm-damaged and rebuilt at least twice, extended and rebuilt after a fire that at Bognor was badly damaged in a 1965 storm, further damaged by fire in 1974 and again by storms in 1999.  Only a short section at the landward end remains.  Which is more than can be said of its near neighbour the now-lost West Pier at Brighton. 

Edited November 25, 2014 by Gwiwer

[edward66]

No one has mentioned Morecambe, now sadly pretty much the last resort, the main attraction being the view across Morecambe Bay and the bronze statue of Eric Morecambe and even that was vandalised recently. Somebody tried to saw through his leg [he's stood on one leg] but failed because it has a large tough stainless steel "bone" in it!

 

However, it used to be very popular particularly in the forties, fifties and most of the sixties. It had a pier with dancing to popular artists, the Floral Hall, another dance venue, a good fairground and all the usual slot machine arcades plus illuminations in Autumn. It was always something of an also ran to Blackpool unfortunately and eventually the butt of jokes by comedians like Colin Crompton [remember him?].

 

Morecambe was the resort of choice for many people from Yorkshire mill towns and became known as Bradford on Sea, many Yorkshire folks retired there.

 

As for excursion trains, there were many of them, a lot came down the Little North Western through Skipton, Wennington and Lancaster to Morecambe Promanade station. Trains stacked up in the sections so at the bottom of our field almost every train was held at the home signal, often hauled by a 4F 0-6-0, a Crab and sometimes an ex-LNER B1, D49 or even an A1. Coaching stock was often ancient and often non-corridor [and non lavatory], I saw Midland clerestory stock and even a CLC articulated pair. The line from Wennington to Lancaster is long gone as are the excursions now consigned to history

 

Edward

[Black Sheep]

Cleethorpes station might make an interesting seaside model - it is on the main promenade, with lines parallel to the prom, and an ornate clock tower over the entrance which has always looked rather out of place. Operationally, there was a turntable by the station throat, and if you had an eye-level model the line would disappear behind a line of ramshackle red brick seaside arcades. The station throat paintwork however was a complex mass of single slips, to give access from the platforms to the turntable and carriage roads.

 

 

Cleethorpes isn't too far removed from what I'm looking for, (see signature Milliedale on Sea) the plan is to have the railway raised up (I'll get annoyed with a level crossing and hope to have some moving vehicles) so that it goes over the roads leading back into the terraced housing and town, the raised up arches / embankment being behind the row of housing along the front, leading from out of town being just B&B to becoming shop fronts, the main focus of town is right at one end, back slightly from the front. 

 

So, on the layout there will be:

 

Butlins up on the cliff 

pier

lido

station hotel

Theater / cinema 

formal garden

funicular railway

 

anything else quintessentially British seaside resort? 

[stewartingram]

Miniature railway.

open top bus (and don't forget Municipal-owned).

 

Stewart

[John_Hughes]

Crazy golf

Putting green

Bandstand

Punch & Judy

Donkeys

Deckchairs in a stack with a man to rent them out, 6d a session!

The B&B holidaymakers sitting in the shelter 'cos there's nowt to do and they've been turned out till supper-time!

 

Ah, golden days!

[runs as required]

No one has mentioned Morecambe, now sadly pretty much the last resort, the main attraction being the view across Morecambe Bay and the bronze statue of Eric Morecambe.......

 

I think this very unfair about present day Morecambe.

 

The Midland Hotel (LMS 1933, by Oliver Hill - for my money Britain's most versatile Art Deco architect) has been imaginatively rejuvenated by Manchester's 'Urban Splash'.

My grandchildren say it is their favourite place for us all meeting up - they can splash about in the rock pools with us all keeping an eye on them while partying in the dining room or the adjacent cafe.

 

Thoroughly recommended for a reminder of the 1950s (that never were) - and for a great overnight stay prior to visiting Carnforth and the  "Fancy a Quick S£$& ?"  "Brief Encounters" location.

 

dhig 

(who 20 years ago actually stayed in the manky cabbage smelling pre-restoration Midland Hotel during a wet week-end spent dismantling the crossings outside the doomed Morecambe Promenade station for re-use in preservation)

 

[edit of typos]

Edited December 1, 2014 by runs as required

[stewartingram]

Amusement Park

 

Stewart

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

An enduring memory of slow Saturday services in summer is that all the droplights were open. BR was going to need much of the day to move you a relatively short distance miles in a carriage which was 'strangely musty', very full of passengers, and rarely got going fast enough to create a decent draught for ventilation.

 

Except of course when it was pouring with rain, and then you discovered why the carriage smelt a little musty. It leaked, here and there...

... how a resort town would feel at the time ...

If you want to get in the mood, then you must restrict your baths to between 7 and 7.30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and give two days prior notice of your intention to squander the two inches of lukewarm water that the antiquated plumbing might be persuaded to deliver.

 

Once summer comes round again, get some used engine oil, and boil it until thick and tarry. Let it cool, drop it on some sand and sit in it. Have some friendly female attempt to remove it with spit and a handkerchief. (Was the all too common oil contamination of beaches the aftermath of the war time shipping losses?)

 

Should the day be warm, take two ounces of lard shaped in a long cuboid form, which might just fit neatly in an O gauge five plank wagon. Put it in the freezer. Sort out a couple of sheets of thin cardboard the same size as the large face of the cuboid. Once the lard is nicely chiiled, place it between the sheets of cardboard and eat it. That's your 'ice cream wafer', and is probably more organic than what was served in this guise back then...

[jonny777]

Cleethorpes isn't too far removed from what I'm looking for, (see signature Milliedale on Sea) the plan is to have the railway raised up (I'll get annoyed with a level crossing and hope to have some moving vehicles) so that it goes over the roads leading back into the terraced housing and town, the raised up arches / embankment being behind the row of housing along the front, leading from out of town being just B&B to becoming shop fronts, the main focus of town is right at one end, back slightly from the front. 

 

So, on the layout there will be:

 

Butlins up on the cliff 

pier

lido

station hotel

Theater / cinema 

formal garden

funicular railway

 

anything else quintessentially British seaside resort? 

 

 

Some of the East coast resorts in the 1950s had "land trains", which basically were ex-military Land Rovers underneath a very basic steam engine outline, probably constructed out of plywood. These would tow a couple of trailers with rows of seats bolted to them.

 

They would run either along the promenade or up and down the beach at low tide where the sand was hard.

 

Also present on the beach, in addition to donkeys, were "ducks" or more accurately DUKWs, which were ex-military amphibious craft which would take tourists on trips down the beach and into the shallow areas of the sea.

[Fat Controller]

If you have some sand-dunes, have an area fenced off, guarded by a couple of bored squaddies; in the middle, a couple of figures crouched over a hole. 'De-mining' scenes like this were a common feature of some beaches in the Gower well into the late 1960s. What was alarming was the way the path you took one day might be blocked the next. You'd also see the remnants of all sorts of improvised anti-invasion defence, bulldozed into corners and left to rot.

[PhilJ W]

Pill boxes, a common feature of the east coast in the 50's and 60's. Some leaning at crazy angles due to erosion or built into post 1953 flood defences, (another feature of the east coast). And the odd one converted to other uses such as one at Clacton used as an ice cream booth.

[stewartingram]

Some of the East coast resorts in the 1950s had "land trains", which basically were ex-military Land Rovers underneath a very basic steam engine outline, probably constructed out of plywood. These would tow a couple of trailers with rows of seats bolted to them.

 

They would run either along the promenade or up and down the beach at low tide where the sand was hard.

 

Also present on the beach, in addition to donkeys, were "ducks" or more accurately DUKWs, which were ex-military amphibious craft which would take tourists on trips down the beach and into the shallow areas of the sea.

Also, Southport had converted Bedford QL army lorries as buses on the beach http://www.southport.gb.com/showthread.php?t=16918&page=6 (scroll down to post 84); the QL is available as a basis for conversion from Airfix kits.Also DUKW (Airfix kit) as both buses and lifeboat.

Hunstanton had/(has) DUKW in a remarkably unaltered appearance, as a bus/ferry out to sea. https://twitter.com/hunstantonol/status/474554136227495937 is a latter day image, it neverused to have the canopy in the '50s. 

 

Stewart

[Ceptic]

Miniature railway.

open top bus (and don't forget Municipal-owned).

 

Stewart

 Beats me why?, but, I've still got memories of barbed wire.... The piers with gaps, blown in them.....Some images remain ingrained

[runs as required]

Southport had converted Bedford QL army lorries as buses on the beach http://www.southport.gb.com/showthread.php?t=16918&page=6 (scroll down to post 84); the QL is available as a basis for conversion from Airfix kits.Also DUKW (Airfix kit) as both buses and lifeboat.

 

 

Also present on the beach, in addition to donkeys, were "ducks" or more accurately DUKWs, which were ex-military amphibious craft which would take tourists on trips down the beach and into the shallow areas of the sea. (from Johnny777)

They were municipal buses in the cream and red Southport Corpy livery.

And don't forget the elegant de Haviland Rapide biplanes offering short flights off Southport sands at low tide (I never had the dosh to afford one of these), though my uncle let me - as a thirteen year old - learn to drive his Ford Consul along the beach on winter Sundays. He worked at the Everton toffee factory, thus a trip to the dentist often followed on after these weekends.

 

dhig