Bradshaw's Guide Bradshaw at the Seaside: Britain's Victorian Resorts

At the start of the nineteenth century most ordinary people in Britain had never traveled further than a few miles from where they were born and lived. The arrival of the railways changed all that and brought an unprecedented degree of personal travel to almost every stratum of society. By the latter half of the century it had become quite possible for a Londoner, for example, to make a day trip to take in the sea air and entertainments of the South Coast and still be home in time for supper. Not only did this new phenomenon change the way that people spent their leisure time, it also brought about the development of many seaside towns with several new resorts growing from small settlements to large towns at an incredible speed.

This latest volume in the Bradshaw s Guide series is a celebration of Britain s love affair with the seaside. Bradshaw s descriptions are illustrated with contemporary photographs, maps, travel posters and, of course, the inevitable seaside postcards."

Bradshaw s Guide of 1863 was the staple book on what s what and where s where for the mid-Victorians and it gives the modern reader a unique insight into the world of the nineteenth-century railway travellers. The guide introduced the notion of seaside holidays to the general public and thanks to the railways it became possible for a town or city dweller to catch a train for a day-trip to the coast and still be home in time for supper. Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, I do like to be beside the sea I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom Where the brass bands play: Tiddely-om-pom-pom Using Bradshaw s Guide illustrated with contemporary images and seaside postcards, John Christopher and Campbell McCutcheon take us on a tour of Britain s Victorian resorts."