Sweetly sleazy: this defines the appeal of British seaside towns for me, the dichotomy between the for-the-tourists-and-municipal-brochure attempt to tart up and gentrify and the pervasive reality: the cheap and not always cheerful-ness, the homeless sleeping under the pier, the down at heel amusement arcades filled with the poor and desperate, the atmosphere of ‘this is as far as you can go’.
Echoes of Georgian and Victorian propriety vie with shadows of insalubrious raffishness – the seaside is where a young lady might elope with an unsuitable chancer, an adulterous couple might hide out, Mods and Rockers would have street battles and hen and stag parties descend for ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ weekends.
Sweetly sleazy: this defines the appeal of British seaside towns for me, the dichotomy between the for-the-tourists-and-municipal-brochure attempt to tart up and gentrify and the pervasive reality: the cheap and not always cheerful-ness, the homeless sleeping under the pier, the down at heel amusement arcades filled with the poor and desperate, the atmosphere of ‘this is as far as you can go’.
Echoes of Georgian and Victorian propriety vie with shadows of insalubrious raffishness – the seaside is where a young lady might elope with an unsuitable chancer, an adulterous couple might hide out, Mods and Rockers would have street battles and hen and stag parties descend for ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ weekends.
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Interesting look at those towns today. I think it is true of so many "resort areas" these days, they do seem to slip and slide between the "the fun and the sleazy". I know it's true here in the US as well. Great shots, J!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your week!
Sylvia
Reminds me of other places with *pleasure piers* of old. Interesting shots.Well done.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, the first is my favorite. Kind of reminds me of Atlantic City, NJ
ReplyDeleteenjoyed your post...the photographs and words perfection.
ReplyDeletethey are also great fun places in a quitessentially English fashion...
ReplyDeleteThe contrasts do make life interesting, yes?
ReplyDeleteI wrote about Nevada's Vegas--and about contrasts
Hope you'll stop by!
Such fantastic photos, J.
I liked your descriptions about mods and rockers etc. a lot.
ReplyDeleteThought provoking descriptions, like each coin has two sides. Great shots too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting :)
ReplyDeleteBlack & white fit the mood!
ReplyDeleteIshtar - i do like a nice b+w too, particularly with some urban shots.
ReplyDeleteCatherine - One thing that interests me is that seaside towns can be great fun to visit, but often not as fun to actually live in. People are often quite surprised by the levels of deprivation in Worthing, for instance, as it's often perceived as very leafy, genteel resort for old people!
Great pictures! I do think the Brighton Pier is kind of sleazy... but fun too.
ReplyDeleteawesome shots in b & w. i love it.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to Clacton-on-Sea and being quite horrified... so manky and so tacky. Fittingly, it was where I saw my first and only rat in the UK, haha.
ReplyDeleteGive me a wild beach any day of those sorts of places.
ms tb - was the rat eating fish and chips?
ReplyDeleteI love the third one....so beautiful...
ReplyDelete