Throughout the summer months of the twentieth century, the seaside service posters of the London & North Eastern Railway promised fresh air and frivolity to millions with the phrase: 'To the sea by train'.
The British seaside holiday is both a staple of modern life and a charming pillar of history. It is also intertwined with the train, in whose compartments holidaymakers - some of whom had never seen the sea before - were shunted from gloomy inner cities to the sandy beaches of Yorkshire and Sussex.
With his signature wit and ear for anecdote, Andrew Martin captures an era defined by its railways: the development of supposedly health-giving spas like Brighton and Scarborough into pleasure resorts; Bank Holidays from 1871; the 48-hour weekend in the 1930s; the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, and the advent of cheap flights and the subsequent decline of the British seaside resort.
Wayward, witty and atmospheric, To the Sea by Train is a joyful history of Britain's most iconic pasttime.
The British seaside holiday is both a staple of modern life and a charming pillar of history. It is also intertwined with the train, in whose compartments holidaymakers - some of whom had never seen the sea before - were shunted from gloomy inner cities to the sandy beaches of Yorkshire and Sussex.
With his signature wit and ear for anecdote, Andrew Martin captures an era defined by its railways: the development of supposedly health-giving spas like Brighton and Scarborough into pleasure resorts; Bank Holidays from 1871; the 48-hour weekend in the 1930s; the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, and the advent of cheap flights and the subsequent decline of the British seaside resort.
Wayward, witty and atmospheric, To the Sea by Train is a joyful history of Britain's most iconic pasttime.