Beside Seaside: Snapshots Of British Coastal Life

On September 17, the National Maritime Museum opens Beside the Seaside: snapshots of British coastal life, 1880-1950. The exhibition brings together photographs, posters and seaside memorabilia to capture the essence of both working life and early tourism along the British coast. More than 45 images are displayed from the Museum’s historical photographic collection, many for the first time. The exhibition will be on view through 13 April 2009.

The exhibition highlights the diversity of the British seaside holiday. Following the advent of the railways from the mid-nineteenth century quiet coastal settlements and towns such as Eastbourne and Scarborough were transformed into thriving holiday destinations, where beaches, piers, promenades and hotels were developed to cater for a range of tastes and budgets.

Beside the Seaside draws on images from the NMM’s Francis Frith Collection. Frith (1822-1898) was a pioneering Victorian photographer whose passion for photography and travel led to him founding what eventually became the largest photographic publishing company in the world.

The gallery is divided into four main geographic areas covering South-East England and East Anglia, South-West England, North-West England and Wales. Beside the Seaside explores a diversity of activities along the British coast. Photographs range from those of fisherman sorting through the day’s catch to fashionable Edwardians relaxing under parasols by the sea to crowds of visitors enjoying the sunny piers and bustling promenades of popular holiday resorts. -- www.nmm.ac.uk