The Start of British Summer Time

The clocks went forward 1 Hour on Sunday at 2am, marking the start of British Summertime.
Soon time for summer holidays and day trips to the coast for many. This year is expected to see an increase in holidays spent at home in the UK due to the recession,

To celebrate the start of British summertime and as an add for a drinks company the worlds biggest deck chair was unveiled at Bournemouth on the south coast of England....

It measures 8.5 meters tall and 5.5 meters wide, would love a pic of my Surly Moonlander next to that!...

Yep, it`s on youtube -:) ...




Summer is on the way now. Lighter evenings and for myself and other `East Coasters` here, more time spent cycling on the coast.
Summer seaside vacations and day trips is a British tradition enjoyed by many generations.
We also know the traditional activity's that include;
Buckets and spades to make sand castles, donkey rides, boat trips, rock pool hunting, fish and chips, Punch  and Judy etc were indeed invented by the Victorians for all to enjoy.

However Sea bathing, deck chairs and the give away clue of `Oompah ` bands were in fact not invented by us Brits but by but our friends `Ze Germans`.
The Germans invented the tour guide in 1827 and so basically Tourism.

Yes i know, the Germans wanted to come here in 1940 for there summer holidays, and stay... even though they had there own seaside resorts. Maybe our ice cream was better?...

In the 17th Century cold water sea bathing was believed to have curative and therapeutic value and became popular on the  German coast at Heiligendamm

There was an excellent 2 part programme on BBCFour by comedian Al Murry who went in search of the real Germany and its history and culture, before those dark times that nearly destroyed its history forever.
Here in part one of a Youtube upload he visits the German North coast seaside resort at Heiligendamm...



That whole upload of the series on youtube is worth watching. Like his other series `Road to Berlin` you see the other side to Al Murry.

Here in East Lothian Victorians built Seaside Resorts in Dunbar and North Berwick, linked by railway in the 1850s from Edinburgh. Hotels and Guest Houses for accommodation were built and still stand today, along with weekend/holiday houses built for Edinburghs famous and wealthy.

Marine Hotel North Berwick 1900s...

The East Lothian Coast was also visited for its famous Golf Courses, that are still here today.
Famous Author Robert Lewis Stevenson golfed while visited friends.
In this 1880s picture at North Berwicks West Links is the famous golfer Tom Morris (left),
Those are righteous beards!...-:)

This photo from the 1930s shows how little the sea front at the West beach has changed...

The small villages of Longniddry, Aberlady and Gullane were popular for bathing. Gullane holiday homes are still there today, many facing out to sea on Gullane Hill. Gullane of course still has  its famous beach...

Though the beach huts have disappeared that can be seen in this postcard from the 1950s, also look how much the dunes have changed...

Aberladys sandy beach has disappeared beneath a silt filling Bay;

Aberlady Today...

Aberlady 1900s...

Both of our seaside resort towns had out door unheated swimming pools, Dunbar until the late 1960s and North Berwick until the late 1980s. We used to swim at North Berwick pool as kids, Brrrr!

Dunbar Pool 1960...

North Berwick Pool 1960s...

Today not much remains of Dunbar pool, a few lumps of concrete in the bay, North Berwick is filled in and a tarred Yachting park.
I did find these films on youtube...



And this short film of North Berwick beach which has sharing barred but click on link to view  Here

All this coast is still there today to be explored, a lot of it has changed but mostly only that which has been touched by human hand then removed by the power of the sea. Nature always wins it back... roll on Summer...