Sport, Leisure and Tourism; TOURISM notes

• Bank Holiday Act (1871) gave an extra 6 days off to the working class. 
• Paid holidays began to develop; railway companies gave a week off after 5 years service.

Traditional Seaside Resorts

Rich classes

• Visited Margate or Southport
• Stayed in hotels like The Imperial or The Grand

Poor Classes

• Visited Blackpool or Southend
• Stayed in boarding houses offering rooms and attendance. Landladies would cook food if it was bought by the families.

Day Excursions

• Poorer classes went to clubs/ chapel events which organised daytrips by train.
• The South Welsh went to Barry ISland and Somerset by steamboat.

Holidays Abroad

• Higher classes visited "Hove" and "Torquay" resorts on the South of England (£25 a week)
• Train service through Europe; Switzerland/Monte Carlo were popular
• European Tour was considered essential for rich, young people done with schooling.

Fashion

• Victorian/Edwardian; people wore suits&hats or long dresses and carried parasoles. Up till the 20th century seasides forbade costumes not covering from neck to knees
• Bathing machines were pulled into the water so occupants could descend quickly into the sea. Dippers helped to persuade them out. Men and women preserved their modesty.

Transport

• Rail development meant seasides were open to daytrippers (Southend Railway, 1858) 
• Charabanc organised for working class
• Car (1910) specifically for higher classses

Activities

• Bathing 
• Slot Machines
• Punch and Judy
• Piers (Southend had the world's longest pier of 1.5 miles)

Time off and holiday pay

• Early 1920s; holidays with pay introduced
• 1938; govt act meant all workers got paid holidays.
• 1939; 5 million workers had paid holidays.

Charabancs and private cars

• Charabancs went to more remote regions than the railways, such as the Llyn Peninsula
• 1939; 2 million cares bought. However, only 1/8 families had a car.

Changes at the seaside

• Holidaymakers stayed in bed and breakfasts strictly run by landladies.
• New attractions such as ice rinks/open air pools (First lido opened in Blackpool, 1923). Health and fitness classes and beauty contests.
• Tourist industry grew; fish and chip shops, fairgrounds, souvenir shops
• Sunbathing was encouraged. Chemists sold suntan cream.
• Bathing costumes began to show arms and legs. Rubber caps were fashionable.

Hiking

• 1939; countryside hiking all over the UK. The Youth Hostel Association provided tourists' needs. 300+ hostels charged 1 shilling a night.

Holiday Camps - MOST IMPORTANT

• 1936; Billy Butlin opened the first holiday camp at Skegness. Cheap costs including meals, activities and entertainment.
• Popular with families; more relaxed than hotels and guesthouses.
• 1939; 200 holiday camps in Wales and England. Half a million had been to a holiday camp.

Key Reasons For Growth in Holidays:

• Relief after war
• Better road transport
• Growth of Holiday Camps
• More people entitled to paid holidays

Caravans

• This used to be for the well off; however, soon 1/4 British holidaymakers had been caravaning.
• Cheap source of a holiday; however, people had to pay extra for weekly facility membership such as pools and club bars.
• Caravaning only became popular due to the increased availability of cars.

Holiday Camps

• Leftover army camps were turned into holiday camps.
• 1946; Fred Pontin created his first holiday camp at Brean Sands near Somerset. 
• 1949; 6 Pontins camps in England
• Butlins in Minehead had monorail; a modern transport for the 60's.
• Magazines encouraged people to book earlier but most still holidayed in July-August
• 1950s - Golden Age of Holiday Camps

Motor cars

• 1939; 2.5 million cars registered in the UK
• 1963; figure trebled to 7.5 million. 1/4 families owned a car.
• Early 1960s; Beaching Axe meant several railway closures. More people wanted to travel by car but bottleneck roads stopped this.
• Roadside businesses successful
• Seaside resorts catered for people in cars,
• Motels: new form of accomodation

Airlines and Package Holidays

• Meditteranean offered guaranteed sun; Britain did not
• 1970s; mass tourism established, so all classes could go abroad.
• Package holidays introduced. Price included both airfare and accomodation.
• Fred Pontin was also responsible for the craze; Pontins offered a two week holiday with flights , accomodation, food, drink, entertainment and sun for less than £50 a head.
• Foreign travel had a great cultural impact; clothing, cooking and souvenirs changed. 

Britain Fights Back

• traditional resorts were made more modern and continental.
• Center Parcs created indoor water complexes to attract holidaymakers instead of competing with the sun
• Seaside resorts built inside leisure complexes and cleaned up their beaches
• First theme park: Thrope PArk, 1969. Provided thrills and excitement.
• Historical attractions such as open air museums
• Countryside; nature trails set up, farmers offering bed and breakfasts.