Suffolk staycations

It wasn’t until the 1980s that holidays abroad became common. Flights became affordable for more people, providing a quick and easy way to travel to the continent. Since then, people have enjoyed long distance holidays in Europe and beyond.

In March 2020 however, the travel industry came to a halt when Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic and people were strongly advised against all but essential international travel.

As the future of holidaying is uncertain, take a look back at some ‘stay at home’ holidays from the past. From trips to the Victorian seaside to camping and caravanning in the 1960s, you can explore what holidaying was like in Suffolk before air travel became popular.

The modern holiday started in Britain in the nineteenth century. The Industrial Revolution produced the first working steam train in 1804, leading the way by the mid-1800s for a railway system providing a cheaper, faster, and more comfortable mode of transport than ever before. It connected towns and villages to the seaside and a day ticket was within the budget of the average working-class family.

In Suffolk, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds were connected by rail to seaside towns including Felixstowe, Aldeburgh, and Lowestoft. Zoom in and out of Cruchley’s map below to explore which stations the train stopped at in 1854.

(IA) MC4_159 Cruchley's Railway and Station Map of Suffolk with villages after 1854

A day out at the seaside became an attractive outing in the Victorian period and newspapers advertised excursion trains many of which were run by the Great Eastern Railway.

In 1871, the Bank Holiday Act was passed giving people four new days off, when not only were the banks closed but also all factories and retail shops. This provided many people with the opportunity to take trips to the seaside, sporting events, concerts, and other cultural activities.

While the working classes bought day tickets, the wealthy would travel by train in first class to the seaside for a weeklong holiday and stay in posh hotels.

People went on holiday to the seaside for various reasons. They were particularly attracted to the fresh sea air and believed breathing it was good for their health.

Promenades and piers were built to attract visitors offering a way for people to not only breathe in the sea air but also, and perhaps more importantly, be ‘seen’ by society promenading in their finest outfits.

They relaxed on the beach, built sandcastles, rode on donkeys and goats, ate ice cream and fish and chips, and watched Punch and Judy puppet shows as well as music hall acts.

Victorians also went to the beach to go in the sea. At the time beaches were separated for men and women. Men would swim naked while women would paddle in large bathing costumes.

Women would pay to get changed into these suits in a wooden cart known as a bathing machine. The machine was rolled into the sea for them to get out and paddle discreetly.

Towards the end of the Victorian period, it became compulsory for men to wear bathing suits and by the Edwardian period bathing machines were replaced by tents and people swam directly from beaches.

*(IA) HD825/2/25 From Albert, at Codford St Mary, to his mother, 23 May 1915*

*(IA) HD825/2/25 From Albert, at Codford St Mary, to his mother, 23 May 1915*

Holidays and Home Leave during WW1

In 1915, the British Army introduced periods of home leave for soldiers to support morale and allow troops to rest and see their loved ones. Leave was short and infrequent however, and it depended on the state of military operations. Many soldiers longed to return to Britain, known affectionately as ‘Blighty’. This longing was expressed in a war time song written in 1916 called, ‘Take me back to dear old Blighty’. You can listen to Florrie Forde singing the song here.

In Suffolk, brothers George and Albert Stopher sent numerous letters to their family expressing their desire for leave. In the letter below Albert writes to his mother, ‘I expect we will soon mobilise now and the ones who are fit will have a few days leave. I hope I shall be able to see you again before I go away’.

Troops enjoyed various pastimes when they were home on leave. These included seeing family and friends as well as their sweethearts, going to music halls and the theatre, and eating and drinking.

*(LA) 527/I1/2 Information leaflets for organisations sending men to the Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Home and for guests, nd. With thanks to the Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Centre.*

*(LA) 527/I1/2 Information leaflets for organisations sending men to the Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Home and for guests, nd. With thanks to the Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Centre.*

Seeing the struggles that soldiers went through, people wanted to do their bit and offer them respite. In Suffolk, Reverend F W Emms wanted to provide servicemen with a seaside holiday. He started fundraising in 1915 and gathered enough money to purchase a property in Lowestoft by 1919.

The home was named after statesman and military leader Lord Horatio Kitchener. It opened on 7 August 1919 at 10 Kirkley Cliff, Lowestoft and provided a place for ex-servicemen to ‘holiday’, or convalesce, after the war.

Under the original Charity Commission Scheme, the home was due to close in 1945. However, the Second World War provided another batch of ex-servicemen in need of holidays and the scheme was extended. Women were admitted to the home in 1974 and it remains open today.

For more information on the Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Centre visit http://www.kitchenerslowestoft.co.uk/.

1920s and 30s Holiday Camps

One of the first holiday camps to open in the UK was in Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk in 1906. Over the next few decades similar camps opened up in the surrounding area including Hopton Beach Camp by the Potter brothers in the 1920s, Pakefield Hall Holiday Camp in Gisleham in 1930, and Golden Sands Holiday Camp in Hopton-on-Sea in 1933.

In 1938, the Holidays with Pay Act was passed by parliament and people were entitled to paid annual leave for the first time meaning a week-long holiday was affordable for the majority.

Many businesses in Suffolk started to introduce paid annual leave including Garretts of Leiston and the Ipswich Cooperative Society. Listen to the clip below from an oral history interview with Harold Sizer about his first paid holiday from the Territorial Army in 1938.

Suffolk Archives · Clip from oral history interview with Harold Sizer 17 Aug 1994, ref. L401/1/670

By the 1940s, there were around 11 holiday camps in the county. 5 in Hopton, 2 in Corton and Kessingland, and 1 in Gunton and Pakefield. At the camps, there were wooden chalets, dining and dance halls, free tennis, bathing, putting, whist drives and concerts. All this together with four meals a day cost around £2.20 per week.

These local holiday camps pre-dated those made famous by Billy Butlin who didn’t open his first camp until 1936.

Requisitioned Holidays during WW2

Various holiday camps were requisitioned during World War Two. In East Anglia, these included Golden Sands and Hopton Beach.

Golden Sands was requisitioned in 1939 and taken over by the London County Council Education Department for evacuees. The military then took possession a year later from 1940 until 1945 before it was returned to its original owners and reopened to the public.

Hopton Beach housed various troops of the 419 Battery of the Royal Artillery, the 4th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment and the Suffolk Regiment. In the document below, 36 chalets were certified for use by Suffolk Regiment in 1940.

(LA) 342/23 Papers re the requisition, use and dilapidation of Potters Hopton camp during World War II, 1940-1949

It was difficult for people to go away on vacation during the war so the government initiated ‘stay at home’ holidays. In Suffolk, there were numerous events and activities that were devised in line with the scheme. These included a ‘Holiday at Home Week’ from 31^st July to 7^th August 1943 in Beccles, and various ‘Holiday Weeks’ in Ipswich in the summer of 1944.

Special attractions on offer during holiday weeks in Ipswich included Underwood’s Wonder Fun Fair, open air boxing, and a dancing enclosure. The country was still at war however, and air raid warnings were in place. As the programme for the ‘Holiday Week’ explains:

(IA) HD2272/153/10/1/3/5 Ipswich – Second World War – Civilian Projects – Programme, 1944

‘It is to be understood that all the arrangements as set out in this programme are, owning to the present emergency conditions, subject to alteration or cancellation without notice.’

(IA) HD2272/153/10/1/3/5 Ipswich – Second World War – Civilian Projects – Programme, 1944

Families adapted their usual holidays and took day trips visiting local landmarks, seeing friends and family, and helping farmers with harvesting during the summer months. Below is a clip from a collection of home movies made by Charles Scott during the war. It shows Charles and his family enjoying a trip to Watford as an alternative holiday in 1940. You can watch the full film here.

Clip from a collection of home movies shot by Charles Scott, 1939-1944. With thanks to East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia.

Post-war Holidaying

After World War Two, the British seaside holiday came into its heyday. A huge clean-up operation was needed however, to remove sea defences and mines to make the coast safe for holidaymakers.

In 1946, Bury Free Press reported nearly 5000 mines needed to be cleared from Suffolk beaches:

‘As part of the anti-invasion measures, 951 beach minefields comprising 144,000 mines were laid around the coasts of Britain, including 27,000 mines in Norfolk, 25,000 in Suffolk and 17,000 in Essex. For some time, officers and men of the Royal Engineers […] have been working unobtrusively at the delicate and dangerous task of removing the minefields […] of the remainder, 5,500 in Norfolk and 4,900 in Suffolk still need to be tackled.’
‘Clearing Suffolk’s Beaches’ Friday 10th May 1946, Bury Free Press. Transcribed with thanks to The British Newspaper Archive.

Holidaymakers travelled from all parts of the country to visit the East Anglian coast. A publicity film produced by Great Yarmouth Borough Council in the 1950s, shows the vast numbers of people who travelled to the area for their annual holiday. To watch the full video visit the East Anglian Film Archive here.

Whilst some people stayed in hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses, the majority flocked to holiday camps which reached their height in the 1950s and 60s. A new holiday camp to open after the war was Rogerson Hall Holiday Centre in Corton. Like its predecessors, Rogerson Hall offered an all-inclusive package with entertainment including dancing and fancy dress competitions.

The seaside offered a variety of entertainment including amusement arcades, crazy golf, dodgems and helter skelter slides. As well as ice cream and fish and chips, people could now enjoy candyfloss and sticks of rock.

In the 1960s and 1970s, camping and caravan holidays became popular. Post-war production methods made cars and caravans cheaper, making this mode of transport more readily accessible for people to buy and use for their holidays. Listen to Charles Martin talk about his holidays by motorbike, car and coach in the clip below.

Suffolk Archives · Clip from oral history recording with Charles Martin nd, ref. L401/1/674

In Suffolk, there were many places holidaymakers could park up including North Denes Caravan and Camping Park in Lowestoft, Red Lodge Caravan Site in Freckenham and Landguard Lodge and Caravan Site in Felixstowe.

Towards the end of the 1960s, more people were vacationing abroad. Air travel became affordable and offered a way to reach locations like Benidorm where hot sunny weather was guaranteed. By the 1980s, international holidays were no longer a novelty and holidays at home in Britain declined in popularity.

K681/1/158/98 Felixstowe – aerial photo of Landguard Lodge and caravan site mid-20th century