When and why did holidaying at the seaside become popular and where along Essex’s Sunshine Coast would you choose to go? Rediscover the carefree days of a seaside holiday at one of the Essex resorts. From families to famous names in popular entertainment, a stay at the seaside was just the thing in 19th and 20th centuries and we’ll be sharing memories of those days as we consider how the resorts developed, thrived and faced challenges together.

Each week we will investigate what makes a holiday on the Essex coast happy and healthy. Starting with who had holidays, how people chose to spend their leisure time and how this changed, we will move on to consider where in Essex people have gone on their holidays, how and why they chose where they did. We will consider why a holiday at the coast was thought of as healthy, the development of seaside entertainment, the variety of accommodation choices and transport. We will end the course thinking about more recent opportunities and challenges of the seaside holiday.

Expect slide presentations, class discussion and activities using a range of local history resources.

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