Margate, Marine Sands c.1950

Photo ref: M31312

More about this scene

This Frith scene from 1950 contrasts with Francis Frith's photographs of Margate Sands in Victorian and Edwardian times. The sands are still crowded but postwar society has brought a marked change to our seaside resorts. The needs of holidaymakers changed over the years, and Margate reflected many of these social changes. The bathing machines, the concert party stage, Punch and Judy, the newspaper and magazine stalls, the various hawkers, the organ grinders have gone. One of the last to go was the Punch and Judy man who lasted until 1970. The workmen's outings and beanfeast parties now patronise the seafront public houses and the amusement arcades instead of congregating on the beach. The distinctive art deco Dreamland Cinema, built in 1936, still looks over the crowded sands. The scene may change in detail from decade to decade, but Margate's golden sands should still attract its quota of visitors in the future. Nostalgic memories of the first paddle in the sea and wet sand trickling between their toes will remain with many children in the future as they did for the children depicted by Francis Frith in the past.

An extract from Margate Town and City Memories.