June 16, 2020

Beside the Seaside We invite you to join us in welcoming the coming summer months, as well as thinking back over summers past; particularly those spent at the seaside!

Facts About the Summer It's the most thundery time of the year Hemisphere experiences the summer solstice, the More thunderstorms occur during the summer than Southern Hemisphere has a winter solstice marking at any other time of the year. The warmth of summer the shortest day of the year. rising air and moisture is ideal for the creation of thunderstorms. In the UK, they are most likely to oc- Manhattenhenge cur in the East Midlands and the Southeast. New York is home to a fascinating sunset phenome- non. Owing to the city's design, twice a year, around Snow in June 28 May and 12 July, the Sun sets On 2 June 1975, snow showers forced the abandon- directly at the end of the many ment of several cricket matches across the country. of New York's major streets. This The coldest temperature ever recorded in summer in creates a spectacular sunset; the the UK is -5.6 °C recorded on 9 June 1955 in Dalwhin- Sun lies slightly above the hori- nie, and again on 1 and 3 June 1962 in Santon Down- zon and nestled between the rows of buildings. ham in .

Top temperatures The warmest ever summer in the UK was in 2006 when daytime temperatures averaged 15.8 °C. The We're all going on a summer holiday hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK was No more working for a week or two on 25 July 2019 when Cambridge University Botanic Fun and laughter on our summer holiday Garden recorded a sweltering 38.7 °C. No more worries for me or you For a week or two Height of summer

Did you know that on a hot day in Paris, the Eiffel Tower grows taller? The tower is We're going where the sun shines brightly constructed from iron and when this is We're going where the sea is blue warmed it expands, causing the structure We've seen it in the movies to grow by up to 17 cm. Now let's see if it's true

The longest day of the year is in sum- Everybody has a summer holiday mer Doing things they always wanted to The summer solstice marks the point when the Sun So we're going on a summer holiday reaches its highest point in the sky. This is the longest To make our dreams come true day of the year and after this point, the days slowly For me and you begin to get shorter until the winter solstice around 21 December. At the same time as the Northern Cliff Richard, 1963 Beside the Seaside P a g e 2 We’re all going on a summer holiday

The Seaside

Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside I do like to be beside the sea! I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom! Where the brass bands play: "Tiddely- om-pom-pom!"

So just let me be beside the seaside I'll be beside myself with glee For there's lots of girls besides, I should like to be beside, Beside the seaside! Beside the sea!

Sense at the Seaside

What can you hear? – seagulls, waves, attraction/ funfair music, shell to your ear. What can you see? – beach, sea, boats, sandcastles, donkeys, pier, deckchairs. What can you touch? – sand, sea, seashells, rocks. What can you taste? - ice cream, fish and chips, can- dy floss What can you smell? – sea salt, seaweed, fish and chips. Page 4

All Aboard! Beside the Seaside P a g e 4 Holiday Park 1930s opened on 11 April 1936 and within a year it had dou- bled in size. It was officially opened by Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Two years later 's chose Clacton-on-Sea for his second camp. 1940s To help with the war efforts, Billy’s existing camps were given over to the government. Clacton became an army camp and Skegness became HMS Royal Arthur. Billy was asked to finish his new at Filey so it could be used by the military, along with Ayr and Pwllheli, both of which he bought back at the end of the war. 1950s Indoor heated pools designed to be used ‘whatever the weather’ opened at Ayr, Clacton, Pwllheli and Skegness. And after holidaying in the Caribbean, Billy sees a gap in the market and opens Butlin's Bahamas.

1960s A further three opened, at Bognor Regis (1960), Mine- head (1962) and Barry Island (1966). The 1960s also saw the famous monorails brought to Skegness and Minehead, and other new innovations being opened on the camps including chairlifts, a pool with underwater viewing windows and revolving bars. 1970s As people fell in love with holidaying abroad, the specialness of the British seaside became lost and the idea of ‘holiday camps’ faded. The Butlin family sold the business to the Rank Organisation.

Butlin’s Redcoats TODAY Holiday hosts entertaining guests, providing Three resorts are located in some of England's great customer service, making the magic hap- most traditional seaside towns. Each with their pen, and inspiring memories that last a lifetime. own unique features: the incredible new pool at Bognor Regis, the open, green spaces at The history of the first Redcoat Minehead and the beautiful Blue Flag beach at During the first week of business, the guests Skegness. didn’t seem to be using the camp as Billy had intended; many of them were only mixing with their families. Billy wanted his entertainers to wear a distinctive blazer. He was searching for a colour that portrayed the cheerful holiday atmosphere that he wanted to create— bright red! P a g e 5 Holiday Park

Fred Pontin opened his first in 1946 on the site of a former U.S. army base (built during World War II), near Weston-super Mare in at a cost of £23,000. Within a year Pontin had six camps. He gradu- ally expanded his empire to thirty sites. The camps were smaller and less expensive than Butlin's holiday camps.

Pontin's had Bluecoats to entertain their guests, as opposed to Butlins Redcoats. Among the Bluecoats were Shane Richie, Bobby Davro, Bradley Walsh, Lee Mack and Carol Lee Scott (who later played "Grotbags")

Pontins , 1972 Beside the Seaside P a g e 6

Your Memories...

1) Did you ever have a donkey ride? 2) Did you ever send a saucy post- card?

3) Did you own a cotton ‘bubble fab- ric’ swimsuit?

4) Which holiday do you remember most clearly?

5) Did you ever go rock pooling?

Punch and Judy shows A traditional puppet show which features Punch and his wife Judy, other characters include the croco- dile, baby, policeman, doctor and the clown. Punch is generally por- trayed as have a high pitch voice. The show is a comedy and often also features a string of sausages. The shows were performed on the beach often with people sat around the puppet tent.

Tongue Twister! She sells seashells by the seashore, The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure. So if she sells seashells on the seashore, Then I'm sure she sells seashore shells.