seaside and beach

In the 18th century British people started going to the seaside for pleasure and for their health. Seaside towns such as Brighton, Lyme Regis and Scarborough became fashionable with the upper class. Bathing in the sea became popular and bathing machines were invented for people to get changed in. Later, towns like Blackpool, Clacton-on-Sea and Margate, which were close to industrial areas or to London, developed into large seaside resorts to which workers went for a day out or for their holiday. Long piers were built stretching out to sea and soon a wide range of amusements were built on them. Promenades were built along the shore for people to walk along. Rows of beach huts and chalets (= buildings where people could get changed or sit and have tea) took the place of bathing machines, and deckchairs were for hire on the beach. There were ice cream sellers, whelk stalls, stalls selling buckets and spades for children to build sandcastles, and the occasional Punch and Judy show. In the early 1900s it became popular to send seaside postcards to friends. Children bought seaside rock, a long sugary sweet with the name of the place printed through it.

  Most British people like to go to the sea for a day out or for a weekend. Resorts like Blackpool are still popular, but others are run-down and rather quiet. British people now prefer to go on holiday to beach resorts in Spain, Greece or the Caribbean because the weather is more likely to be sunny and warm.

  Americans talk of going to the ocean or the beach, rather than the seaside. Some places, especially on the East coast, have very popular beaches and people travel long distances to go there. Florida is especially popular and at spring break it is full of students.

  Beach activities include swimming, surfing and windsurfing, also called sailboarding. Many people go to the beach but never go into the water. They spend their time playing games like volleyball (= sending a ball back and forth over a net) and frisbee (= throwing a flat plastic disc). Other people go to the beach to get a tan and spend all their time sunbathing. Except on a very few nudist beaches, women wear bathing suits (BrE bathing costumes) or bikinis and men wear trunks or shorts. Many people worry about getting skin cancer if they get burnt by the sun and so put on sun cream or sun block to protect their skin. A day at the beach often also involves a picnic meal or, especially in the US, a barbecue (= meat cooked over an open fire).

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