Faded Elegance – with scaffolding thrown in

Once upon a time it was all the rage in one or another of those seaside towns to have a “winter garden”

The Victorians liked to think that they had discovered the attractions of the seaside. In part that is true although most seaside resorts came from a much earlier period of our island’s history. Many, in fact most, had started life as small fishing villages with a hard working population who toiled throughout the year to harvest the sea.

Then came the railways and indeed the charabanc (for the less well off) and suddenly it became popular for men, women and children to take to the waters around our coasts.

Despite what you may see from the glossy posters of the period with sun-drenched beaches and happy families scampering about in their bathing costumes, the Victorians and their successors found most British resorts just a little chilly. In response to this, entrepreneurial businessmen hit on the idea of constructing large glasses edifices which would produce temperate or indeed warm microclimates (my word not theirs) where the visitors could avoid the cool winds and of course the rain.

And so were born the winter gardens.

There were however a number of drawbacks to these winter gardens a) the cost of constructing such beasts, b) the upkeep including the broken glass c) storm damage and finally d) the running costs throughout the year.

Clearly these buildings could in theory be available all year round, but unfortunately visitors didn’t come throughout the year. The average working man had only a few weeks holiday, usually in the summer and no one seemed to have invented things like weekend breaks.

Inevitably most such palaces fell into disrepair, some burnt down – goodness only know how – and this one at Great Yarmouth even to the casual visitor to the town, is in a poor state of repair. Great Yarmouth though has plans – although to date no repairs or renovation initiatives have actually begun. The vast array of scaffolding you may see in the pictures is keeping the large lantern in place and stopping it crashing to the ground.

Nevertheless there are schemes and enthusiasts.

My thanks for their warm welcome and for taking time to share their hopes for the future and for allowing us all to scamper around the building with cameras.

I wish them well