the traditional summer holiday

fc123

It sounds fascinating LJ.......Deff something OH and I would like to do one day. Tour bits of the UK that we've never been to before.


I used to take son and a mate surfing down to Newquay in the 90's and loved it despite struggling to find anywhere decent to eat. Did find a cafe that did roast dinners every day (and he would spend the winter in Sri Lanka) that the boys liked.

My only recent experience is Brighton and it does cover all visitor options from rock shops and fish and chips to top end restaurants.

I love Weymouth too but lots of it was very dated though it had plenty of visitors when I went for a couple of days (2 years ago) . The High St was very shabby and down at heel and had an air of struggle about it.

I keep planning to go to Westgate/Margate and nearby for a day but can't see it happening for a while......lovely beaches near to there that are very empty with only 1 tiny cafe.

Where are you going next?

diable

Lyme Regis and fossil hunting ;o))

PasturesNew

If anybody that isn't scarey (that's very few of you then) are Round My Way... I'd meet up for a spot of amusements, paddling, chips and possibly a spot of sandcastle building.

ceridwen

So - whereabouts in t'country are you Pastures?:)

torontoboy45

lemonjelly wrote: »

Whilst I haven't had a proper holiday in 10 years, I decided this year to go on some day trips or something. Have a little fun & a break. This all stemmed from me realising a year ago I hadn't seen the sea for almost 10 years!

So, since the kids broke up from school, I've visited Torquay, Paignton, Caenarfon, Beaumaris & Rhyl. It's a proper lemonjelly UK tour!:D

However, a few things stood out.

First, I heard a lot of foreign languages. Now that isn't because they wor speakin Black country, but they were not speaking english. Virtually all the voices of the visitors I heard were foreign.

Are the british not going on holiday in the UK anymore?

Second, I recall as a child that in the evenings the towns & seafronts were teaming with life. They weren't this time. In fact, Rhyl had shut up shop by 5pm! I have since heard the town has a bad rep for drugs etc, & I can see there is a need for regeneration, however for the entire town to be shut & deserted by 5? Come on!

I went onto a number of beaches. There was a much smaller number of people about. I remember beaches being crammed. Some beaches were almost deserted!

Now, the kids have broken up. For seaside towns, this is the busiest time of year isn't it? So what is going on? Where is everyone? I didn't see holidaymakers. I didn't see daytrippers. Where are you all? Is everyone on t'internet all the time instead?

Am I mis-remembering?
Is foreign travel meaning everyone is going abroad?
Is the recession so bad that almost no-one is on holiday?
Has our tourist industry died?

Has the great british seaside holiday died?:(

I only wanted to have a nice paddle & that on the beach, but I really am wondering now what happened?

All feedback welcome!

lemon: girl; listen up.

the UK coastal tourist industry went into decline following the advent of the spanish package vacation, back in the early 70's. (clear skies, good weather and cheap beer/cigs and the mystique of foreign travel to the insular brit being the obvious attractions).

jersey is a good example of what happened at the time (even if the channel islands aren't stictly UK). UK tourists were slowly sucked away to warmer climes by cheaper flights/hotels and camel rides, just as they were from trad. resorts such as blackpool and minehead. now the CI's are the preserve of oldies who can't face the prospect of long(ish) flights to sharm el sheik.

I did a 'staycation' last yr in cornwall and frankly it was poor: expensive, crap weather. I wouldn't rush to do it again.

UK tourism is 'niche' and is likely to stay that way until ryanair and its like go bankrupt.

SingleSue

lemonjelly wrote: »

Whilst I haven't had a proper holiday in 10 years, I decided this year to go on some day trips or something. Have a little fun & a break. This all stemmed from me realising a year ago I hadn't seen the sea for almost 10 years!

So, since the kids broke up from school, I've visited Torquay, Paignton, Caenarfon, Beaumaris & Rhyl. It's a proper lemonjelly UK tour!:D

However, a few things stood out.

First, I heard a lot of foreign languages. Now that isn't because they wor speakin Black country, but they were not speaking english. Virtually all the voices of the visitors I heard were foreign.

Are the british not going on holiday in the UK anymore?

Second, I recall as a child that in the evenings the towns & seafronts were teaming with life. They weren't this time. In fact, Rhyl had shut up shop by 5pm! I have since heard the town has a bad rep for drugs etc, & I can see there is a need for regeneration, however for the entire town to be shut & deserted by 5? Come on!

I went onto a number of beaches. There was a much smaller number of people about. I remember beaches being crammed. Some beaches were almost deserted!

Now, the kids have broken up. For seaside towns, this is the busiest time of year isn't it? So what is going on? Where is everyone? I didn't see holidaymakers. I didn't see daytrippers. Where are you all? Is everyone on t'internet all the time instead?

Am I mis-remembering?
Is foreign travel meaning everyone is going abroad?
Is the recession so bad that almost no-one is on holiday?
Has our tourist industry died?

Has the great british seaside holiday died?:(

I only wanted to have a nice paddle & that on the beach, but I really am wondering now what happened?

All feedback welcome!

We've never had our main holiday abroad and I can't see that changing in the near future.

The site where my parents have their caravan is currently full, no available caravans to be had at all, it really is rammed, the seafront is packed and British holidays seem to be really in vogue this year.

Where I live is a seaside town, again, very busy along the prom, lots of holiday makers (much to eldest sons glee as he is working in a tourist attraction along the sea front) and finding space on the beach is fun to say the least.

I see the sea everyday, it's at the top of my parents road and across the road from where my brother lives....not sure I could live anywhere that doesn't have the sound of the sea, it's what I have grown up with.

incher

I believe Turkey is the current cheap place for Brits to go. Almost everyone I know who went abroad, went to Turkey.

We're having a staycation, in our own house, with day trips here and there. Fab. There's nothing like your own comfy bed to sleep in every night, children to bed on time (they don't do this away from home), and no pile of washing to trawl through at the end of the holiday. And funnily enough, we didn't have to spend a fortune on holiday clothes either.

lemonjelly

Some great feedback on here - thank you everyone!

torontoboy45 wrote: »

lemon: girl; listen up..

You're assuming I am a lady...;)

torontoboy45 wrote: »

the UK coastal tourist industry went into decline following the advent of the spanish package vacation, back in the early 70's. (clear skies, good weather and cheap beer/cigs and the mystique of foreign travel to the insular brit being the obvious attractions).

I did a 'staycation' last yr in cornwall and frankly it was poor: expensive, crap weather. I wouldn't rush to do it again.

UK tourism is 'niche' and is likely to stay that way until ryanair and its like go bankrupt.

I get what you say here. I think I am a bit suprised by the severity of the decline.
One thing which does confuse me somewhat, is the percieved "need" to be jetting off, when we have so much lovely scenery, history & sites of significant interest in the UK. I've seen such a small percentage of the UK, & there is so much here to see & do. Why not investigate this?

I take the point about it being expensive (depending on how you do it of course) but abroad can be equally so - especially with the current base rate!

Plus, going on a ryanair, with a several mile journey to a distant resort is less attractive to me. Seems more like a form of cattle transportation, & can be a lot more time consuming.

fc123 wrote: »

It sounds fascinating LJ.......Deff something OH and I would like to do one day. Tour bits of the UK that we've never been to before.


I used to take son and a mate surfing down to Newquay in the 90's and loved it despite struggling to find anywhere decent to eat. Did find a cafe that did roast dinners every day (and he would spend the winter in Sri Lanka) that the boys liked.

My only recent experience is Brighton and it does cover all visitor options from rock shops and fish and chips to top end restaurants.

I love Weymouth too but lots of it was very dated though it had plenty of visitors when I went for a couple of days (2 years ago) . The High St was very shabby and down at heel and had an air of struggle about it.

I keep planning to go to Westgate/Margate and nearby for a day but can't see it happening for a while......lovely beaches near to there that are very empty with only 1 tiny cafe.

Where are you going next?

It was an idea to make sure I did something with holiday time this year fc123. For some time, when I've had days off, I've done v little. I didn't want that to perpetuate, so me & some friends made lists of places where we'd like to visit. The idea was completely open - & had to include a mixture of places we remembered as being nice, and also places we'd never been.

We had some great ideas - & some will be carried over to next year.:)

Newquay (& surrounding areas) was somewhere we went as a family about 10+ years ago. Though I always liked it, my parents liked it too much, & we went there repeatedly for about 5 years. It became passe, or even a little boring, even though the beaches were good, & the sea. That said, I am thinking of going back there perhaps next year.

I'm going to visit Hastings & Battle in a couple of weeks. A couple of us were toying with the idea of either Bath or York (for the roman/viking stuff). Closer to home a trip to shrewsbury is planned (though there are friends there too). Plus a couple of local trips - in birmingham there is a show of ancient egyptian artefacts, and a dinosaur exhibition on at the museum.

Places earmarked for next year include Bletchley Park, Portmerion and Hadrians wall (hello wageslave!) The london trip is now taking place in October - as i've never done london except for a day, but it has always been for work purposes...

Mrs_Bones

I have not been on holiday for a few years due to health reasons, but when I did go it was nearly always in this country. Having been brought up as an expat brat and dragged around several countries while I was growing up, going abroad to other countries does not hold much excitment for me.. There is so much of this country I would still love to explore and I love being able to take the dog with me. Mostly though I didn't go anywhere near the beach as I prefer to head in to the countryside and off the beaten track abit with not so many people around, I hate busy resorts or citys. When I have visited seaside towns, they all now seem to be a bit sat and run down.

The arrival of cheap air travel I think had a big inpact on our local seaside resorts, people would sooner go somewhere with sunshine as the norm then risk a rain soaked time in this country, especially if they have children. Holidays in this country can work out more expensive then going abroad more so if you need to keep kids occupied on wet days compared to ones spent on a sunny beach with children. People expect so much more now.

I remember coming back to this country once when I was a kid and inbetween seeing relatives we also had a short holiday at the seaside. I was the only kid, in fact we were the only family on the beach at skeggy, it was snowing and I was wearing a coat but I still remember having so much fun building sandcastles that day on the beach :rotfl: for me it was all a novelty including the snow. I can't see that many kids would be happy doing that now, they'd much soon stay infront of a pc or tv screen.

silvercar

ecently visited St Anne's on a saturday. The place was deserted. Pier amusements looked like a step into a bygone era and hardly a soul in sight. On the beach were donkeys tethered together in threes. As a child I remember queues of kids waiting to ride, today there were no children in sight. The average age on the beach was 60+. Things that once looked quaint now looked antiquicated, a cafe made out of a disused train carriage - all gloomy and dark, Trampolines smaller than children now have in their own back garden. A paddling pool smaller than you could buy in Tesco for £20.

Plenty of flats for sale with amazing sea views, all priced over £200k, doubt much sells.