Beach huts, a Victorian pier, saucy postcards, a stick of rock… there’s something deeply comforting about a classic British seaside town. Popular wisdom has it that the advent of low-cost flying in the Seventies signalled the end of their glory days – and, for some, the decline has seemed to be terminal. But most are desperately trying to reinvent themselves: conserving, renovating, gentrifying. Over the coming months, we will be taking the pulse of our most famous traditional coastal towns, to gauge how they are faring in 2024, the challenges that remain – and whether they are still worth visiting. This week, Gavin Haines explores Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.
“Great Yarmouth’s lost its ‘great’,” sighs Angela Frisby, 61, who’s lived here all her life. “But I still love the place”.
There’s certainly a sadness about town. The high street feels positively Hogarthian after hours. Asylum seekers and tracksuited blokes on bikes rub along uneasily outside boarded-up shops. I’m nearly mowed down by one of the latter outside the curiously named Hamburger Coffee Shop while walking to the seafront.
There, Great Yarmouth’s Golden Mile stretches out before me. This windswept strip of kiss-me-quick naffness begins, unofficially, with the Fallen Angels lap dancing club. Further along the prom, Victorian façades loom over ADHD arcades that make promises of riches and break them.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/british-seaside-town-back-in-fashion-great-yarmouth/
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Publish date : 2024-05-03 03:00:00
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