Dreamlands

‘Amy’ joined my family when I was eleven. It was my father’s first car, registration number 183 AMY. It was his pride and joy, a rounded black Austin A40 with a permanent smile on its bonnet. Thenceforth throughout my early teenage years ‘Amy’ would ply every Sunday from home to Southend-on-Sea along the A13. Past the Ford Dagenham plant, over Rainham marshes, skirting Chalkwell and Leigh-on-Sea, to arrive along Southend’s western esplanade. Eventually, the challenge of using the Woolwich Ferry was overcome and the broad horizons of Kent and Sussex opened up before us. The bright lights of Margate beckoned, along with the more refined ambience of Broadstairs and Eastbourne. Amy purred along with delight.

Pictorial motifs of these times past and the transition into trendy modern day living are everywhere along the English seaside. But they remain manifestly English in nature, from beach huts to fine dining, from B & B’s to luxury condominiums, with swish esplanades hiding facades of decay. Piers no longer welcome day trippers arriving by steamer at their distal ends. Even the sea has deserted many seaside piers through ever changing patterns of silt and sand. All create a rich tapestry of imagery that are the Dreamlands.