Clacton-on-Sea Through Time

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Clacton-on-Sea has changed and developed over the last century.

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Peter Bruff's Victorian vision of a new cliff-top seaside resort on the Essex coast created Clacton-on-Sea, which got off to a slow start, began to prosper during the early years of the twentieth century and then flourished in the 1920s and 1930s, becoming one of the country's leading holiday destinations. Always popular with London day-trippers, it offered everything in sea and sand, accommodation and entertainment. After the war, Clacton was quickly back in business and crowded with holidaymakers, but like most British resorts it suffered from the effect of cheap foreign holidays in the seventies and a decline in its fortunes set in. Today, it is fighting back. Michael Rouse's selection of old photographs captures the heyday of Clacton, while the modern photographs record the inevitable changes, but show there are many reasons to be optimistic for the future of the seaside holiday.