The Shadow of Great Britain

If you were to ask where the top summer seaside holiday destination for 19th-century English people was?

Then, without a doubt, it was Kent County.

As the region in all of England that first developed seaside holiday projects, whenever Londoners mentioned seaside vacations, they were sure to talk about the ”Three Gems of the Kent Coast.”

The so-called three gems are actually the three seaside towns of Kent County — Margate, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs.

Although these three places are all popular seaside holiday destinations, they cater to distinctly different consumer groups.

Margate was the first famous seaside holiday city in Kent, known nationwide for its seawater therapy projects as early as the 18th century. Coupled with the convenience of taking the mail steamer from London to Margate, the cheap fare, and mature amusement facilities development, it naturally became a gathering place for the lower middle-class citizens.

Ramsgate, compared to Margate, appeared more refined.

This port city built on a cliff was honored as a ”Royal Port” during George IV’s reign, with facilities at its docks superior to those in Margate, and city planning that was more orderly and spacious.

Ramsgate streets were lined with Regency-style row houses, balconies adorned with wisteria and wrought-iron railings, exuding a strong middle-class atmosphere.

Doctors, lawyers, priests, retired officers, and those city gentlemen and ladies who had worked hard all year loved to stay here for a few days.

The sea breeze here was mild, bathing facilities for treating rheumatism were complete, and on the streets, there were choirs, small art exhibitions, and poetry readings to pass the time, making it most suitable for these affluent groups to relax and enjoy.

The quietest Broadstairs, however, was truly a place suitable for seclusion.

It was neither bustling like Margate nor filled with the social engagements among dignified individuals like Ramsgate.

This small bay nestled between two White Cliffs, just a few years ago, had only one main street, several hotels, a small church, and a few fishermen’s residences. Most of the time, you would only hear the cries of seagulls, the light sound of carriages passing over gravel roads, or the blended sound of distant church bells and ocean waves.

But precisely because of this, it became the favorite of many literati and artistic youth.

Weary-looking literary youth or heartbroken bank employees, these individuals loved renting a small house by the sea in Broadstairs to stay for a few days alone. They did not visit the beach or soak in seawater baths; instead, they sat by the cliffs in the wind, watching the mist swallowing distant sails, writing their thoughts in letters for consolation.

If the description seems familiar to you, then you guessed right.

Because Mr. Charles Dickens set up a small house here, and almost every summer he would come to Broadstairs for a few days, perhaps to gather inspiration for writing, or to look across the sea at a distant first love, reminiscing about those imagined happy times.

Of course, the Kensington Palace would not choose a gathering place for artistic youth for their seaside holidays, nor would they set it at the bustling Margate Beach; they would certainly go to Ramsgate, infused with the most upper-class atmosphere.

In fact, as early as the seventeenth century, the affluent classes of Britain had a tradition of going to the seaside for summer holidays.

However, with the passage of time, the development of an industrial society, and the accumulation of social wealth, the number of middle class with holiday needs and sufficient assets continued to grow steadily, even allowing relatively affluent skilled workers in the lower classes to gradually afford travel expenses.

Moreover, with the gradual opening of railways in various places, passenger trains provided these trend-following citizens with a more economical and efficient choice over carriages and mail steamers for city-to-beach travel.

Take the Canterbury-Whitby Railway, for example. Since its completion and opening, every tourism peak season from the end of June to early September, it was almost impossible to secure tickets.

Many declining harbors and small fishing villages were revitalized due to the rise of the tourism economy and the opening of railway lines, and streets that hadn’t been updated for decades suddenly began constructing various shops, libraries, ballrooms, theaters, and hotels. Georgian-style buildings and crescent-shaped row houses emerged continuously alongside the dilapidated fisherman cottages.

At first glance, it inevitably gave one a feeling of an otherworldly transformation.

And in the Treasury’s economic survey report, it clearly noted that these seaside holiday destinations were becoming vital centers for driving British economic growth, with some seaside cities developing on par with traditional manufacturing cities.

And the 1833 population census report hosted by the Home Office showed that the population growth of two cities was tied for the top, with one being the nation’s most renowned aristocratic holiday spot, Brighton, and the other being Sir Arthur Hastings’ hometown: York’s industrial hub, the wool textile manufacturing center — Bradford.

On Ramsgate’s beach, the August sunlight filtered through thin clouds, sprinkling silver shards over the sea surface.

The gentle sea breeze swept over travelers carrying parasols and luggage bundles, lightly flipping the edges of ladies’ white skirts.

Gentlemen, while holding on to their hat brims, laughed and remarked at the air being ”much fresher than in London.”

Unlike the beach entertainment we are familiar with today, people in 1835 still held a sense of reverence for the sea.