Harnessing the Extraordinary History of the English Seaside

Speaker: Alan Brodie (Historic England)

As summer approaches, for many of us our thoughts turn to the future; perhaps interesting travel, fine dining and a sun-kissed beach lie ahead, assuming lockdown ever ends. Of course reality rarely meets expectations - long queues at the airport, threadbare paella and an overcrowded beach with watery beer.

But enough of Allan Brodie’s holiday woes! After years of studying England’s seaside, Historic England’s very own beach boy will describe the key issues that have faced our holiday resorts during their rise, fall and their continuing fall /rise again. At the heart of his work has been to understand, celebrate and champion the English seaside and his presentation will look behind the headlines to explore the strengths and opportunities of towns and cities as different as Blackpool, Scarborough and Brighton. He will describe how his work has combined academic research with trying to harness the historic environment as a tool to market seaside resorts, through posing questions such as ‘Why Bath and why not Weymouth?’ and ‘Why Nice, when Brighton awaits’?

IHR Seminar Series: People, Place and Community