As a child, my parents often took me for a day’s outing to the South Coast of England (the County of Sussex) or to The Isle of Thanet (the County of Kent).

Day Tripper

These areas were within calling distance of London and could be easily reached in the 1950s by both Train and Motor Coach, aka Charabanc, as we used to call such a vehicle in the East End, and pronounced by us Cockneys as Chara Bang …… and NOT Shara Bang, as stated by Wikipedia!

Assorted Vintage Charabancs

As a child, I proved to be a terrible traveler by Charra, as I suffered with severe Motion Sickness.  Each time my poor parents tried to take me somewhere by coach, I was ill, but not just ill, more like violently ill!  My parents took me to see the doctor and also tried all kinds of remedies in the hope of alleviating my suffering, but all was for naught.  It looked as if I was to be responsible for my family no longer visiting the seaside.

Grey-Green Coaches were once the Eastenders’ Characbanc-of-Choice
Grey-Green Coaches were founded in 1885; by 1972, the company operated a number of
garages in  London; I remember the garage in Mile End, as my Coach trips as a child began here.
The company was sold to the Cowie Group in 1980.   It was renamed Arriva in 1997, and
in 2010, the company became a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn.

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The Map of British Railways Regions appears at the Memories of BR Steam Days

In their desperation, my parents decided to see how I would fare on trips taken by train.  Fortunately for me, and happily for them, rail travel did not cause me discomfort.  As a result, travel by rail became our preferred mode of transport and it has remained mine throughout my adult life.

Southern Region Trains
Top Left: The Brighton Belle; Top Right: The Golden Arrow;
Bottom Left: The Sir Francis Drake (BR Number 30851 and member of the Lord Nelson Series);
Bottom Right: Modern Coaches

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Once it was discovered that I could travel by train, my parents and myself happily renewed our acquaintance with the Seaside Resorts of The South Coast:

• Brighton – The resort has been popular with visitors since the Prince Regent, later George IV (1762-1830), made his first visit here in 1783.  The Prince Regent spent much of his leisure time here and constructed the Royal Pavilion during the early part of his Regency.  Brighton had two Piers when I lived in the town (1965-1966): the West Pier, opened in 1866, and the Brighton Marine Palace and Pier , (known as the Palace Pier) opened in 1899.  The West Pier was granted Grade I Listing, but sadly closed in 1975.  It suffered structural damage during the Great Storm of 1987 and was severely damaged by fire in 2007.  I last saw the West Pier in 2013 and all that remained of this once impressive structure were some iron framework.

• Littlehampton – I remember this resort well for it was here during a visit with a Sunday School group, and without my parents, at the age of six or seven, I took my only trip on a Scenic Railway (actually I took two consecutive rides) and almost died (but this tale is for another time!).
• Eastbourne – which is close to Beachy Head, a chalk headland; Beechy Head is famous for its Lighthouse and for being one of the most notorious suicide sites in the world with an average of 20 suicides per annum!
• Bognor Regis – George V (1865-1936) was asked to bestow the suffix Regis (meaning of the King) on the town of Bognor where he had spent three months of convalescence following lung problems; and
• Hastings – The Battle of Hastings took place 8 miles to the north in 1066 and victory by William the Conqueror (1028-1087) over Harold II (c 1022-1066) heralded the beginning of the Norman conquest of England and  the end of Anglo-Saxon rule.

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We also journeyed to Southend-on-Sea, home of the World’s Longest Pier with a length of 1.34 miles, and to a number of the resorts on The Isle of Thanet:

• Southend-on-Sea – When I was a child, Southend was the most popular destination for family and company Day Outings.  Oftentimes, Factory Outings  were referred to as Beanos (please do not ask me why!) and were little more than, for the men in the party at least, Great Piss Ups.  As a result, the resort had a reputation in my youth for being a somewhat vulgar place and decidedly not a place where decent people went!  Southend was easily reached by motor coach, train and boat: at one time, large pleasure boats sailed from Tower Pier each morning to Southend and returned at 6 P.M. each evening.  As a result of my severe Mal-de-Mer, my parents never dared journey to the resort by boat; I have always regreted this!  In fact we did not journey to Southend often, as my mother did not like it there!    The popularity of the resort was greatly increased with the building of the Southend Pier in 1829.  A wooden Pier was first constructed, which was replaced by one made of iron in 1889.  During the Second World War, the Pier was conscripted into the Royal Navy and given the official name of H.M.S. Leigh!   When I was a child, visitors could get to the Pier Head, where there was an Amusement Arcade (I liked the mechanical Penny Slot Machines best of all!) and a small Theatre, by foot or via an Electric Train in green livery, which was apparently withdrawn in 1978.  Today,  two Diesel Trains operate the service.
• Margate – This was my favourite resort as a child.  We often stayed in West Cliftonville, which is close to Margate, at a little hotel called Dalby House.  Sadly, I have learned that this area is not as nice today as it once was.  The two things that I liked best about Margate were The Shell Ghotto and the Dreamland Cinema.  The Grotto is a subterranean passageway where the walls and roof are covered in mosaics made of seashells.  It was discovered in 1835, but no one has been able to determine when it was constructed or what its purpose was.  The Dreamland Cinema was a wonderful cinema with an Art Deco design and with a Compton-Noterman Theatre Organ (4 manual/19 ranks), which is still present in the cinema.  Margate has an association with the painter, J. M. W. Turner, and in 2011, the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery opened there.
• Ramsgate – St Augustine (born during the early part of the 6th Century and died c 604 A.D.) who brought Christianity to Britain landed near Ramsgate in 597 A.D.  and his Shrine is close to this site.  Vincent Van Gogh moved here in April 1876 and worked as a teacher.  Although I enjoyed trips to Ramsgate, I have to confess that I much preferred Margate, but this I suspect was due to the presence of the magnificent Dreamland Cinema!

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St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons after Pope Gregory the Great (~ 540-604 A.D.) sent him to England in 595 A.D.  He came ashore on The Isle of Thanet in 597 A.D. and traveled to Canterbury where he met King Æthelberht (Ethelbert) (~ 560-616 A.D.), the King of Kent.    His activities and miracles were recorded by St. Bede (~ 603-735 A.D.) and, at his death, was buried at Canterbury.  Pilgrims soon began to journey to his Shrine and his Feast Day was celebrated each 26th May .  However, during the Reformation, the Shrine of Augustine was destroyed and his following diminished.

The Abbey Church of St. Augustine was built  in 1860 by Augustus Pugin together with a number of associates.  In 1843 Augustus Pugin (1812-1852) bought a cliff side property in Ebbsfleet, which is where it is believed that St. Augustine arrived in England.  He built his home, The Grange, here and then built the church next to it where he is buried.

The Abbey Church of St. Augustine & St. Edward’s Presbytery
This photograph, together with an account of the history of The Church appears at The Victorian Web, and is reproduced here with permission of Dr. J. Banerjee

The exterior of the church is made of stone covered with hardy flint and Its interior is lined with Whitby Stone making it reminiscent  of an Anglo-Saxon church.  It was consecrated in 1884 and became Grade-I listed in 1988. From the 1860s, the church was home to the Benedictine Monks of St Augustine’s Abbey, but in 2010 the Monks withdrew from the church and it was returned to the jurisdiction of Southwark Archdiocese.  In March 2012, the church was designated as The Official Shrine commemorating St Augustine’s and the arrival of the Gospel for the English people.

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• Broadstairs – The only thing that I recall of this resort is the white cliffs of Kingsgate Beach, which was truly spectacular.
• Herne Bay – My mother was especially fond of this resort, as she had spent over a year here as a child during her convalescence of illnesses caused from living with her mother and stepfather!  I recently learned that Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), the English Orator, had a Home for Orphans here at one time.

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Now buoyed with success, we began to venture further afield and traveled to many places including Great Yarmouth in Norfolk and Blackpool in Lancashire …….. but always by train.

Click here to hear Reginald Dixon (1904-1985) , Mr. Blackpool, play
the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ of the Tower Ballroom

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Whenever we went on a jolly jaunt to the South Coast or to The Isle of Thanet, we left from one of London’s large Main Line Stations, either London Bridge, Waterloo or Victoria Station.  Although London Bridge Station was the closest to where we lived, and the preferred starting point of my parents, I much preferred leaving from Victoria Station.

Victoria Station

The reason why I preferred leaving from Victoria Station had nothing to do with the station itself, but rather a result of the route taken by the train through South London, as it passed through Clapham Junction.

Clapham Junction Station
Britain’s Busiest Station with 2,000 trains passing through each day

As a child, I was never fond of South London, I am now sorry to say.  This was mainly due to my father, who was born in Dulwich and brought up in Camberwell.  He loved South London and would drag us there often to see the sights and listen to his tales of the various places that were to him.  Of course, today, I feel guilty because of my attitude and understand his love of the area since I have discovered many of its joys after visits for background information for some of the stories on my websites.

Camberwell Green  ~1948

Anyway, after the train left Victoria Station, it quickly reached the River Thames and crossed over to South London.  I always tried to sit on the left hand side of the carriage, as I wanted to get the best view of Battersea Power Station.  I was very taken with this building and try to see it each time I visit London.  I am always amazed at the number of people who are standing on the North Bank looking at it.  I have asked a number of admirers why they came to look at the building and most tell me that they were fans of The Pink Floyd‘s Animals album where it was pictured on the cover.

Battersea Power Station, The World’s Largest Brick Building

Dogs, from the album Animals by Pink Floyd

After this, the train raced through Battersea Park Station, but my eyes were now glued to the Vista through the left widow.  And as we continued on, peeping up above the clutter of roofs was a small Tower.  I was just able to tell that the Tower had a clock associated with it.  And then, the Tower was gone, out of view!

Over the years, I wondered about the Tower: was it part of a church or a palace?  A palace in Battersea?  Even I, at my young age, thought that this was too much of a stretch of the imagination!  I asked my father about it, but without his spectacles, he was never able to even see it let alone identify it!  I once asked some fellow travelers if they were able to identify this remarkable edifice, but my mother quickly scolded me for bothering people!

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Over the years, I have traveled on trains to and from Victoria Station and, each time, I found myself looking for The Tower, as we raced through the London suburbs.  For some unknown reason, during my stays in London, I never once thought to go to Clapham Junction and look for The Tower.  Naturally, I find this slothfulness to be amazing seeing that  I was supposed to be so interested in it!

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It was in 2010 that, at long last, I ventured across the River Thames.  I had been working on my websites for a while and confined myself to writing about the East End and The City of London.   I decided that it was high-time that I extended my area of interest and that it would be a good idea to write about South London.

My first trip was made to Stockwell, as I wanted to visit the Memorial of Violette Szabo (1921-1945) for my piece, Cave Her Name with Pride.  After seeing and photographing The Memorial, I thought it might be amusing, as the French say (!), and visit some other areas of South London that were important to my father and in an attempt to change my opinion of them (please remember, I was, after all, an East End Snob!)

The Memorial of Violette Szabo & Decorated by Local Children

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This trip is described in
Part Six: The Road to Richmond – Down The Hill & Up The Junction
of my Series, The Odeon Isleworth – Didn’t this used to be a cinema?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Mr. Paul Bland for his help in the preparation of this tale.

I would also like to thank Dr. J. Banerjee of The Victorian Web for allowing her photograph of The Abbey Church of St. Augustine to be reproduced here and for her help and consideration.

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