From the same publisher as
Fairground Architecture, this is a similarly acclaimed book.
The perennial excitement of a
visit to the seaside, whether it is to Blackpool or Biarritz,
seems always to have been one of life's special pleasures. Yet the
association of the sea with health, holidays and fun is a
comparatively recent phenomenon in terms of the buildings along
its shores. With the obvious exception of the pier, there is
really very little to distinguish seaside from other forms of
urban or suburban architecture, but once experienced, even in
childhood, the buildings at the seaside remain identifiably yet
unmistakably different. The word 'seaside' has so many connotations
- bare feet on a hot pavement, boarding houses on rainy days,
barnacles under the pier, donkey rides, sticks of rock and a
million others - most of which involve, if only as a background,
the types of structure that go on to create the atmosphere
everyone recognises but very few can define. In this book Kenneth
Lindley has caught this spirit of the place, describing and
analysing the elements that go to make up the seaside resort -
from the railway station down to the front, along the promenade
and out to the end of the pier - while, at the same time combining
in a very personal blend of words and pictures the essence of
seasides past and present.
Condition: Very good. Some slight
wear to extremities. Few light nicks to wrapper, but otherwise
tidy. |
