We went down on the beach and bathed.

I have decided to share a few of the chapters I have been working on for my talk/writing on the travel diaries from 1898 - 1910. This is work in progress but will form a part of a larger work looking at the holidays of the Clarke girls. In light of the current sweltering heatwave covering England and Europe, I thought that this would be an appropriate first chapter to share!

Research is tricky regarding the bathing, or should I say, swimming habits of the middle-class families in Victorian and Edwardian times.  From what I can gather, the Clarke girls did not swim in Gravesend.  I can find no evidence of a lido or swimming pool in the area and, to be honest, I think that, historically, it was too early for this kind of thing to be common.  It would also be highly unlikely that the girls would swim in the Thames River, which was right at the end of their street.  The Thames would have most likely been not only quite polluted but also dangerous with it being not only a substantial shipping port but also tidal water which featured strong and hazardous currents.  So it was on holidays that the Clarke girls were able to swim or paddle or bathe. 

The first recorded bathing sessions were in Worthing in 1899 when they visited their cousins who lived in Worthing.  The diary mentions bathing six times.  Reading the later entries, I suspect the actual act of bathing was conducted in fairly shallow water and involved little actual swimming.  On August 19^th, the writer notes that Jessie, a cousin who would have been about 17 years old at the time, “gave me a nice swim and then gave me a float and left me alone and I floated by myself for a little while”.  This is written like it is a significant event and five days later another significant event is noted when Edith writes that she “swum one stroke by myself” and then two days later, “had a lovely bathe.  I swam for 4 strokes.”   No mention is made of bathing machines and, whilst they were going out of fashion at this point, I also wonder whether there was not as much societal pressure for children to use the machines and were allowed to swim more freely.

In 1900, most of the Clarke family went to Gorleston in Norfolk with another Gravesend family, the Starbuck’s – rope merchant father, John with wife Susan, son Leslie and John’s sister Beth.  Much bathing was had on this holiday although many swims were adversely affected by high seas.  The first swim, August 6^th, was conducted “directly after breakfast and mother hired a tent and about 10 o’clock we bathed, It was very nice but the waves were so high we could not go out very far.”  This appears to be the common theme for the early part of the holiday with the next four days featuring comments like “It was very rough so that we could not swim so we sat down near the edge and let the water break over us” and “We bathed in the afternoon but the waves were too high” then finally on the 9^th August “we found it too rough to bathe and when it rained we went into the tent” .  There seemed to be a brief change in the weather on the 10th August when the holidaymakers “went on the beach with Mr Starbucks and had a lovely one” but it wasn’t to last long as the next day “we paddled and bathed with mother, the waves being rather high.”  No bathing is mentioned for the next three days but then it becomes a daily or sometimes twice daily occurrence with even a mention of “beautifully calm waters” on the 18^th August.   On both the 20th and 21^st August two trips are written about going “down on the beach” – ““We went to the beach after we had breakfast with Mademoiselle to bathe.  Mr Starbuck came in with us and we had a lovely bathe.  Then we had dinner on the beach and after dinner we bathed with mother” and “we went on the beach and bathed.  We came home to dinner and after we went and had another bathe.”  It really does sound like an idyllic family holiday.  Gorleston was the calmer and less touristy option to neighbouring Great Yarmouth, and whilst it still offered the Victorian beachside trappings of beach tents, bathing boxes and donkey rides, it was removed from the fairground style entertainments being offered a few miles up the road and it seemed to suit the Clarke and Starbuck families perfectly being the outdoorsy types that they were.

In 1906, the younger members of the family were sent away for a trip with Aunt Di after the untimely and unexpected death of their mother, Rebecca.  Aunt Di’s impressive yacht, Lady Torfrida, was moored at Oban and Queenie, Winnie, Wilfrid and Arnold took advantage of the impressive Victorian railways system to make their way North to spend the late summer there.  When the weather allowed, they bravely ventured into the chilly Scottish waters, particularly the boys who would bathe before breakfast or after a row in one of the smaller boats.  On August 29^th, we all got up before breakfast and had a lovely bathe.”  When the holidayers moved on to Loch Lomond, the boys were brave enough to test the waters there as well – “In the afternoon the boys bathed while we stayed home and read.”

The following year Queenie and Winnie accompanied Father on a trip to Devonshire where the principal object seemed to be to learn more about Father’s time in Torquay as

a young pharmacist however the draw of the sea was strong – “It was so fine and the sands and sea looked so attractive we thought a bathe would be very enjoyable, but unfortunately all the machines were occupied and would not be free for some time.”  They had a second attempt at bathing but were thwarted at this attempt as well – “For a wonder, we got up early, hoping for a morning bathe, we found there was a strong gale blowing and it was much too cold to bathe.”    This is the first time that bathing machines have been mentioned and I wonder that they have never been used before.   Looking back at the previous holidays, I would imagine that the swims in Oban were not taken at main beaches where the machines were being used and looking further back, to Gorleston and Worthing, I wonder that it was the age of those bathing that meant that the bathing machines were not required as those in the water were children.  It could also just be that the machines themselves were being phased out in the latter parts of the Victorian age and during the Edwardian era so Torquay might have been one of the last resorts to still be using them.