Sandcastles, donkeys, piers and sticks of rock. Beach huts, paddle steamers, promenade shelters and ice cream cones. Our modern seaside is the sum of its parts and all those parts have their history. This book explores the best-loved features of our favourite holiday destinations, each object and building adding its own layer to the story of our shared seaside heritage. Using a mixture of historic images and modern photographs the book takes a roughly chronological journey through the things that have made our seaside distinctive. The places where we have chosen to take our holidays for the past three hundred years have been transformed from mere stretches of coastline but they are not like inland towns. Inside these pages can be found a celebration of all that makes our seaside special.