Bridport: Dr Kathryn Ferry's talk on 100 seaside objects

It poses the question 'what do you think of when thoughts of the seaside spring to mind?'

Many would think of sandcastles, donkeys, piers, sticks of rocks, paddle steamers and ice cream cones.

Seaside historian Dr Kathryn Ferry will be charting the part these items all played in a talk entitled the History of the British Seaside in 100 Objects.

The talk will take place at the Bridport Town Hall on Thursday, October 10 from 7.30pm and will look to unpick the experience of the seaside through the objects that make it distinctive.

An author on a number of books on the seaside, as well as architecture and design, the talk is based on Dr Ferry's book, Seaside 100, which was published in 2020.

Dr Katheryn Ferry will give the talk on objects of the seaside (Image: Katheryn Ferry) Dr Ferry has made multiple media appearances on radio and television, first on BBC series Coast, Kathryn has also contributed to the One Show, Flog It, Antiques Road Trip, Villages by the Sea, Britain’s Best Beach Huts and the Secrets of the London Underground, along with BBC Breakfast.

Organisers say that the talk is the high point of the ‘A Resort to Rival Others’ exhibition programme run by the West Bay Discovery Centre.

The exhibition, which runs at the centre until the end of the year, tells the story of what happened when a group of local businessmen believed that Bridport Harbour could become a seaside resort to rival Weymouth or Bournemouth around 140 years ago.

Visitors will get the chance to step back in time and discover West Bay’s dreams of tourism grandeur through a range of contemporary images, plans, slide shows and artist recreations.

Dr Ferry said that, through her research, she has come to appreciate what an amazingly rich seaside heritage the country has, something she says she believes should be properly celebrated not least because the British invented the idea of the ‘seaside’ as a leisure destination, adding that until the era of foreign package deals and cheap flights, the seaside was THE place for Britons to go on holiday.

Tickets for the talk are £8 and can be purchased both online or in person from Bridport Tourist Information Centre.