The Key Features in the Development of Seaside Holidays from 1901 to the 1930's

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The Key Features in the Development of Seaside Holidays from 1901 to the 1930's

Seaside holidays were pioneered in the late 1800's and quickly became

popular. By the beginning of the 20th century they were even more

popular with more people actually having the money and free-time

available to go on holiday.

One reason for this rise in popularity was the decreasing number of

hours people worked in a week. A 100 years ago, the average length of

a manual workers week was 55 hours. In the 1920's it started to drop,

being 8 hours less at the end of the second world war.

The increasing amount of holiday time given to workers also made

seaside holidays possible for anybody who wanted a 'sun and fun'

filled break. By 1938 the government introduced a Holidays with Pay

Act which benefited people who had not previously had the luxury of

paid holidays. As well as paid holidays, workers wages were also on

the rise, making it possible for people to afford accommodation and

their own transport to reach their destination.

In 1901, just 32,000 cars were on the road. This had risen to 109,000

in 1919, 1,000,000 in 1930 and 2,000,000 in 1939. The average price of

an average small family car was £225 when it was released in 1922,

with the price almost halved to £118 about ten years later. An

advantage to the growing population of car owners was the fact that

speed limits on the roads were about to become more lenient. 1903 saw

the speed limits raised from a meagre 2 miles per hour to a staggering

20 mph, and then up again to 30 mph by the start of the 1930's. This

meant that more people in the local area would have had the

possibility of going to Weston for a day trip in the summertime or for

the Bank Holidays.

All these factors all would have helped Weston become more developed

as a seaside resort.

Below are some of the ways that Weston evolved into a bigger, better

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