Part Four – On the beach
Suggested inquiry questions: What could you do at the beach in Victorian times?
Potential activities: Create a sensory beach experience. Explore photographs of the Victorian beach.
Where do we want to sit on the beach? What activities can we do while we’re here?
The following ‘tasks’ are suggested activities which you can choose from or adapt to make them suitable for your students.
Tasks
Play video four (a)
Is this a good place to spend our time?
‘Here we are at the seaside. But there are too many people on this beach!’
Play video four (b)
How about this?
‘That’s better! This beach is nice and quiet.’
Play video four (c)
What shall we do on the beach?
‘Let’s play on the beach and make some sandcastles.’
Fun in the sand
Bring the seaside indoors by making your own mini beaches. Let your students have fun exploring a sand tray. Add water to it so you can make a sandcastle and hand around some seashells if you have any.
Sound effects
Play the busy beach and quiet beach noises sound files to hear children playing, waves lapping and seagulls squawking.
Busy beach:
Quiet beach:
Things to discuss:
- Look at the clothes that everyone is wearing in image three of Blackpool beach. What do people wear on the beach today?
- How did people in Victorian times protect themselves from the sun?
Play video four (d)
Time for a quick dip!
‘Let’s go for a swim in the sea. Ooh, the water’s cold!’
A swim in the sea – Victorian-style
Good manners were very important to the Victorians. It was impolite to look at a lady in her bathing costume, so she would get changed in a bathing cart which would then be pushed down to the water. She could then jump in for a swim without anyone seeing. Recreate the sea in your classroom with rain sticks and ocean drums. Then, take off your shoes and socks and go for a paddle using a water tray or get wet using a water spray.
Wear the right costume
Victorian bathing costumes were made of wool which became incredibly heavy when they got wet. Let your students experience this by soaking an old woollen jumper in water and then let them feel its weight. You might like to compare it to a modern swimsuit.
Things to discuss:
- Look at the swimming costumes that are being worn in images four, five and six and discuss the differences with modern ones.
- What are the bathing carts for?
- Is it important to know how to swim? Why?
Background
Further information:
Beach Trips
By the 1860s, railway companies were offering cheap excursions to many seaside destinations on Sundays and at holiday times such as Easter and Whitsun. In 1862, 132,000 visitors arrived in Brighton in one day. Its population at the time was less than 80,000.
Swimming at the beach
Before the Victorian era, men and women swam separately. Most people used bathing machines or carts. These were first used in the middle of the 18th century and looked like small horse-drawn caravans. The bather walked up the steps to get changed inside while the horse pulled the cart into the water. The bather could then enter the water without being seen. Sometimes chains were used instead of a horse to drag the cart into the sea. If you couldn’t swim, you might be accompanied by a ‘dipper’, someone to help you into the water.
By the 1870s, men usually wore one-piece knitted bathing costumes. Women’s outfits consisted of a knee-length skirt with loose trousers down to the ankles. This was worn with a blouse and sometimes a jacket too.
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Suggested inquiry questions: What could you do at the beach in Victorian times?
Potential activities: Create a sensory beach experience. Explore photographs of the Victorian beach.
Part One – Entering the Archives
Going back in time
Part Four – On the beach
Where do we want to sit on the beach? What activities can we do while we’re here?