What is there to do in Southwold in the 1900s?

Families love the beach – you can now rent a beach hut to keep the sand out of your sandwiches. There’s golf and tennis, bowls and badminton. Model Yacht Racing takes place each August and we’re a great centre for motor tours, cycle rides and steamer trips to Felixstowe and Walton.

Southwold Beach in 1905, where holiday makers and their equipment compete for elbow-room with fishing boats, P1378

Model Yacht regatta in August 1905 P941

A crowd of tourists gathers on the beach, perhaps to view a sailing regatta P62

Our cinema is in York Road and the Pier Pavilion has concert parties in the season.

Crowning of Southwold's Beauty Queen, Miss Doy, in the Cinema in 1937. P2244

Southwold Cinema was roughly on the site of the present doctor's surgery in York Road. It is pictured here as it is being demolished in 1983. P2604

If you’ve got holiday photos to develop, take them along to Fred Jenkins’s shop in the High Street. He also sells souvenirs, as does Fred Pipe’s Fancy Bazaar where you can buy amber jewellery.

Variety show on Gun Hill in about 1910 P838

View from the end of the pier in 1907

Punch & Judy show in the 1950s P2859_2