The coast is dear: Our complex love affair with seaside towns

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

News, Government, Politics, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2023

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside. Don’t we? Places like Blackpool, Jaywick and Skegness are among the poorest areas of the UK. Yet other resorts are so desirable that property-owners can afford to keep them empty for most of the year and rake in the profit from renting them out in summer. Madeleine Bunting, author of The Seaside: England’s Love Affair, tells Ros Taylor about her odyssey around the English coast, the threat posed by sewage discharges, and the special affection she holds for Brighton — a town where anything can seem possible. “There are still huge reserves of affection for seaside towns.” “People flock to seaside towns because they think that is where they can start again.” “There’s a hedonism to the seaside. It has always been about indulging fantasy.’ “The Essex coastline is fascinating, and often gets overlooked.” Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Producer and audio editor: Jade Bailey. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	My name is Stan. I'm at. Nice to meet you. So you took up photography where? I've always loved
0:05.5	photography but I turn it into earning a living at 60. I enrolled on a day course.
0:11.8	Well college. I loved going to college. It's good you can retry. I'm enrolled on the day course. But college?
0:13.0	I loved going to college.
0:14.0	It's good you can retrain and do something.
0:16.0	Yeah, yeah.
0:17.0	Let's talk about working, learning, saving and making the most of living longer.
0:22.0	Phoenix Group is the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business.
0:28.0	Search Phoenix Group living longer.
0:30.0	Pets brings so much joy.
0:32.0	From those happy greetings at the door to the warm cuddles on the sofa
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0:55.3	look after theirs with dental life. Pick you grew up in Britain, one of your earliest memories is probably of
1:15.2	sand, upending a little bucket as you tried to make a castle, or dipping a net in a rock pool,
1:21.0	or feeling a bit sick after too much candy floss or just chivering as he ran out of the sea.
1:26.0	We've got a deep affection for the seaside and in old age lots of us return to it,
1:31.0	but many British seaside towns are not great places to actually live.
1:35.4	The prettiest ones have fallen victim to the curse of Airbnb, leaving them
1:40.0	unaffordable and empty most of the air. Many others fell out of fashion when cheap flights
1:44.5	took off and have struggled to recover. What are English seaside towns really like now?
1:50.8	What's it like to live there? Joining me to talk about her new book on the seaside is Madeline Buntin.
1:56.6	Welcome to the bunker Madeline.
	...

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