Solent Sky Museum, Southampton – Spitfires & Flying Boats –

•  Film by British Pathé, ‘Vivid Demonstration’ (1936), shot at Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport) on 26th March, 1936. Film features Vickers Long Range Bomber and a Spitfire prototype. This was the Spitfire’s 2nd test flight. Film also shows pilot Jeffrey Quill getting into the Spitfire. Uploaded to You Tube 13.4.14.

Saturday 5th March will be the 80th anniversary of Spitfire’s first test flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport), Hampshire which took place on 5th March, 1936. The first Spitfire test flight lasted 8 minutes. Southampton Airport will be marking this momentous occasion, a Spitfire will take-off from there on Saturday on an 80th birthday flight.

Me in conversation with R. J. MItchell at Solent Sky Museum. ©Come Step Back In Time

It will first  fly close to the resting place of its Chief Designer R. J. Mitchell (1895-1937). Continuing along the river Itchen to Southampton Water where it will pass near to the site of the old Supermarine factory in Woolston where many thousands of the aircraft were built.  Onwards to Portsmouth harbour before flying back on itself to Southampton Airport.

According to Southampton Airport’s website, the Spitfire should be visible, around the Solent, between 11 am and 12 noon on Saturday 5th. Subject to weather conditions, there will be good vantage points along the River Itchen, Weston Shore, Hythe, Royal Victoria Country Park, Lee on Solent and Cowes (Isle of Wight).

Solent Sky Museum have a rare Spitfire on display, the Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk24 PK683. One of the last of its type to be produced, PK683 saw service with the RAF in Malaysia, and is in almost original condition. ©Come Step Back In Time

Afterwards, head down to the brilliant, hidden gem that is Solent Sky Museum, Southampton  (Twitter: @SpitfireSolent). On Saturday 5th, this multi-award winning Museum will be open from 12.30pm (admission charges apply) for a packed afternoon of activities to commemorate the Spitfire’s 80th anniversary.  A new exhibition will also open on Saturday, ‘Southampton and the People’s Spitfire’, containing over 100 photographs documenting Southampton’s Blitz.

This exhibition will focus on Southampton’s role producing the Spitfire in ‘Southampton’s Blitz’. During the Battle of Britain, in 1940, Southampton was heavily bombed and the Supermarine factory was destroyed. Spitfire production was dispersed to any local site with enough floor space to produce Spitfire components. The exhibition also commemorates the heroic efforts of local residents to maintain Spitfire production at all costs.

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• The Spitfire production line at the Vickers Supermarine Works in Southampton, 1940.

There were 20, 531 Spitfires built, the last one rolled off the production line in 1947.  Surviving examples are extremely rare (there is one in Solent Sky Museum – Mk24 PK683). The first Spitfire prototype was originally called “The Fighter” F.37/34 but subsequently this changed to prototype K5054.

Captain Joseph “Mutt” Summers (1904-1954) piloted the first Spitfire test flight in 1936. Mutt joined Vickers Aviation Ltd in June 1929, a year later he became chief test pilot at Supermarine Aviation Works. Jeffrey Kindersley Quill (1913-1996), piloted the second test flight on 26th March, 1936 (see film at top of article). Jeffrey was known as “Mr Spitfire” and was Mutt’s assistant. In January, 1936, he began working at Vickers and its subsidiary Supermarine.

Two views of R. J. Mitchell’s cigarette case.  He had the case with him whilst watching Spitfire’s first test flight on 5th March, 1936. Artefact is not normally on display to the public at Solent Sky Museum so have been very privileged to see and handle it. ©Come Step Back In Time

• ‘Solent Sky Museum Seeking Stories Recalling World War Two’ by Shan Robins (That’s Solent TV) featuring an interview with Museum Director Sqn/Ldr Alan Jones MBE CRAeS RAF Rtd. Alan also introduces some special Spitfire related artefacts from the Museum’s deep archives. Uploaded to You Tube 13.2.2016.

I recently assisted on and participated in several films made by Shan Robins (Senior Broadcaster at That’s Solent TV) shot on location at Solent Sky Museum. It was a wonderful opportunity to find-out more about some of the Museum’s most famous exhibits.

• ‘The Schneider Trophy’s Influence on the Design of the Spitfire’ film by Shan Robins (That’s Solent TV) featuring Museum Director Sqn/Ldr Alan Jones MBE CRAeS RAF Rtd.  Uploaded to You Tube 4.2.2016.

• ‘Flying Boats: A Look Back at a Bygone Era’ by Shan Robins (That’s Solent TV) featuring an interview with myself made on location at Solent Sky Museum, which is also home to the ‘Beachcomber’, a flying boat originally built in 1943 as a Short Sunderland Mk3, but in 1947 was converted to operate commercial flights with passengers. Uploaded to You Tube 18.2.2016.

There are many exhibits at Solent Sky that fascinate me but the Beachcomber is by far my favourite. In 2012, I wrote an article about the Beachcomber.  On my recent visits to make the above films, I made sure I spent some more time looking around this lovely vintage flying boat.

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Flying Boats and Southampton

In the summer of 1919 (16th August), Supermarine operated Britain’s first commercial flying boat service from the Royal Pier, near Southampton docks. The first flights were local, to Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight, on a Channel Mk.1 aircraft. In September, 1919, Supermarine operated its first international flying boat service from its premises at Woolston travelling to Le Havre.

The service to Le Havre did not operate for long, starting-up again in September 1923 when flying boats serviced the route between Woolston and Cherbourg. In 1924, British Marine became Imperial Airways who continued to operate flying boat services from Woolston. Between the 1924 and 1958, Southampton became one of the busiest flying boat ports in the world.

Before the jet age really took hold, towards the end of the 1950s, flying boats were the popular, if most expensive, method of travel overseas. Only the wealthy could afford the ticket price as well as spare the time needed to complete the  journey.  Travelling to the other side of the world by flying boat could take eight days or more. Some of the journey would have to be made via ship or other modes of transport until flying boats were servicing more routes. Eight days may seem a long time now but actually, back then it was considered extremely quick!

• Film by British Pathé, ‘Flying Boat – Sydney Aka New Empire Flying Boat Leaves Sydney For Southampton’ (1938).

Like the Spitfire, the flying boat is also celebrating a big birthday this year. On 3rd July it will be the  80th anniversary of Imperial Airways’ first Short C Class flight from Southampton which took place in 1936. Imperial Airways’ first revenue flight took place on 6th February, 1937 and henceforward, Hythe (near Southampton), became the airline’s home base. Only 42 of this type of flying boat were built.

In the new C Class ‘boats, passenger comfort took precedence. A smoking cabin at the front of the aircraft was fitted out like a lounge, with chairs facing each other around small tables. Behind this was a galley, where a steward delivered restaurant quality meals on china plates. Amidships was the “promenade” deck with large, high-placed windows where passengers could stand and see their sights. In all, 24 passengers could be carried.

All this luxury came at a high price, however. The round trip from Southampton to Australia cost as much as a small house in 1937…. Today, aircraft travel at upwards of thirty thousand feet, and frequently all that is visible is clouds. In the C Class, though, there was no pressurised cabin, so flying took place at low level for the whole of the journey. This enabled Imperial Airways to make scheduled flights almost into sight-seeing tours.

(‘Southampton: The Gateway to The Empire’ by Chris Smith, The Solent Sky magazine, Summer 2014, pp. 16-19)

This first C Class flight took place over Southampton Waters. Southampton was  chosen as the location for an international “marine aeroport”, or “airport”. As the name suggests, the first airports were actually located at seaports, Southampton being one of the first.

Airports were originally not the landlocked complex of buildings and terminals that we know today. Historically, that type of airport would actually have been known as an aerodrome. In the 1930s, Southampton’s aerodrome was based at Eastleigh and is today Southampton Airport.

• British Pathé film, ‘Empire Flying Boat (Imperial Airways) ‘Centaurus’ leaves for flight to New Zealand from Southampton’ (1937). Uploaded to You Tube 13.4.2014.

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• Imperial Airways flying boat ‘Centaurus’ at Hythe, Hampshire with its five- man crew. The plane flew to Egypt, Iraq and Singapore bringing India to within 2 and 1/2 days air-travel from Britain. L to r Flt Clerk R Doel, First Officer A Richardson, Captain J Sheppard, Wireless Operator L F Mitchell and steward E W Rowcliffe. 1938.

In March 1937, Imperial Airways Limited (1924-1939) started their twice-weekly services to Alexandria and later that year to South and East Africa. These aircraft were maintained at the Hythe flying-boat base until early 1938 when operations moved to Folland’s hangar at Hamble which could now handle five C Class boats at any one time.

From May 1938, arrangements were made for passengers to embark directly onto the aircraft from a pontoon at Berth 101 in Southampton New Docks, doing away with having to board from a launch. Departures to Sydney, Australia left at 5.15am. For early-morning take-offs buoys equipped with electric lights were strung out to indicate the ‘runway’. (Source: Flying Boats of the Solent and Poole by Mike Phipp, 2013, p.46)

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• A snapshot photograph of a an Imperial Airways flying boat moored to a jetty in Southampton harbour, taken by an unknown photographer in about 1935.

Imperial Airways established their services as four times a week to India, three times to East Africa and twice to Durban, Malaya, Hong Kong and Australia. On 5th July 1937 their first Transatlantic service was started with flights from the UK by Imperial and from the USA by Pan American.  In September 1939, Imperial Airways transferred their aircraft and services to Poole Harbour.

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• Photograph from 1936. A Flight Steward aboard the giant flying-boat, ‘Canopus’ serves breakfast to passengers in their bunks. Imperial Airways’ Canopus was on the Alexandria-Athens service. It cruised at 200mph and carried 16 passengers in night stages.

Advertising poster for Imperial Airways (1939). On display at Solent Sky Museum, Southampton.

In the pre-war era, flying with Imperial Airways was everything you would expect it to be, if you had money that is. Passengers who flew regularly with the airline were even allowed to have their valet with them. If you didn’t have a valet to look after your every in-flight need, then you would be looked after by a Flight Steward. In these early years of seaplane travel, all Stewards were male.

Facilities on-board these early flying boats were not luxurious but were adequate. The Short Calcutta and Kent flying-boats were equipped with twin-burner oil stoves, there were no cooking facilities on the Empire ‘boats. Restaurant standard meals were prepared locally in ports across the world, decanted into vacuum flasks and stowed for service in either hot boxes or ice chests.

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• Steward preparing lunch in the galley of an Imperial Airways, Short L.17 Scylla, a landplane version of the 38 passenger Kent flying boat. The London-Paris route, 1934.

Fruit juices were transferred from the vacuum flasks into serving jugs, bread rolls and Ryvitas were placed in baskets. Food was always served on china plates. Preserves and butter were put on plates and covered with doilies. White linen table cloths and serviettes, metal cutlery, side plates and cruets were laid-out on the tables in each of the cabins.

In 1937 and 1938, Imperial Airways even served Christmas dinners to their passengers, in 1938, Thanksgiving dinner was also provided, popular on the transatlantic routes. All meals were accompanied by wine, spirits, cocktails, soft drinks, hot beverages (tea, cocoa, coffee, chocolate, Bovril, OXO and Horlicks).  Below are examples of Imperial Airways’ dinner menus. First is from 30th August 1938 and second one is from flying boat ‘VB Corsair, date unknown but late 1930s:

Grapefruit or Consommé Princess

Roast Pheasant and Watercress

Lamb Cutlets and Mint Sauce

Roast Chicken, York Ham

Green Salad Beetroot & Apple Salad

Fresh Fruit Salad & Cream

Cheese Cheddar, Gorganzola, Gruyere

Toast Imperial  Assorted Biscuits  Coffee

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pâté de Fois Gras or Grapefruit

Roast chicken, Ox Tongue, York Ham

Russian Salad

Peaches Melba, Golden Figs

Cheese – Cheshire, Camembert, Kraft

Toast Imperial  – Assorted biscuits – Coffee

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• Imperial Airways, the Short L.17 Scylla, was a landplane version of the 38 passenger Kent flying boat. Flight Steward attends to his passengers on the London-Paris route, 1934.

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• The Mayoress of Southampton christens the ‘Southampton.’ Naming ceremony of the RMA ‘Southampton’, at which a libation of wine from a silver ewer is poured over the aircraft. The ceremony took place at the new flying boat base at Southampton docks (Berth 50) which allowed passengers to step ashore straight into the airport buildings. Officially opened by Lord Nathanon on 14th April, 1948.

After World War Two, Imperial Airways became the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The last C Class retired in c.1947. A new marine air terminal was built for BOAC at Berth 50 in Southampton’s docks with bars, lounges and dining rooms, and a direct rail line was established to London Waterloo. However, in 1948, BOAC gradually started to replace their flying boats with modern land aircraft. Their flying-boat services, from Southampton, finally ended in the autumn of 1950.

• British Pathé film, ‘Flying Boat Deck'(1948). Showcases the new BOAC Marine Terminal in Southampton. Uploaded to You Tube 13.4.2014.

Following BOAC’s decision to no longer operate a flying boat service out of Southampton,  Aquila Airways, an independent airline,  stepped-in and filled that gap, well at least until 1958.  Aquila Airways  Ltd was formed on the 18th May 1948 by Wing Commander Barry Aikman and operated from Hamble Beach, adjacent to the former Folland slipway.

Aquila serviced the popular route between Southampton and Madeira, initially under a BOAC Associate Agreement. Aquila also provided charter flights carrying ships’ crews. In 1948, Madeira could only be reached by ship, there were no direct flights. When Berth 50 at Southampton docks became vacant, Aquila moved in. By 1951, the airline had 12 aircraft.

At the beginning of 1949 Aquila purchased the remainder of BOAC’s Hythes and parked them on the beach at Hamble. Aquila was able to make use of Berth 50 at Southampton Docks and G-AGEU Hampshire departed on a proving flight to Funchal Bay on 24th March. Its deluxe cabins with thirty-one seats were served by three stewards, with a cocktail bar available.

(Flying Boats of the Solent and Poole by Mike Phipp, 2013, p.120)

Me behind a cocktail bar from Aquila flying boat RMA Hadfield (1948-1956). ©Come Step Back In Time

Aquila went on to operate further routes at Capri, Santa Margherita and Montreux at Lake Geneva. All areas difficult to access via land planes. Aquila Captain Christopher Blackburn commented on the holiday atmosphere on many of these routes:

By 1957 we had quite a network of routes in operation, and were anticipating our best year. We had a tie-up with Club Mediterranee and took loads of passengers every week from Marseilles to Palermo and Corfu. This was the most enjoyable of all….The passengers were always in a holiday mood and the girls, whom we always invited up to the flight deck, often wore nothing more than a bikini. If one had a skirt on we found that the solution was for the pilot to open his window just as she was coming up the ladder, sometimes with revealing results!’

This and other passenger and crew reports demonstrate that these were truly golden days of air travel, and completely unlike modern “cattle class” operations. As a bizarre example, one regular passenger aboard Aquila Airways would insist on doing the washing up after her evening meal on board!… Air Hostess Shirley Passmore recalls that: ‘It was nice to be able to make a pot of tea and sit down and drink it with the passengers, or just walk around and chat with them and play with the children.’

(‘Southampton’s Eagles: The Last Flying Boat Airline’ by Chris Smith, The Solent Sky Magazine, Summer 2015, pp. 12-13)

Shirley was an air hostess for Aquila Airways, Southampton during the 1950s. Ivor was a flight engineer, the couple met during a practice boat-drill in 1953. When they married, they had a marzipan flying boat on top of their wedding cake.

Many stars of stage and screen flew with Aquila in the 1950s including: Harry Secombe; Terry Thomas; Trevor Howard; John Huston; Bernard Miles; Peter Butterworth; Janet Brown and John Mills.

On the whole, flight safety records for flying boats were relatively speaking, quite good. However, in late 1957, Aquila’s Short Solent flying boat RMA Sydney crashed into the side of a quarry, Chessell Down, on the Isle of Wight, due to engine failure. All 8 crew were killed, along with 35 of the 50 passengers. Aquila never quite recovered from the tragedy and ceased operations on 30th September, 1958. (Source: Ibid. p.13)

The golden age of international flying boat travel from Southampton slowly drew to a close. The flying boats could no longer compete, in terms of cost, speed and flying times, with planes like the de Havilland DH 106 Comet, a British jetliner introduced in 1952. Occasional flying boat pleasure flights still took place over the Southampton Water.

Indeed the Beachcomber made 17 passenger flights from September 5th to 9th in 1977. Operating from Calshot (the old RAF flying boat base near Southampton), well to be precise, some 4 miles from the moorings at Calshot. This was due to opposition from the Southampton and Solent authorities who did not permit flying boats to operate over Southampton Water at this time. (Source: ‘”Beachcomber”: The Story of a Sandringham and Sunderland Civil Conversions Operated In Australia by Vic Hodgkinson, p.13)

Captain Andrew Evans once wrote: ‘flying boats, in particular, had a special place in the hearts of those who travelled in them, though sadly today they are almost forgotten.’ (Source: Eagles Over Water: From Solent to the Sun – Story of Aquila Airways Ltd by Norman Hull, 1994, p. 85)

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Bathing Beauties

Beach huts, Bournemouth beach, Dorset.

This year the British Summer has not been conducive to swimming in the sea which is a shame because I enjoy sea-bathing and am fortunate enough to live on the South Coast of England.  However, we have had a few scorching hot days and on one such day, a couple of week’s ago, I hopped on a ferry to the Isle of Wight and made an impromptu visit to Osborne House.  I usually visit Osborne two or three times a year, it is such a special place, beautiful gardens and stunning architecture.  The impetus for this visit being the recently restored private beach which opened for visitors to Osborne on 27th July.  I certainly was not disappointed, it is a magical and peaceful place. I walked from Swiss Cottage on the estate, down through the woodland walk and onto the beach.

View on approach to the beach at Osborne House.

I sat quietly in the exedra, a limestone alcove, decorated inside with exquisite examples of Minton tiles.  The alcove was completed in 1869.  This is the exact spot where Queen Victoria quietly perused her paperwork and indulged in her passion for watercolour sketching.

Queen Victoria’s beach alcove, Osborne House.

View looking out from the beach alcove at Osborne.

Roof of the beach alcove which is decorated with Minton tiles.

Dolphin detail underneath the wooden bench in the alcove.

Queen Victoria’s bathing machine.

Victoria’s Bathing Machine has also now been relocated from Swiss Cottage to the beach. The bathing machine was installed at Osborne in 1846 and first used during the summer of 1847.  The veranda had curtains hung across it to protect Her Majesty’s modesty. A ramp, 146 metres long, stretched from shore to sea and the machine’s wheels were guided along by the grooves. The beach pavilion, which dates back to the 1940s when it was built for convalescing officers during World War Two, has now been restored and transformed into a beach café for visitor refreshments.

The beach is now a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation and boardwalks have been erected to protect the fragile areas of vegetation on the foreshore.  Victoria and Albert’s children loved to play on the beach. Albert enjoyed swimming and when at Osborne tried to do so everyday. He encouraged Victoria to swim regularly too.  Victoria’s love of the beach at Osborne can be seen in a number of her journal entries. Here is one lovely entry in particular:

We are very sorry and this is our last day in this dear place,….enjoyment of which will I am sure add many years to our lives……A very fine bright day, but still very cold.  We walked down to the beach and played about with the children.  In the afternoon, our last here, which is so sad, Albert drove me about.  The country was looking so lovely and the sea so blue.

(24th September, 1845, Osborne House, Isle of Wight. Original entry can be read here . The complete on-line collection of Queen Victoria’s journals from the Royal Archives.)

Sea bathing became popular in Britain during the second half of the eighteenth century.  King George III (1738-1820) is credited with its inception, after having made a number of visits to Weymouth in Dorset to ‘take the sea air’.  Doctors promoted the health benefits of sea immersion believing it to be a cure for all ills and effective in treating scurvy, jaundice and gout.

Advert from a London newspaper, 1895, offering trips to the seaside by train.

It wasn’t really until railways connected coastal towns to major cities, c.1885, that the sea bathing really began to take-off.  Along the south coast towns such as Lyme Regis, Lymington, Southsea, Bournemouth, Southampton, Weymouth, Brighton and Swanage prospered as a result of this new craze.

Strict Victorian moral codes meant that no flesh could be shown by the female bather and swimming costumes that failed to cover the entire body were considered indecent. The invention of the bathing machine enabled the bather to be horse-driven/wheeled right-out into the sea away from prying eyes. The bather would then discreetly descend into the water without anyone seeing them.  Men were expected to wear a bathing suit as well and segregated bathing continued, in many resorts, until well into the Edwardian era.

Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Lyme Regis – Dorset

A picturesque coastal town, described by Regency travel writer M. Phillips in Pictures of Lyme-Regis and Environs (1817) as:

The charms of this amphitheatrical bay is considered, as it unquestionably is, – one of the most enchanting spots for a Watering-place, that can be found around the British Islands. The scenery altogether is magnificent…The invalid, from the fine sea bathing and sea air, for such it may be truly expressed, rarely visits Lyme without great benefit.  In the spring and autumn, when the frequent variations of the atmosphere operate so unfavourably at most other fashionable resorts for sea bathing…The Assembly and Card Rooms are elegant and spacious, and are delightfully situated opposite the Three Cups Inn….Sedan chairs are kept for the accommodation of the company.

The Bathing Rooms afford another superior attraction, and accommodation, and are situated at the eastern part of the town; and another equally commodious, at the Cobb, where hot and cold baths, are as complete as can be desired.  It is but just to observe, that an eminent Physician, Dr. Baker, in analysing the sea water at Lyme to be more saline and heavier than the sea water at any other part of the coast.  At the upper baths is also a commodious Reading Room, where London and Country papers are to be seen. The pleasant walk adjoining the baths, is for the use of Subscribers.

(Phillips, M., 1817, pp. 6, 7, 13 & 14)

This was the period before the railway had reached Lyme Regis. Phillips would have travelled to the town on board the interconnecting Mail Coach service. According to Phillips, the distance from London to Lyme Regis was one hundred and forty-two bone shaking miles. The railway came late to Lyme Regis, it arrived in 1903. The town had a station up until 1963 when it was closed down.  The nearest station today is Axminster. Lyme Regis did suffer as a result of the delayed arrival of the railway and in the latter part of the nineteenth century lost a lot of its visitors to the nearby coastal resorts of Bournemouth and Swanage.

Some of the pretty seafront architecture in Lyme Regis.

Hot and cold inland bathing houses also flourished during the Regency and Victorian periods.  By the 1820s, Lyme Regis had three such bathing establishments, including one owned by J. Bennett, an enterprising shoemaker who saw a business opportunity and opened Bennett’s Hot Baths in 1824.

Local businesses often rented out bathing machines to visitors who preferred to swim in the sea rather than use the bathing houses. In the early part of the nineteenth century bathing machines would have been horse-drawn. Although the aim for the bather, during this period, was to engage in full sea immersion rather than traditional swimming.  The first bathing machine to be rented-out in this fashion in Lyme Regis was one owned by the proprietors of The Three Cups Inn.  By 1834, there were four machines in operation along the sands between the town and the famous Cobb.

During the Edwardian era and after the arrival of the railway, Lyme Regis saw its visitor numbers begin to increase. In Edwardian Lyme Regis, by Jo Draper (2008) there is a description, taken from Seaside Watering Places (1900-1901), which describes the town during this period thus:

The season is during July and August.  The parade – a terraced walk above the beach – is sheltered on one side by the famous Cobb, and on the other by smaller houses built close to the water’s edge and Church Street…The beach is hard, and good for walking on when the tide is out…There is good bathing, either from the machines, for which tickets must be obtained in town, or before 8am, from the Victoria Pier.  The sands to the east of Lyme are firm and a good walk can be taken along them, when the tide is out, to the village of Charmouth about 2 miles off.

(Draper, J., 2008, p. 18)

Lymington – Hampshire

In 1825, there were two bathhouses in Lymington, Legge’s Baths and Mrs Beeston’s Baths, the latter located on the edge of the sea marsh.  A warm bath cost 3/6; shower 2/6; cold bath with guide 1 shilling; cold bath without guide 6d.  The guide was a gentleman whose job it was to help the bather along with the aid of a rope harness tied under the bather’s armpits.

Lymington Sea Water Baths.

In 1833, The Lymington Sea Water Baths opened, they remain open today making it the oldest surviving Lido in Britain.  It was built by William Bartlett and Mrs Beeston ran it from 1872. Shortly after the Sea Water Baths opened, a bath house was opened nearby (now Lymington Town Sailing Club).  Historian, Vivien Rolf, in Bathing Houses and Plunge Pools writes of the bath house at Lymington:

Built in a neo-classical style, the central building was hexagonal, with an upper floor for social gatherings, and ground floor vaulted entrance hall which echoed the design of the subterranean baths below, where salt water flowed in at every high tide and was heated in the boilers.  Hot, cold and ‘vapour’ bathing was available, with separate wings of the building catering for ‘ladies and gentleman’.  Outside was an extensive open-air swimming pool.

(Rolf, V., 2011, pp. 47-48)

Lymington also had Assembly Rooms which provided facilities for those taking the waters or partaking in seabathing activities. The railway came to Lymington on 12th July 1858.  Nearby the towns of Milford-on-Sea and Barton-on-Sea were already emerging as popular seaside resorts. Although there were no bathing machines on offer as these two resorts.

Publicity poster for Southsea resort. Portsmouth City Museum.

Portsmouth and Southsea – Hampshire

A Pump-Room was set-up on the site of Clarence Pier, Portsmouth in the early 1800s and extended in 1825-6.  This extension included Assembly Rooms, Reading Rooms and marble seawater baths.  Southsea gained in popularity as a family resort after 1860 when the railway came to town and in 1885 the branch line was extended from Fratton to Granada Road. Bathing in Southsea remained segregated until 1910 with men and women’s bathing machines positioned at least fifty yards apart from each other.  Bathing machines fell-out of fashion in the 1920s when a trend emerged to have suntanned skin. Covering-up with head-top-toe bathing outfits was no longer favoured, bathers now wore suits that just covered the trunk of their body.

However, in Portsmouth and Southsea there were protests until the late 1950s early 1960s, about women wearing bikinis on Southsea promenade.  It all came to a head on the weekend of June 25th and 26th 1960, when a decision, once and for all, was made as to whether bikinis should be allowed to be worn along the promenade. The question was put to the vote among the (all-male!) committee of Portsmouth City Council.  The result was a resounding ‘yes’.  Gwen Robyns, the then Women’s Editor of the Daily Mirror, commented about the incident:

A bikini on the right girl in the right place and at the right time is an appealing sight.  It makes a girl feel deliciously feminine.  Fifty per cent of all bathing suits sold over the counter this summer have been bikinis. But you’ve got to be firm all over to wear them.  It’s fatal to have spare tyres and tummy bulges.

(Monday, June 27th, 1960, Daily Mirror)

Queen Victoria would not have been amused! I have found a fun British Pathé film made in Southsea in 1933, ‘Rehearsal Time: Meet ‘The Juggling Demons’ – Southsea’. Notice the male and female swimwear fashions of the period. CLICK HERE.

1930s, woollen, male swimming suit on display at Portsmouth City Museum.

Ladies 1930s stretch synthetic swimming costume and matching hat. Red House Museum and Gardens, Christchurch, Dorset.

Snazzy, vintage rubber bathing hat. Portsmouth City Museum.

Hilsea Lido – Hampshire

Hilsea Lido was designed by City Engineer Joseph Parkin and opened on 24th July 1935.  It is a stunning example of 1930s, Art Deco architecture. During the interwar years Lido lifestyle was all the rage, a place for the body beautiful to be seen and admired. This lifestyle was a far cry from the Victorian and Edwardian viewpoint that bathing was a solitary and private activity. Hilsea was a social hub where swimming and diving competitions, water polo matches, aquatic galas, novelty events and re-enactments of Naval battles using model boats regularly attracted 1,000 spectators.  The pool was built in the 1930s, during the Depression era, where jobs were scarce and money too tight to mention.  Hilsea Lido was nicknamed the ‘People’s Pool’ because it was built by the local people for the local people.  The Lido is thriving today and is still known as ‘Hilsea Lido: Pool for the People’.

Southampton – Hampshire

Although a bustling and thriving sea port, Southampton was once considered to be a fashionable spa resort.  In the mid to latter part of the eighteenth century, fashionable ladies were transported in their bath chairs from the main High Street, passing through Biddle’s Gate en-route to the Assembly Rooms.  The most famous establishment at the time was Mr Martin’s Baths.  The ladies wore flannel gowns and covered their heads with silk material or a leather bag.

Portsmouth resident Jonas Hanway, writing in his Journal of Eight Days Journey from Portsmouth to Kingston upon Thames; through Southampton, Wiltshire, etc. (1756) commented on Southampton’s emerging popularity as a sea bathing resort:

In this reign of saltwater, great numbers of people of distinction prefer Southampton for bathing; but you agree with me, that the bathing-house is not comparable to that of Portsmouth; not only as being smaller and uncovered, but here is no water, except at certain times of tide; whereas at Portsmouth one may always bathe. Shall you forget the proof we saw here of the fantastical taste of the age we live in, by the bathing vestments, intended for the ladies, being flounc’d and pink’d?

Swanage, Dorset.

Swanage – Dorset

Known as ‘Swanwich’ in the early part of the nineteenth century, Swanage became an important seaside resort along the south coast of England and its popularity increased when the railway arrived in 1885.  Shortly afterwards, the Pleasure Pier opened in 1896.  Swanage was a popular destination for day-trippers who travelled to the town by paddle-steamer right-up until the outbreak of World War One.

William Morton Pitt, MP (1754-1836) worked hard to promote the town as an up and coming Watering Place.  He even went as far as turning the Old Mansion House into a Hotel, re-naming it Manor House Hotel.  It was later renamed the Royal Victoria Hotel following a one-night stay by Princess Victoria. In 1825, Pitt built his seaside complex, Marine Villas (which included the renamed Royal Victoria Hotel).  The aim of the Villas was to accommodate the influx of visitors wishing to take the waters but wanting a high standard of residence whilst doing so.  Marine Villas housed the cold salt water baths, billiard and coffee rooms. The sea water would enter the baths via grills at the north side of the villa when at high tide would reach a height of five feet.  The Baths closed in 1855.  Pitt died in 1836, a bankrupt having sunk all of his fortune into transforming Swanage into a flagship sea bathing resort.

Ariadne guarding the cold water plunge bath in the grounds of Stourhead, Wiltshire.

Stourhead – Wiltshire

If you were wealthy then creating a plunge bath or bathing grotto in the grounds of your country retreat was one alternative to travelling to the seaside and mixing with the hoi polloi.  That is exactly what banking magnate Henry Hoare II (1705-1785), or Henry the Magnificent as he was also known, did on his vast estate in Wiltshire.  In 1743 he began to transform the landscape around his country seat, Stourhead, making the lake a central feature. The landscape of Stourhead is full of references to the text of Virgil’s Aeneid. There is a grotto which contains a cold plunge bath and displays a mix of classical, pagan, Christian and literary references.  At the edge of the bath is an inscription, translated by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), of a classical poem:

Nymph of the grot these sacred springs I keep

And to the murmur of these waters-deep

Ah spare my slumbers gently tread the cave

And drink in silence or in silence lave.

A Final Word on Bathing from Samuel Pepys

I cannot write a an article on the fashion for bathing without a nod to inland city of Bath Spa, Somerset.  On Saturday 13th June, 1668, diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) visited the famous Cross Bath in Bath Street. There had been a warm water spring at this location since Roman times. Pepys wrote:

Up at four o’clock, being by appointment called up to the Cross Bath, where we were carried one after one another, myself and wife and Betty Turner, Willet, and W. Hewer.  And by and by, though we designed to have done before company come, much company come, very fine ladies; and the manner pretty enough, only methinks it cannot be clean to go so many bodies together in the same water…..Strange to see how hot the water is; and in some places, though this is the most temperate bath, the springs so hot as the feet not able to endure. But strange to see, when women and men herein, that live all the season in these waters, that cannot but be parboiled, and look like the creatures of the bath!  Carried away wrapped in a sheet, and in a chair home.

The Cross Bath has now been restored and is opened to the public again. For more information on the recent restoration of The Cross Bath, Peter Carey has written an excellent article, CLICK HERE.

Bathing at The Cross Bath, Bath, Somerset, 17th Century.

Hamtun Street Mosaic

Hamtun Street Mosaic, Hamtun Street, Old Town, Southampton, Hampshire.

The Hamtun Street Mosaic is now located in Hamtun Street, Old Town, Southampton, Hampshire and is a perfect example of the use of ceramics to create a historical footprint. This 37-piece mosaic is a stunning glass and concrete mural 19m long and 3m high that has recently been put back on display after 20 years in storage. Ceramic artists Henry and Joyce Collins were commissioned in 1970 by Sainsbury’s supermarket to create this mosaic for a new superstore in Lordshill, Southampton.   In 1990 it was removed to make way for redevelopment at the store and subsequently donated to Southampton City Council.  Thanks to a grant of £41,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund it has now been repaired, cleaned and repositioned in the Old Town of Southampton, a short walk from the Tudor House and Garden Museum that recently re-opened.

The mosaic depicts scenes of Southampton’s history, from Roman times to the 20th century.  Artists Henry and Joyce Collins were commissioned to produce a number of artworks for the Festival of Britain in the 1950s and this helped to launch their productive and successful careers.  Examples of their commissions include: glass screens and tapestry for Grosvenor House Hotel, London; murals for British Home Stores; London’s GPO Tower; KLM airlines and Cwmbran Arts Trust, Wales.  The husband and wife team also worked for the Central Office of Information producing posters, murals and illustrations. The level of craftmanship in the Hamtun Street Mosaic is outstanding, one of the finest examples of its kind I have ever come across in England. If you are not able to see it in situ, then I hope my photographs below go some way in providing you with an enjoyable armchair viewing. 

Tudor House and Garden, Southampton, Hampshire

Members of the Hungerford Household Tudor re-enactment group delight visitors with glimpses of Tudor life.

In an earlier post I wrote about the re-opening of the Tudor House and Garden after nearly 10 years of closure on Saturday 30th July.  I thought I would share with you some images I took at the opening weekend to entice you to visit this lovely museum which is nestled in the quiet back streets in the bustling port city of Southampton.    I have to say,  I am particularly impressed with the way in which respect has been shown to this beautiful old building whilst at the same time the latest museum technology has been used to good effect throughout to bring the House’s complex history to life.

Hungerford Household Tudor Re-enactment Group

Mention must also be made of the extremely friendly staff at the Museum.  I have now made three visits to the venue and every time the staff have been so polite, helpful and professional.  I ask a lot of questions, I am a historian it is in my nature to do so, but on each occasion the staff always did their best to answer my queries.  What also shines through is their love of the building and a genuine sense of pride to be working there, quite rare to find these days.   So, if you live in Southampton then please support your local museum and if you live elsewhere you won’t be disappointed you made the trip.  The café, overlooking the Tudor knot garden, has lots of reasonably priced light snacks, refreshments and a rather indulgent afternoon tea.

A Tudor gentlemen enjoying the delights of the restored knot garden.

Many examples of ship graffiti were discovered in 2010 during the restoration, all date between 1570 and 1620. This is a very rare discovery and the museum uses the latest technology to interpret the find.

World War II air-raid shelter exhibit, Tudor House and Garden, Southampton, Hampshire.

Fireplace in the Banqueting Hall. Enjoy the clever multi-media show which will introduce you to the fascinating history of the house.

 

Tudor House and Garden, Bugle Street, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 2AD, Tel: 023 8083 4242, WWW.tudorhouseandgarden.com, Open: Mon-Sun 10-5, Admission prices:  children under 7 – Free,  Concessions – £3.75, Adults – £4.75, Family ticket (2 adults + 3 children) – £12.

A Taste of the Tudor Kitchen

Tudor Kitchen display, Tudor House and Gardens, Southampton, Hampshire

I recently had the good fortune to attend an absolutely brilliant workshop on life in the Tudor kitchen by food historian and interpreter Emma Shelley.   The workshop is part of a vibrant programme of educational events and activities organised by Southampton City Council’s Arts and Heritage Department to compliment the recent opening of the Tudor House and Gardens, Southampton.   Emma’s knowledge and enthusiasm for Tudor cooking is inspiring.  Her clear explanations and interactive ‘hands-on’ approach kept us all engaged for a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours.  The interior of Westgate Hall, a 15th Century timber-framed building, also added an air of authenticity, the perfect backdrop to learn some Tudor cooking skills.  I love cooking.   I have cooked Regency and Victorian food before, but never tried Tudor cooking, I had mistakenly thought that the ingredients would be too difficult to source and the recipes tricky to follow.   Emma has proved me quite wrong. 

Emma prepares for our butter-making task, Tudor style.

We helped make butter, ate dried pears, tried traditional bread, cakes (well biscuits actually, but the Tudors called them cakes), quince sweetmeats and a lovely sweet/savoury dessert that reminded me of traditional thick-set fromage frais.  

The end result of the group butter-making task

Emma prepares a delicious Tudor dessert for us to try.

All of the food displayed was typical of fare made by a Yeoman farmer’s wife.   Emma explained that the wife would have had dairy and storage rooms, no glass in the windows and for light used beeswax candles, rancid beef fat tallows and rushlights.  There were no forks in Tudor times, just knives.  The Tudor diet was varied and made-up of whatever was in season.  Their average calorie intake often topped 5-6,000 a day.  Many of the ingredients used are still familiar to us: wheat, barley, peason (peas), garlic, quinces, plums, cherries, apples, pears, mutton, cheese, pork and fish.  Honey was not as readily available due to a law that only allowed clergy and landowners to have a bee-keeping licence. Pastry was robust and used as a container for the filling as opposed to an edible casing

Fasting, usually on Wednesdays, Fridays and sometimes Saturdays, was practised throughout the Tudor and Elizabethan period. Fasting was also observed during Lent and Advent.   On fasting days no meat or white meat could be consumed, only fresh or preserved fish, dairy, dried fruits and vegetables.  Incidentally, root vegetables were eaten but viewed with suspicion by the God-fearing Tudor who thought their earthy connections were too close for comfort to hell and the devil.  Potatoes were never eaten at all in Tudor times, they had been brought over to the UK but were ignored as they are related to the nightshade family.  The use of white flour was seen as a symbol of high status, it was a finer texture than brown flour as a result of the bran particles having been removed.  Bread made with white flour was called manchet.  Bread was made twice a week.  I can’t wait to have another go at Tudor cooking.  Emma recommended Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking by Elinor Fettiplace and Hilary Spurling, published in 1987 by Penguin.  It is unfortunately out-of-print but I am sure a copy can be found in a good secondhand bookstore or on-line repository.   Happy Tudor cooking!

To contact Emma Shelley, please click here.

Tudor chafing dish from Saintonge in South-West France on display at Tudor House & Gardens, Southampton. Chafing dishes were used to keep food warm on the table, heating plates of food resting on top.

Tudor House & Garden Southampton Opens After Restoration And Refurbishment – Saturday 30th July

Tudor House and Gardens, Southampton, Hampshire

After being closed for nearly 10 years and the benefit of £3.5 million of Heritage Lottery Fund grants, the restoration and refurbishment of the Tudor House and Gardens in Southampton Hampshire, is finally complete.   This much-loved Museum re-opens its doors to the public this Saturday (30th).  The House has been one of Southampton’s most important and much-loved historic buildings, since its construction at the end of the 15th century. 

One of its many unique features is the symmetrical French ‘knot’ garden at the rear of the building.   Knot gardens were a popular addition to many fine houses,  palaces and country mansions during the Tudor period.  This style of garden tended to be quite small, rectangular, edged with box, lavender, rosemary, germander or similar evergreen, tamed into stunning patterns.  Gravel was often used to fill-in the gaps between the hedges.   The knot garden would have provided a charming spectacle, especially when viewed from above.  Garden designer Dr. Sylvia Landsberg re-planned the garden in the 1980s, to show what it may have looked like in the 1500s.

Karen Wardley, Collections Manager of Southampton City Council, discusses some of the hidden secrets revealed during the House’s restoration.  Click Here for AV slideshow.

Knot Garden Tudor House Southampton