Bradshaw’s Guide of 1863 was the staple book on what’s what and where’s where for the mid-Victorians and it gives the modern reader a unique insight into the world of the nineteenth-century railway travellers. The guide introduced the notion of seaside holidays to the general public and thanks to the railways it became possible for a town or city dweller to catch a train for a day-trip to the coast and still be home in time for supper.

‘Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside,
I do like to be beside the sea!
I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play:
Tiddely-om-pom-pom!’

Using Bradshaw’s Guide illustrated with contemporary images and seaside postcards, John Christopher and Campbell McCutcheon take us on a tour of Britain’s Victorian resorts.