Here is a fabulous old sepia postcard showing iconic Bridlington Spa as it was exactly 100 years ago.
On the reverse it’s dated 24th May, 1920, and was mailed to an address in Tong Road, Leeds.
Comically, the sender waxes lyrical about the ‘beautiful weather’ but bemoans ‘getting quite sunburnt.’ Quite an ironic fate!
Echoes of a far away day, the Spa Theatre building stands proud but solitary-looking without its stunning twin, the Royal Hall. Instead, to the right, are various amenity buildings including a domed bandstand and a cafe.
Those buildings were demolished in 1925 and replaced with the new Spa Royal Hall, built in the Art Deco style at a cost of £50,000 (a huge lot of money for those days!).
Sadly, the structure burnt down in January 1932, but unbelievably, it was rebuilt in a mere 52 days to re-open in July 1932.
Luckily, the Spa Theatre, built in 1907, survived the devastating fire, and apart from a few cosmetic changes, such as the removal of its dome (clearly pictured in the postcard), still forms an intrinsic part of the complex today.
As well, the splendid wooden pier on the beach directly in front of the sea wall – used by the local rowing boat industry in the days when health and safety issues didn’t bar holidaymakers from hiring a boat. It is no longer visible, either having been demolished or totally covered in sand.
The photographic comparison shows the same view but from further up the beach, done to provide a fuller view of the modern Spa complex. The tide appears to be well in, but actually there is only an inch of standing water on the beach: the clear blue sky behind the camera creates a fine illusion of much deeper water.
By Echo correspondent Aled Jones
