“NOT everyone thinks of Sunderland as a holiday resort but a visit to the seaside will convince you that a wise municipality has provided all holiday amenities without spoiling the natural beauty of the sandy bays,” wrote William E Holden, the entertainments, publicity and catering manager, in his introduction to the 1965 brochure advertising the delights of Sunderland’s “twin resorts” of Roker and Seaburn.
“Extensive promenades have been laid down, ornamental and recreational parks constructed and acres of picnic areas preserved for your special use. Large car parks have been provided and there is a wide variety of catering facilities to enable you to enjoy a perfect holiday.”
The crowded Seaburn beach on August 1, 1960
The twin resorts were only developed after the first Wearmouth bridge was opened in 1796 – Sunderland is on the south of the Wear and those wanting to go to the beach visited fashionable Hendon as Roker and Seaburn on the north side were not easily reachable.
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Roker then grew up as a Victorian tourist resort, with its first clifftop terrace being built in 1840. As ships grew larger so Roker’s pier grew out into the sea to protect the way into the river. The pier also provided an interesting promenade for the holidaymakers who flocked there from across Durham in the early years of the 20th Century.
Seaburn came later, not complete until Seaburn Hall was finished in 1939. It was a dancehall and live music venue – the 1965 brochure promotes its virtues as a conference hall that can take 800 delegates while 1,000 people could fit on the dancefloor – with a funfair.
The Second World War meant Seaburn didn’t fulfil its potential until, just before the dawn of the jet age, Sunderland council enhanced its facilities in the early 1960s.
The front cover of the mid 1960s guide to the tourist resorts of Roker and Seaburn
“Whilst Roker and Seaburn are essentially family resorts they do in fact cater ofr all ages and are firm favourites with children,” said Alderman AH Suddick, the chairman of the Seaside Development and Entertainments Committee, in his message at the start of the 1965 brochure. “Motorists too will find Roker and Seaburn equally inviting for there are excellent car parking facilities situated on the seafront.”
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He finished: “Extensive alterations, additions and improvements have been undertaken at Roker with new promenades, car parks, picnic areas etc to keep in line with modern requirements. I wish you a happy holiday.”
A busy August day in 1968 at Seaburn - it looks as if it is high tide with waves splashing up onto the prom
A happy holiday in those days featured huddling in a hired beach tent or losing fingertips on a lethal wooden deckchair on a rainswept beach, although there were also entertainments like pony gymkhanas, baby shows, jazz band parades, treasure hunts and, of course, the Queen of Durham Beauty Competition.
The Queen of Durham Beauty Competition in Seaburn featured "a dazzling array of beauty competing for cash prizes to the value of £150"
Plus the John Collins Funfair was a major draw, with its rollercoaster and rides. It developed a ski slope and the latest fad from America: a “putt-putt” course.
One of the great attractions to Seaburn was the “putt-putt” miniature golf course imported from America, where this “no frills all skills” game was all the rage. There is no mention of the word “crazy” as each hole was designed as a par two with a hole in one always possible for the skilled putter. Putt-Putt was founded in Fayetteville in North Caroline in 1954 and this appears to be the opening day in Seaburn on July 18, 1968 – these appear to be journalists giving it a try-out with, top left, a television reporter giving his views of this latest Americanisation
"Seaburn, with its invigorating expansive bay, has had all the sophisticated amenities added without spoiling the natural charm and beauty," says the caption in the brochure beneath this picture. "Miniature railway, crazy golf, pitch and putt, boating pool, trading kiosks, cafes and cafeterias, Seaburn Hall and the magnificent John Collins Amusement Park. Everything for a happy and enjoyable holiday"
In the early 1970s, it even acquired a dolphinarium, also known as Seaburn Zoo. Entrance was 30p for adults and 20p for children. It certainly featured sealions and monkeys, and there is a suggestion that a killer whale was kept there for a while.
A friendly sea lion at Seaburn zoo in January 1975
However, by the end of the decade, as holidaymakers began flying overseas in search of warmer climes, it became overgrown and derelict, and in the 1980s a supermarket was built on the site of Seaburn Hall.
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In recent years, an £11m Seafront Regeneration Strategy has adapted the beautiful beaches so that they welcome a new generation of seaside-seeking daytrippers, but will the crowds of 1960s ever return?
Easter Monday in 1967 was on March 28 and only a very few braved the beach at Seaburn. The hire deckchairs are roped up under a tarpaulin just in case anyone should want one
A fabulous picture of the Sunderland council deckchair attendants at the start of the summer season on April 3, 1961, without many takers for deckchairs, at 9d a day, and beach tents at three shillings a day
"Roker Pier, comenced in 1885 and completed in 1903, has a length of 2,880ft," says the brochure, "terminating in a lighthouse with a flashing light visible for about 15 miles. It has been closed to the public for many years. Experiments are nearly complete and a new type of railing is being developed which, if successful, will enable this magnificent granite faced breakwater to open again for you to enjoy one of the most exciting walks in any seaside resort"
How do you get to Seaburn? Well, one of the adverts in the brochure is this lovely piece of artwork promoting British Rail
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