Derbyshire crime writer’s love for the English seaside of yesteryear

Sally-Anne MartynSally-Anne Martyn
Sally-Anne Martyn
With just a week to go until Santa squeezes down the chimney and the family arguments begin over who ate the last After Eight, I want to talk about holidays

Bear with me on this, because no sooner will you have put the remnants of wrapping paper into the recycling bin, than the adverts for summer 2025 holidays will have begun. You will then instantly be put in mind of cocktails on the beach, rather than Snowballs (the alcoholic kind) in front of the telly.

For most children growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, holidays to anywhere remotely warm were just a pipedream. For our family it was a four-hour drive to a mobile home in Great Yarmouth. It was a painful journey as Dad always refused to stop for toilet breaks ‘You should have gone before we left’ and I spent the entire journey wedged between my two teenage sisters on the back seat.

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I love the English seaside of the 80’s, the paper plates of ‘fried breakfast’ rock, the fluorescent spooks in the rattling Ghost Train and best of all, The Donkey Derby. The pure adrenaline of those balls dropping down the holes as the fairground worker shouts your horse’s progress (or lack of) is something that has remained an obsession for me to this day and I have many cheap soft toys to prove it.

For most children growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, holidays to anywhere remotely warm were just a pipedreamFor most children growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, holidays to anywhere remotely warm were just a pipedream
For most children growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, holidays to anywhere remotely warm were just a pipedream

There were also many trips to the jewel in the British seaside crown, Blackpool. Mention Blackpool to anybody in the north of England and there’s a story to tell. It’s a unique town, with a history of welcoming English tourists since the ‘Wakes Weeks’ of the 1800’s. Like many others, Blackpool has seen a steady fall in its fortunes since package holidays became affordable and we flew off to find sunnier climes and crystal-clear seas. Despite that, there is still a lot of fun to be had in our beloved northern seaside town. I have been there twice this year, once to visit the Pleasure Beach and again to see Jane McDonald in concert, which is surely the ultimate Blackpool experience!

The affection I have for Blackpool and all the English seaside resorts was the inspiration for my third novel, ‘The Beauty Queen’ which is out now with Joffe Books. It takes readers back to the days when Cannon & Ball were top billing, and boarding house landladies put the fear of God into all who disobeyed with them. ‘The Beauty Queen’ is set in 1982 and is the story of a Jane, a young woman who wins a beauty contest and mysteriously disappears shortly after. Decades later her sister Zoe returns to try and find out what happened to her, only to find a town shrouded in lies and danger.

Despite my dark take on our beloved seaside towns, I can honestly say that those holiday memories of my childhood are by far my favourite. No amount of sangria or sunshine could ever beat those blustery walks down the pier, the thrill of coins cascading down from a 2p pusher, or of course, that magnificent Donkey Derby.

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Sally-Anne Martyn was born and grew up in Derbyshire on a diet of Hammer House & Tales of the Unexpected. Much of the inspiration of her work comes from that time, and the strong working class women she was surrounded by.

The Beauty Queen is available to buy on kindle or paperback on Amazon.co.uk and you can follow Sally-Anne on Instagram: @sallyannemartyn FB: @sallyannemartyn .Website: www.sallyannemartyn.com

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