Vote now for the Top Ten Bucket and Spade List

From beach huts to fish ‘n’ chips, seafront proms to piers, the Seaside Heritage Network’s Top 20 Bucket and Spade List sums up the very best of British holiday fun. Votes have been pouring in from all around the coast to slash the list down to a top 10. On 11 September the winners will be announced in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, and you’re invited.

The Bucket and Spade List features some of the UK’s coastal icons, Blackpool Tower, Dreamland Margate and Llandudno Pier, but also glorious Victorian gems like Silcock’s Carousel in Southport, a glittering merry-go-round of 33 golden horses.

Alongside the announcement, award-winning designer Wayne Hemingway MBE, will share his experience of reimagining numerous coastal heritage buildings at Margate, Bournemouth, Lowestoft, Portsmouth and Plymouth. He’ll talk about his own love of the seaside and take questions from the audience.

“While our seaside resorts create memory-making holidays for thousands, some of our best-loved landmarks still fall into disrepair due to lack of investment,” says Dr Kathryn Ferry, seaside historian and a founder member of the Seaside Heritage Network.

“The seaside is a place of fun and pleasure, many of the things we expect to find there are derived from our forebears, the treats they enjoyed have become ours but while some survive with an almost iconic status, others are hanging on by a thread.

“We hope this list will draw attention from a new generation of seaside-lovers and shine a spotlight on treasures in need of restoration and perhaps encourage a visit from people who might not have considered a trip to a ‘traditional’ resort.”

Included in the line-up is Southend Kursaal which opened more than a hundred years ago as one of the world’s first purpose-built amusement parks. Packed with rides and sideshows, it has long pulled in visitors, the venue for rock concerts, a bowling alley and ballroom but in 2020, after decades of decay, the building closed. Despite being Grade II listed, it is currently a declining empty shell.

There’s still time to vote for your favourite, whether it’s donkey rides in Weymouth, fish and chips in Cleethorpes, seeing for miles from the top of Blackpool Tower or riding the Volks Electric Railway in Brighton.

The Top 10 Bucket and Spade list will be announced on 11 September at Blackpool Winter Gardens, from 2pm.  With videos of the nominees, there’ll be a chance to tour the winter gardens and meet like-minded seaside aficionados.

Book your place for the event HERE.

Vote now for Lancashire’s Morecambe Winter Gardens or Blackpool Tower both in the running for a place on the Top 10!