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Last Updated: Friday, 18 March, 2005, 12:28 GMT
Beside the seaside
sunbathers in deck chairs on Brighton beach
Our series looks at how British resorts are re-inventing themselves
For seaside landladies and hoteliers across Britain, the Easter weekend is traditionally the start of the tourist season.

All week, in the run-up to Good Friday, Breakfast is getting out its bucket and spade and heading for the coast.

As exotic foreign holidays have become cheaper, many British seaside towns have seen a sharp fall in tourist numbers.

Rather than face genteel decline, some are now re-inventing themselves as specialist holiday destinations.

David Sillito looks at how four British seaside resorts are changing their image, to keep up with the times.


  • Monday: Folkestone
    BP Portrait prize winner Charlotte Harris works in one of Roger De Haan's artist studios
    Award-winning artist Charlotte Harris is one of the town's new artists
    When a billionaire decides it's time to put something back into the community where his business began, it should be great news.

    But Roger de Haan's plans to help struggling artists set up home in Folkestone haven't been greeted with unalloyed enthusiasm.


  • Tuesday: Scarborough
    Alan Ayckbourn
    Ayckbourn: Scarborough is changing
    The playwright Alan Ayckbourn has been running the acclaimed Stephen Joseph theatre for decades.

    But, four local variety theatres have closed and a fifth is holding on by the skin of its teeth. We asked: is this the end of the end-of-the pier show?


  • Wednesday: Brighton
    The original plans for the redevelopment of a Hove sports centre
    Once the perfect Regency town on the coast, Brighton is now in danger of becoming a big metropolitan city, say its critics. They're appalled by plans to build a Frank Gehry-designed tower on the sea-front.


    Still to come:

  • Thursday: Ilfracombe
    Fish and chips on the prom used to be part of the seaside experience. But, in Devon they're attempting to go way up market.

    Rick Stein has transformed Padstow into an upmarket foodie haven

    Ilfracombe is learning from its near neighbour, Padstow and attempting to become a food haven. Artist Damien Hirst hopes his new restaurant will make him the next Rick Stein. But is Ilfracombe ready to go the way of its upmarket neighbour? Not all the residents are so sure, as David Sillito found out.


  • Friday: Blackpool
    As the Easter weekend begins, we'll report live from Blackpool's Golden Mile. Put on your Kiss-Me-Quick hat and join us for a grand day out.

  • What's wrong with our seaside towns - and what do they do well? Whether you live in one, work in one or just visit occasionally, you can use this form to e-mail your thoughts to the Breakfast team

    Name
    Your E-mail address
    Where you live
    Comments

    The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.




  • BBC NEWS: VIDEO AND AUDIO
    Upmarket food in Ilfracombe



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    10 Dec 04 |  Breakfast


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