A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words
I kept a copy of this postcard beside me as I wrote The Seaside Girls. It captures a moment: two young people, desperately in love, looking out across the sea, sharing precious time together. To me it was Jessie and Harry on Cleethorpes beach, wondering what the future would hold as the country moved ever closer to war.
It doesn’t matter that we can’t see their faces; the moment is a tender one. He has his arms about her; she lays her head on his shoulder. It’s something we might have experienced ourselves at some point, young or old. When life seems full of obstacles, having someone to lean on, physically or emotionally, is of huge comfort. Images can evoke so many powerful moments, can’t they? I could look at this one for hours.
It could be any couple, any beach. Quite often, this type of postcard might have the location added to it. An added attraction for the sender perhaps? Certainly a marvellous marketing ploy. I imagine Harry and Jessie might have sent one to friends.
Serendipity
I first came across this particular design on a website that no longer exists – Friends of Cleethorpes Heritage, though there is a Facebook Archive page of the articles and images.
I had been researching something else entirely when I discovered it, which had the added detail of Cleethorpes written at the top. Serendipity. I immediately connected with it. It was meant to be. It was wistful and spoke of simpler times. Times I was working to recreate, chapter by chapter. A search and alert on eBay finally came up with the goods. The day it arrived, it was put on my desk, and there it remained until I had finished the book.
The Seaside Girls
Cleethorpes 1939
With the country teetering on the brink of war everyone faces an uncertain future.
Destitute after the tragic death of her father, aspiring singer Jessie Delaney and her family have no choice other than to accept the charity of relatives to ensure a roof over their heads.
Spiteful Aunt Iris soon has Jessie dreaming of a life filled with colour and excitement that she knows the theatre can offer. How can Jessie escape the drudgery, support her family and pursue her dreams?
Through her father’s connections Jessie finds work as a Variety Girl in a new show at the Empire in Cleethorpes, a small seaside theatre on the east coast. But taking the job means flying solo and leaving her family and her sweetheart, Harry behind.
Friendships are forged but will the glamour of show business lose its shine without those she loves close by?