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A Short Review of the Development of West Beach
The Martello Towers
Until the late 18th century there was virtually nothing here beside these towers, built in Napoleonic times to guard the southeast coast against invasion. The name was derived from a circular tower at Mortella Point in Corsica which, on bombardment by the British Fleet in 1794, proved very difficult to subdue.
The construction of these towers was solid - extremely solid, rising to approximately 40 feet high with heavy guns mounted on top. With the threat from Napoleon gone in 1815 they became redundant so many were pulled down, however the two either side of the café still remain. The “F” tower, standing to the east side of the café and providing excellent sea views, was subsequently used as a lookout by the coastguards with cottages being built to house their families in Tower Road. In Edwardian times the tower became a Meteorological station for the production of Clacton’s weather reports, later housing a small children’s zoo and is now a restaurant.
The Birth of a Town (1871 – 1877)
The town evolved due to the efforts of Peter Bruff, an engineer, who discussed his idea of building a pier with William Jackson, chairman of the Woolwich Steam Packet Company in 1870. The company, which ran a service of about 70 miles from London to Margate, considered it may be to their advantage to introduce a further stop after the same sailing time on their London to Harwich and Ipswich route; so it was agreed their steamers would call in regularly when the pier was built in 1871. Passengers needed somewhere to stay, so the Royal Hotel and housing on Rosemary Lane were built in 1872.
The inland village of Great Clacton was the closest habitation so the new settlement became known as Clacton-on-Sea. It continued to flourish and with the building of a Public Hall, assembly rooms, library and reading rooms in 1877 it had arrived! The railway line was extended from Thorpe to Clacton-on-Sea in 1882 bringing in more visitors and with increasing numbers arriving on the steamers the town continued with its rapid growth.
The Jetty (1898 – 1940)
In 1898 a smaller version of the pier was built just to the west side of the café and aptly named The Jetty. Its purpose was, with the aid of a steam crane, to handle the unloading of commercial cargo for the construction of the new town of Clacton-on-Sea. However, it proved to be unsuccessful, the owners of the flat bottomed Thames barges preferred to continue to discharge their bricks, sand and cement by beaching adjacent to the Jetty between the high tides rather than paying the Jetty owner’s high docking fees. In calm waters this method worked well, but in heavier seas it was somewhat hazardous. With the barge being lifted high and then crashing down on the shingle it was in potential danger of breaking up; so in desperate times the ‘plug was pulled’, the barge would fill with water and then rest firmly on the beach. Fine with bricks and sand – not so good with cement! Horse-draw carts were used to move the materials, often requiring three horses to pull one small cart over the sand and shingle, to a depot point in Wash Lane for distribution to building merchant yards around Clacton.
Looking east from
the Jetty in 1912, the beached barges can be seen
Amongst this hive of activity bathing machines and deck chairs occupied the water’s edge. Nowadays we may find it difficult to relate to the moral code of Edwardian times when any exposure below the neckline was considered unacceptable. Consequently these quaint little caravans were pushed up and down the beach with the prevailing tide to keep their wheels sitting in the water, the bather would alight fully clothed by means of the railed gangway at the rear, after donning the obligatory, all in one swimsuit inside, a quick shin down the ladder at the front end would provide the necessary discreet entry into the briny!
It’s not bathing weather today – paddling is more like it. The machines soon lost their popularity after the First World War; partly due to their cumbersome operation but mainly due to a change in moral attitudes.
A busy West Beach in 1908, the Jetty is without amusements at this early stage
Between the wars, The Jetty became a small pleasure pier, by copying the main pier it offered a variety of entertainments but its demise came in 1940 when the army inexplicably decided to ‘dismantled it’ as a precaution against a German invasion. It has never been rebuilt but the remains could still be seen at low tides for many years.
Greensward Café
The café stands on the site of the old coastguard boathouse which was abandoned in the 1890s after being struck by lighting and subsequently used as a shelter. When it first became a café is uncertain, but holiday makers and local residents have been enjoying a cup of tea here for a very long time. Originally of wood, (as can be seen in the photograph below), a later rebuild in brick, unfortunately, did not save it from being burnt to the ground in the summer of 1990. Today we have a further rebuild with expansion of the inside seating and kitchen facilities.
An interesting photo of the café taken in 1956
An unscheduled visit by Winston Churchill (25th April 1914)
When Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty, he took a flight in Seaplane No 79 to inspect a new seaplane base at Felixstowe. Unfortunately the plane’s engine began misfiring as it passed overhead so the pilot made a forced landing on the sea directly outside the café and taxied to the shore. The news spread through the town like wildfire and it wasn’t long before Churchill was besieged with suffragettes campaigning for the vote for women, photographers, pressmen and sightseers so he beat a retreat to the comparative sanctuary of the Royal Hotel until another seaplane was sent. The pilot of the replacement seaplane, No 19 circled to the east side of the main pier (presumably he mistook the pier for the Jetty), and not seeing the other plane decided to return; however after one last run along the coastline he spotted it and glided down to pick up his illustrious passenger. Soon Churchill was leaving the Clacton crowds behind, but as they were passing Walton-on-Sea this plane’s engine began to splutter and die. They ended up just off Walton Pier; this was enough for Churchill, he ordered a tug from Harwich and the seaplane was towed on to Felixstowe. Not a good day!
 There’s just no peace for some. Winston Churchill, besieged by the crowds, leaves the Jetty for the relative sanctuary of the Royal Hotel while he waits for a replacement seaplane
Butlins Holiday Camp (1938 – 1983)
Billy Butlin came to Clacton in1936; he bought the area of land just west of the café which was then known as the West Clacton Estate. This consisted of the Jetty, five cafes, two boating lakes, four miniature golf courses, a mile of sea front and three large car parks. The amusement park was ready a year later and the camp a year after that in 1938 with accommodation for 1,000 holiday makers.
The two boating lakes, one on the left used for paddle boats and one on the right for rowing boats, before Butlins arrived. Now occupied by the coach and car park beside Martello Inn.
After just one season the fun stopped, the camp was commandeered by the authorities to be used to imprison aliens living in Britain. Internment Camp No 4 was surrounded with a barbed wire fence and floodlit, thus causing concern to local residents (living under an enforced blackout) who understandably thought it would attract enemy bombing on the town. Due to the lack of prisoners, the camp soon closed and was replaced on 17th October 1939 by a unit of the newly formed Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps (AMPC). The winter of 1939-40 was particularly severe, it was alleged that the cold conditions in the camp had led to some men dying of pneumonia, so improvements were made including a first aid post and shelters before more soldiers arrived in the spring. One death and five casualties were suffered from enemy bombing in December 1940 before the AMPC, now renamed the Pioneer Corps, left in 1941. The camp didn’t stay empty very long, soldiers from the 16th Anti-Aircraft Gun unit arrived in 1942 to carry out daily firing practise on targets towed by aircraft over the sea. From then on Butlin’s remained under army control until the end of hostilities.
At commencement of hostilities of the Second World War the authorities considered the east coast to be particularly vulnerable to invasion.
The Greensward was mined. The Jetty was demolished.
The re-opening of the holiday camp and amusement park after the war provided a much needed economic boost to the town. The holidaymakers enjoyed spending their hard earned cash and the camp gave employment to the locals. With the café’s close proximity to the camp, it must have been a very busy time! Billy Butlin ran his camps on military lines; Radio Butlin would wake you at 7.45am for breakfast, then it was outside to participate in the physical jerks session – for your health and wellbeing! Throughout the day there was no let up, the radio would continually encourage you to enter into the games, competitions and attractions on site.
Holiday enjoyment Butlins style, 7.45am - time for physical jerks in 1939.
The Gaiety Theatre attracted many stars. Photograph taken in 1970.
The format initially worked well, bringing in more holidaymakers over the years so that by 1970 the camp had grown to accommodate up to 6000 guests. It may have been a change in attitude to what holidays were about or the attractions of cheap, packaged holidays to a destination where the sun was guaranteed to shine, but by the early eighties the writing was on the wall. The closure of camp in 1983, which had played such a major role here, dealt a severe blow to the town; it was sold to a company called Atlas Park, but only remained open for another year and is now a residential housing estate called Martello Bay.
The swimming gala, seen here around 1970, allows us a glimpse into the great facilities provided inside the camp.
Aerial View of the Butlins Camp and Amusements taken in 1952
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