Quiet, scenic and misunderstood: In defence of Britain's 'worst' seaside town

Can Danny Boyle succeed where others have failed? The acclaimed director has a new film out, the upbeat, Beatles-themed Yesterday, whose establishing shots feature Clacton-on-Sea.

But this once moribund resort is struggling with an image problem that it just can’t seem to shift. The question is, will Yesterday be enough to bring on a better tomorrow for the Sunshine Coast’s largest resort?

Residents were left fuming this week after coming bottom in a recent Which? survey of British seaside resorts and they’re prepared to take on the nation in defence of their town.

Perhaps the biggest kick in the guts was the lone star the resort was awarded for scenery. Broad swathes of sand line the coast for miles, but no one outside of Clacton seems to have noticed.

Dave Ursell, founder of local kite surfing school PUSH Kiting, says that this is nothing new. “My clients are most often surprised how nice the beaches are. I think changing attitudes takes a while but I hope there’s progress.”

Personally, I’m a little puzzled by the need for a guard rail on a sea wall that stands just a foot above the sand. Mike Carran, Head of Sport and Leisure at Tendring District Council, joins the dots.

“A few years ago that would have been a massive drop, fifteen, twenty feet or more,” he says, explaining that there’s more sand than ever on Clacton’s beaches.

This is mostly thanks to a £36 million investment, with civil engineers having rebuilt what the North Sea had systematically destroyed. Sand dredged from the seabed has replenished the beach and a row of fishtail groynes along the shoreline should keep it there.

Yet on a hot summer’s day, you can count the number of people on the town’s beach on the fingers of two hands. If you’re looking for a secret beach less than ninety minutes from London, Clacton is hidden in plain sight.

The town’s MP, Giles Watling, sums up Clacton’s situation perfectly. “I find it so sad that it seems to have become something of a national pastime to run such a smashing place down.”

While the town prides itself on offering something for everyone, that’s not borne out by the statistics. Although the so-called Sunshine Coast retains a loyal clientele, it struggles to entice new visitors from further afield than its immediate East Anglian hinterland and the East End, and more than one in three of its residents are retirees.

Clacton-on-Sea began life as a planned resort built on bean fields. It was inaugurated in 1871 with the arrival of the Queen of the Orwell, a steamship operated by the Woolwich Steamboat Packet Company. Entrepreneur Peter Bruff saw an opportunity. He built a short jetty, the forerunner to what’s now the largest pleasure pier in Europe. Within a few decades, grand hotels graced the seafront, landscapers created elaborate sunken gardens and a bandstand entertained the crowds at Pier Gap. They’re all still in use today, though the hotels have been converted into apartments.

Today, thanks to the efforts of a number of passionate advocates, Clacton might be down, but it’s definitely not out. Billy Ball’s something of a local hero. In 2009 he and his brother bought Clacton Pier. Their £4 million investment has transformed a neglected structure into something the town can be proud of once more. Retaining the landmark helter skelter and many of its old-school attractions, Ball believes it’s good to embrace the past. “You can do nostalgia,” he says, “but you have to do it well. We had to up our game.”

A recent National Piers Society visit netted Clacton Pier an award for outstanding achievement, only the second time such an accolade has been bestowed in 40 years. It means a lot to Ball to be “recognised by the enthusiasts”.

Away from the seafront, there’s no getting away from the fact that some of Clacton town centre could do with a bit of TLC. The West Cliff Theatre bucks the trend. “I think people have a tainted view of Clacton,” says Manager Rob Mitchell-Gears. “If they haven’t been here for a while, they don’t know about the investment in the area. Clacton’s really turned a corner.”

The theatre itself is an example. It receives no external funding and relies on the efforts of volunteers to keep it open. Such support is indicative of Clacton’s close knit community, who rally when things get tough. This year, the theatre marks 125 years of variety, bringing together the biggest names in seaside entertainment like Roy Hudd, Jim Davidson and Don Maclean. But it’s not all about nostalgia – Russell Kane’s recent show was also a sell out.

To paraphrase The Beatles, it wasn’t so long ago that all of Clacton’s troubles seemed so far away. Initiatives like a heritage town trail and listening bench, products of the council’s Resorting to the Coast project, celebrate its heyday. Perhaps now people will give the place another go.

I ask Billy Ball what he’d say to Clacton’s critics. “Expect the expected,” he chuckles, “but expect it to a high standard.”