Walking away from the main strip of Great Yarmouth’s ‘Golden Mile’ in the 80s as a young child, the arcades din softened behind me, and the bustle and laughter of excited families started to fall away. The air grew cooler, the sweet scent of doughnuts and candy floss dissipate, and we could breathe easier. But, there was a sense of unease that grew in your belly, we’d walk past houses and squats, long standing pubs and the kids smoking and playing mum with their toys. Mum would grip my hand tighter, depending on which street we walked down back to the car. I started to notice a pattern between the roads and the inhabitants, and the tightness of her grip. The town had changed so much since she was a little girl, and she knew better…
...I remember the proud day I took my parents out for a meal with my first wage packet, which had just been handed to me in a small brown envelope. I was 14. With my next wage packet, I bought bus tickets, sweets, cigarettes, a copy of Just 17, a couple of bottles of cider, and a pocket sized bottle of whiskey. It felt amazing...
Depression and excitement lived simultaneously here. And somewhere in between, was this void, a limbo. A saccharine nothingness. Each season brought a new meaning to the town. It was like a gigantic artwork, ever changing, yet still the same. The seasonality of it was like the tides of the sea and the inhabitants, each grain of sand. The surreality of it all shaped me irrevocably. A sad, darkness, behind the shiny and colourful veneer, of exported excitement, fun and prepackaged happiness, captured forever in time. This seaside town hummed maniacally with repetitive music blaring through crappy speakers. For most of my teenage years, I would come and play my part. Stand in shops, in restaurants, in cafes and ice cream stands, waiting to serve with a smile, the next happy tourist. The ones I remember the fondest were the mums and nannies on coach trips up from London, with Caribbean accents, asking for ‘Rum and Raisin, Darling’ ice creams.