The Lower Promenade

The Lower Promenade at Dovercourt Bay, Essex

~ 01 ~ Dovercourt Bay, Looking West (1928) H&D ~

~ 02 ~ The Gardens & Promenade, Dovercourt Bay (1922) Wells H&D ~

~ 03 ~ #10856 Dovercourt Promenade (1928) Judges H&D ~

~ 04 ~ #66323 Dovercourt. The Promenade (1928) Photochrom H&D ~

~ 05 ~ #120867 The Gardens, Dovercourt (1929) Bells H&D ~

~ 06 ~ Dovercourt Bay, Espanade No 1, Essex (1907) Unknown H&D ~

~ 07 ~ #214613.J.V. The Gardens and Sea Wall, Dovercourt (13) (1929) Valentines H&D ~

~ 08 ~ #127410 The Gardens Looking West, Dovercourt Bay (1930) Bells H&D ~

Bell's Photo Co. Ltd. of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex was a prolific postcard publisher photographing extensively in Essex including much of the Harwich and Dovercourt area. They produced more cards than any other publisher in the area.
This particular card was part of the 8th "Dovercourt" series and contained around 50 postcards in the full set (#127401 - #127450 a sample of which are shown here), it captured the "Golden Years" for tourism in North East Essex.
Bell's originally started producing cards around 1905 and sadly finished production in 1955, all the cards were real photographic in nature, except after W.W.2, when chemicals were scarce and expensive to source.

~ 09 ~ #139673 General View of Dovercourt Bay (1933) Bells H&D ~

An interesting view looking West from the old "Marine Gardens", taken shortly after the building on the Cliff Pavilion in 1932.
The marine lakes were filled in during the 1920's and the gardens and seating extended.

The 1930's saw more economic growth than any other decade in British history, these were the golden years for new industries such as electrical appliances, aviation & cars, the years when Morris, Humber & Austin became household names.

Unemployment fell from over 2.5 million in 1931 to less than 1.5 million in 1937.
While Britain basked in the summer sun, Adolf Hitler had seized power in Germany, which dominated the next decade.

~ 10 ~ #42310 Promenade Looking West, Dovercourt (1950) Harvey Barton H&D ~

~ 11 ~ #42 The Slopes, Dovercourt Bay, Essex. (1935) Excel H&D ~

~ 12 ~ #57 The Slopes, Dovercourt Bay, Essex (1961) Unknown H&D ~

~ 13 ~ #3 The Slopes, Dovercourt Bay, Essex (1935) Excel H&D ~

~ 14 ~ #1322 The Lower Promenade, Dovercourt Bay, (1935) H&D ~

~ 14 ~ V221 Dovercourt Bay, Essex (1985) Dennis H&D ~

~ 16 ~ #0108.17 View from the Cliff looking West, Dovercourt (1936) Empire View H&D ~

Originally published around 90 years ago in 1936, these black & white photographs were sometimes "touched up" with colour, as seen here, in order to make the seaside view seem more attractive.

A close up of the grass, shows how crudely the colours were actually added, but the overall enhancements are actually quite effective.
These cards were of the highest quality and capture the relaxed atmosphere of the pre-war period quite nicely.