Comments on: Beano Season In The East End

By: Dave Verguson

Dave Verguson — Sat, 22 Jul 2017 16:36:15 +0000

A great collection of photos. ‘Beano’ derives, I think, from bean feast, the medieval custom of throwing a feats after the bean harvest. (This sounds both improbable and a possible explanation!).

By: essexcockney

essexcockney — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 00:47:57 +0000

when I worked for LBTH , digby street we used to have a beano every year ,it was southend every time .we all knew each over and we were friends as well as work colleges a lot of us grew up together, we were a close knit community and we always enjoyed ourselves ,as you can see from your photos east enders knew how to have fun ..its a shame that most of the east enders are gone now ,moved out of London to places like Essex ,a lot of us moved to or near southend .it takes me 20mins drive to get to southend ,where you hear a lot of people talking with a cockney accent ..so its no more beano’s for me but I can still have a drink on the beach at southend…

By: Helen Breen

Helen Breen — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 10:34:22 +0000

Greetings from Boston,

GA, what a great collection of nostalgic pics of happy “day trippers” through the 20th century. It is obvious how important these excursions were to those who participated. No doubt, it was the highlight of the summer for most.

I have a large, extended photo of a group, including my dear mother, on a “shop picnic” in the 30s. She was a “fancy snitcher” who worked in several shoe shops in Lynn, MA during the heyday of industrialization in New England. Her “associates,” like those in your photos were well dressed and happy to be along.

Great glimpse into a simpler past…

By: Phil Maxwell

Phil Maxwell — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 10:26:06 +0000

I remember drinking in the Queens’ Head in Chicksand street before it was demolished to make way for ‘luxury apartments’. The nearest I’ve ever got to going on a beano was when I went on a day trip to Calais with the Transport & General Workers union. We left Cambridge Heath Road at 6:30 am on a mini bus. The beer was opened at 6:35 and the rest is a blur except for a violent storm in the middle of the English channel on the way back.

By: Stephen Barker

Stephen Barker — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 10:26:00 +0000

On BBC 4 there was a good documentary on the Golden Age of Coach travel which starts with day-trips and charabancs. It is repeated occasionally, I would recommend it to anyone interested in this piece of social history.

By: Richard Smith

Richard Smith — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 10:25:53 +0000

Great post today. The people reminded me of my mum and dad and grandparents. Everyone seems to be having a good time even though they probably had little. The friendship between folks is obvious and moving!

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 10:13:10 +0000

Fabulous and so much more, so many words spoken by the pictures, thankyou for your wonderful accounts of a lifetime so real in our past.

By: Jim McDermott

Jim McDermott — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 07:14:33 +0000

As an ageing Lancastrian, I – just – recall the mass charabanc trips to Blackpool during ‘Wakes Week’ – the annual exodus of cotton workers to the seaside. The communal holiday experience is long gone (like the cotton mills!); the closest we seem to get to it these days is the collective endurance at airport departure lounges as the departure boards blank out.

By: John Barrett

John Barrett — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 07:01:46 +0000

The 1920’s was the start of mass travel day coach trips. GA has given us a good account resume’ of this activity. These were happiness days pure escapism for some their only holiday. The accordion player was essential for the sing-alongs and as we see in great demand. Later in WW2 these musicians were morale boosters playing in London underground shelters etc. PS – the name was also given to a children’s comic ‘The Beano’ meaning other enjoyable times.

By: Jamie Surman

Jamie Surman — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 06:42:36 +0000

Isn’t it sad that all this has gone, and these communities no longer exist there…