Local & Social History Books

By Rob Blann

Take a journey back into Worthing’s rich and colourful past as told through the medium of old picture postcards. Here in carefully reproduced images are the splendours of a bygone Worthing and the frequent disasters – through fire, flood and storm – that have beset the town. ‘Worthing in old picture postcards’ is a delightful hardback volume with a full introduction and detailed notes on every illustration by Rob Blann.

Be transported on a journey back in time. Imagine you are a visitor arriving at Worthing’s main railway station, about to be taken on an inspirational tour of old Worthing. For your enjoyment Rob has carefully selected 140 picture postcards and period photographs, mostly from his own collection.

The selection covers an area south of the railway from East Worthing and as far as West Worthing, and includes glimpses of not only how the townscape has fared during the period from the late 19th century up until the Second World War, but also shows the differing styles of dress and costume, as well as reflecting cultural and social changes.

Here you’ll find out why Oscar Wilde named the title character in ‘The importance of being Earnest’ – Jack Worthing. You’ll see the strange ‘Tramocar’ that was a feature of the town’s public transport system in the 1920s. There are the ‘Worthing Whimsies’ providing some of the best entertainment on the south coast and, if your children fancied a ride on the beach in Edwardian time, they could be taken in a goat chaise. You’ll see the South Street awash with sea water in a typical 19th century flooding, the 1930s police ambulance, and the Worthing lifeboat being hauled by a team of horses the half mile from the lifeboat house to the launching spot east of the pier.