To the Sea by Train
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Published on 31. July 2025
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-80522-155-5 (ISBN)
Description
THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Vividly conjures a lost age' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Hugely entertaining' EVENING STANDARD
'A feast of anecdotage' SUNDAY TIMES
Throughout the twentieth century, the seaside service posters of Britain's railways promised fresh air and frivolity to millions of urban dwellers with the phrase: 'To the sea by train'. A staple of modern British life, the seaside getaway was intertwined with the train, in whose compartments holidaymakers were shunted from smog-choked cities to sandy coves.
With his signature wit and anecdotal style, Andrew Martin captures an era defined by its railways: from the development of Brighton and Scarborough into pleasure resorts, and the introduction of bank holidays and two-day weekends, to the advent of cheap flights and the British coast's subsequent decline. Humorous and evocative, To the Sea by Train takes a charming tour through Britain's most beloved pastime.
'A standalone classic' COUNTRY LIFE
'Infectious' SPECTATOR
'Vividly conjures a lost age' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Hugely entertaining' EVENING STANDARD
'A feast of anecdotage' SUNDAY TIMES
Throughout the twentieth century, the seaside service posters of Britain's railways promised fresh air and frivolity to millions of urban dwellers with the phrase: 'To the sea by train'. A staple of modern British life, the seaside getaway was intertwined with the train, in whose compartments holidaymakers were shunted from smog-choked cities to sandy coves.
With his signature wit and anecdotal style, Andrew Martin captures an era defined by its railways: from the development of Brighton and Scarborough into pleasure resorts, and the introduction of bank holidays and two-day weekends, to the advent of cheap flights and the British coast's subsequent decline. Humorous and evocative, To the Sea by Train takes a charming tour through Britain's most beloved pastime.
'A standalone classic' COUNTRY LIFE
'Infectious' SPECTATOR
Reviews / Votes
Evocatively describes the long-bygone age of travelling by train to seaside resorts. You can almost smell the sea and ice cream as Martin wittily blends memoir and social history' * Observer * Martin's whimsical little book, a feast of anecdotage, represents a memorial to the past that was not always an idyll * Sunday Times * Vividly conjures a lost age * Financial Times * Hugely entertaining and informative ... The book, beautifully and amusingly written and prodigiously well-informed, is part travelogue and part history. It is the perfect book to accompany an old-fashioned railway excursion to the coast * Evening Standard * Charming and unashamedly trainspotterish ... To spread joy about what's left, [Martin] travels on lines to the coast that remain open, evoking his journeys in infectiously enthusiastic detail * Spectator * Martin... has a nudgingly humorous style, occasionally breaking out into the outright comedic, and a novelist's ear for dialogue. Facts are lightly applied, the quirkier the better. [His] account of travelling through Euston and Birmingham New Street and on to the Cambrian Coast Line to Pwllheli is a standalone classic of observational comedy - I couldn't stop laughing. * Country Life * Fascinating... There's a pleasant undercurrent of nostalgia in this clever book.... Martin has a journalistic eye * The Oldie * Praise for Andrew Martin:'Andrew Martin is the railway wizard * Telegraph * Andrew Martin has cornered the train market. He is the Bard of the Buffer, the Balladeer of the Blue Train, the Laureate of Lost Property ... the best sort of travel-writer: inquisitive, knowledgeable, lively, congenial * Mail on Sunday * Martin is entertaining company, alive to the history of his route ... Leaves you with renewed confidence that trains can still be the most civilised way to travel * Financial Times *
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
Colour plates
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
422 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80522-155-5 (9781805221555)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
07/2025
Profile Books Ltd
€13.49
Available for download
Person
Andrew Martin is a rail expert and author. His previous titles include Underground, Overground, Night Trains, Belles & Whistles, Steam Trains Today and Train Teasers. He is also the author of Seats of London, a field guide to Transport for London's iconic moquette patterns.