To the Sea by Train - Andrew Martin

The seaside summer holiday: the slap of sun cream, a stick of rock. Simple pleasures. From Porthcawl to Penzance, coastal train stations in the early twentieth century were crammed with passengers - on their way to a holiday they would remember forever.

Now, after decades of decline, the Great British beach is back. With trademark wit and warmth, celebrated railway historian Andrew Martin traces railway holidaymaking's gleeful early rise and gradual renaissance - and charts the enduring delight of a treasured institution.