circa 1880) it became a fashionable resort, a trend initiated by the opening of Felixstowe Town railway station, the pier and a visit by the German imperial family in 1891.

It was in this buoyant period that Felixstowe was the first British town to adopt beach huts as stationary permanent structures (rather than wheeled bathing machines) and there are photographic records of beach huts at the "spa area" in Felixstowe dating back to 1895. It is therefore