Great Yarmouth and Gorleston beaches through the decades

Jarrold pensioners tea party; Eileen Birch pictured at the party with a photograph of her aged 18 on Caister beach with other Jarrold workers.; Eileen is seventh from the right.; picture by Adrian Judd; for EDP (Image: copyright of Archant © 2010; 01603 772434)

And while the styles of swimwear and flavours of ice-cream may have changed over the years, the pleasures of the beach have mostly remained the same.

A series of photos from our archives shows the beaches at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston over the decades.

There are the young women from the big Norwich employer Jarrolds, taken to the coast for a day out.

Crowds on Gorleston beach.

Places - GGreat Yarmouth - Harbour/DocksAerial picture of Gorleston beach, showing The Pier Hotel, open aired swimming pool, The Floral Halls, Gorleston lighthouse. On the Yarmouth side the old Power Station.Dated ?Photograph C4827 (Image: Archant)

A family playing cricket on the sand.

And a father with a haircut straight from the 1990s smiling with his kids for the camera.

People have been coming to Great Yarmouth and Gorleston for decades to enjoy the pleasures of the beach.

While some locals talk about the towns' problems, most visitors love the seafront attractions.

No time for sun-lounging: the Tinkler family, from Norwich, enjoy beach cricket at Hemsby around 1960. Picture: ARCHANT LIBRARY (Image: Archant Library)

Some return year after year, with couples taking their kids the way their parents had taken them decades before.

The nostalgia is part of the appeal.

It's what keeps people coming back.

Holidaymakers on Great Yarmouth beach, 10 August 1972. Photo: Archant Library (Image: Archant Library)

A Punch and Judy show taking place on Great Yarmouth beach on a hot summers day. Photo: Archant Library (Image: Archant Library)

GREAT YARMOUTH; TWO MEN ON BEACH WITH DECKCHAIRS; DATED APRIL 1954; PLATE P2695 (Image: Archant)