It is true that a postwar northern seaside landlady could be direct, insist on full-board guests being back for tea at 5pm or get nothing, and have no plug sockets in case someone had the wild idea of using a hairdryer.
But were they the unflinching, arms-folded battleaxes often depicted in popular culture? “They generally weren’t,” said the local historian David Evans. “They were firm with their rules but they were fair, they were kind and the important thing for them was that someone enjoyed their holiday and would come back again.”
