A seaside town loved by pensioners had one visitor eager to leave after a recent visit. Frinton-on-Sea is known to have a significant elderly population, with a variety of housing, amenities and events for pensioners, including theatre productions during Frinton Summer Season, when reproter Emilia Randall visited.
She said it became apparent that the town was frozen in time as soon as she stepped off the train. “Greeted with a blackboard advertising fresh cream teas – without a vending machine in sight – it was clear I had travelled across the country, and back in time. Initially thinking it was maybe a 10 year jump – I was soon proven wrong,” Emilia wrote for The Mirror.
She described classic wartime songs and “brassy military anthems” played throughout the town, and “dust-coated frames” in the War Memorial club, the ‘Mems’.
Over the road at the theatre, she described the audience, “with an average age of 60, rose to sing the national anthem with their hands on their hearts”.
Despite the town transporting her to times gone by, she couldn’t wait to leave and return to her Bethnal Green flat where residents could “look through me”.
She wrote: “Gasping for some fresh air and a change of scene, Pierre and I headed to the beach for a fish and chips, from Young’s Other Place.
She was equally unimpressed by the prices, writing: “This came in at a steep £32 for one small and one large battered cod and chips and mushy peas.”
However, one thing stood out the most about her visit to the War Memorial Club, or the ‘mems,’ where she said she didn’t feel particularly welcome.
She wrote: “Despite blending in perfectly with the palette of Frinton, the way passersby’s eyes lingered on you for a second too long let you know they knew you weren’t one of them.
“This was palpable when walking into this club – it was a head turner in the true sense of the term. A wave of faces swung around to let you know they had sensed a newcomer.
“If this wasn’t enough – I then had to sign a form with my name, address, phone number, and my ‘contact’ Pierre who had a temporary membership – a crumpled piece of paper which he had to present each time he walked in.”
She conceded: “In their defence – they may have just been territorial about their £5 pints.”
Boarding the air-conditioned train back to Liverpool Street felt like a “rush of relief to the nervous system”, she said, adding: “It felt like I was finally back in 2025.”