IT was a time when families spent their holidays on the beach – but at the likes of Tynemouth rather than Tenerife.

Last night the results of a community project were showcased at Whitley Bay, recalling an age of people-packed beaches, sand-laced sandwiches, and queuing for hot water to make tea.

The Day on the Beach project has involved 50 volunteers, with young people interviewing older folk to record their seaside memories from the 1930s-1950s.

This was when there was a mass exodus from the urban areas of Tyneside and Wearside to beaches at Whitley Bay, Cullercoats, Tynemouth, South Shields, Marsden, Roker and Seaburn.

Whitley Bay was also the destination for thousands of holidaymakers from outside the region, particularly Scotland.

The project, which has run for a year backed by a £20,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant, has concentrated on North Tyneside’s coast.

It has been overseen by the North Tyneside Voluntary Organisations Development Agency (Voda) , based at Shiremoor, with partner Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future, a North Tyneside local history venture.

Last night at the Boardwalk cafe on Whitley Bay’s Lower Promenade, the project showed three animated films which the young volunteer made based on older people’s memories.