This fascinating collection of photographs, many of them historic, illustrates the rapid rise to prominence of the Cornish resort of Bude which was, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a tiny, almost unknown sea port on the coast of north Cornwall. Once a sleepy hamlet on a rugged, inhospitable coast, Bude became a fashionable bathing place for the well-to-do seeking the benefits of total immersion in sea water and is now a thriving tourist resort. By the middle of the twentieth century it had completely overshadowed its more ancient neighbour and parent, the medieval market town of Stratton. Developments in photography have coincided with Bude"s increase in importance and size. Thus it has been possible to visually represent some of the social implications of this dramatic change in fortune and to remember a way of life that has now disappeared. Included too are images of some of Bude"s neighbouring villages, including Stratton, Week St Mary, Morwenstowe, Millook, Marhamchurch and Kilkhampton. This volume will appeal to all those who know and love this beautiful part of north Cornwall.