Torquay Front Beach

Torquay Front Beach has long been called just Front Beach but for a brief period during the 1920s it was called the Surf Beach as beachgoers rarely ventured around the corner where the ocean was more treacherous.
The first Torquay Surf Club was actually set among the bathing boxes on the Front Beach and and a bell tower, the latter being put up after the The bathing boxes dotted almost the whole length of the beach and were nestled in the Marram grass and sand.
The early residents have many memories of holidaymakers enjoying the summer holiday on the beach and playing on the wreck of the Joseph Scammell.
Many families had a bathing box and each box was numbered, with records carefully kept by the foreshore committee who collected revenue from them.
Most boxes had single or double compartments, usually one for the men and one for the ladies, but Mrs Iredale who named her box “Holmdale” had the luxury of the only triple compartment box.
They were mostly used as changerooms as walking to the beach in your swimming costume was taboo.
In their heyday there were in excess of 130 boxes and these included public change boxes for gents, ladies and children.