Have you ever wondered about the people who choose to spend summer days in their beach huts?  Maybe you’ve taken pictures of the huts and chuckled at their cheeky names?  Perhaps you’ve peeked inside their open doors? Possibly you paused and said hello to the people sat chatting and drinking tea outside?

Nancy Stevenson captures a unique slice of seaside culture by taking us on a journey in which we discover more about the people who inhabit these ‘sheds by the sea’. Beach Hut People takes us beyond the hut exteriors and uncovers the way of the beach hut community. Exploring traditions, changes, challenges and personal expression and style, Nancy shares her reflections on beach hut culture in this thoughtful and eloquent book. Based on conversations with 60 people who own or regularly visit beach huts, it is a collection of shared stories: experiences, routines, of things that people collect and display in their huts, and the way they choose to style them.

'A charming snapshot of a slice of the British seaside, the humble beach hut, their occupants, and a tiny corner of Essex serving here as a brilliant microcosm for a larger story about our island nation's idiosyncrasies’. -Travis Elborough 

About the author

Nancy Stevenson is a writer and researcher.  Her research centres on people’s engagement in leisure activities and is embedded in local landscapes. She has written about festivals, walking, writing and wellbeing and the importance of pleasure and play in community life. She spends her time between North London and the Essex Coast, and hosts writing retreats in Frinton on Sea.  Beach Hut People is her first book. Instagram: write_nancy_write