Part 1: De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea

Yesterday I visited Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion with cousin Sue. The modernist seafront venue, built in 1935, provided some very welcome shelter from the high winds battering the shoreline. We headed up the spiral staircase to the spacious cafe with large windows offering views of ferocious waves. I was impressed with the fresh, homemade food on the menu, especially the sandwich choices, like South Coast crab with avocado.

We caught the Ladybird By Design exhibition just a few days before it finished. It took us through the history of Ladybird Books, highlighting their cultural significance in the 20th century. Particular attention was given to the golden age of this national treasure, stretching from the 1950s to the late 1970s. The high level of observational detail in the 200 original illustrations was made even more apparent from seeing them in full size. These images from bygone eras also conjured up strong feelings of nostalgia for the past. Books with titles such as Shopping with Mother (1958), made me reflect upon how much lifestyles have changed. Depicting a very conventional mother and children, it featured mostly independent retailers, such as grocers and butchers - a rarer sight in modern times. The scenes in many of these books may have been idealistic interpretations of life, but this is what makes them interesting historical snapshots. There is a collective sense of achievement felt through looking back on changes in society, such as the invention of the computer. The exhibition also made me appreciate the present day diversity of attitudes - a far cry from the gender stereotyping and UK-centric world views displayed in some of the books.

There are, however, two major reasons for me to pay homage to Ladybird Books. Firstly they helped myself and millions of others to learn to read (Peter and Jane are fictional heroes in this respect, even if their lives were mostly unexciting). Secondly, the illustrations can be credited as an early source of inspiration for my Mum, who is a professional printmaker. She was grateful for the high quality of the illustrations in the Nature series, which she carefully copied as a child! Moreover, the cost-effective single-sheet printing of Ladybird Books- a result of wartime paper shortages - meant that they were cheaply available for the masses to enjoy.