With its deserted casinos, ice-cream parlours and seagulls circling above a lofty Victorian pier, the English seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea is like a postcard for the Britain of yesteryear.
Nostalgia for the domestic beach tourism heyday of the 1940s-1980s is palpable in this small Essex resort, the unlikely epicentre of a eurosceptic wave that peaked on Thursday with Britain's stunning decision to pull out of the EU.
Clacton's local area, a bastion of the UK Independence Party of top anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage, voted 69.5 percent to 30.5 percent in favour of leaving the union.
But many residents say that, though they believe a Brexit holds the promise of a brighter future, the road ahead will be rocky.
Feelings still ran high between octogenarian sisters Pauleen and Margaret who were out for a spot of fresh air, both moving with the aid of walking frames, a day after the momentous vote.
Pauline, 87, voted for Brexit, while Margaret, 85, voted to continue Britain's 43-year dalliance with the EU.
For Margaret, the page was turned too easily. "We should have stayed with the devil we know. She's happy, I'm not," she said.
For Pauline, it was good riddance. "I spend my money in my country, not abroad," she explained.
The city, which boasts the only UKIP MP in Britain, thanks largely to the grey vote, was once a booming resort, but has since fallen on hard times with little to entertain visitors other than slot machines.
Its tourist destination days began in 1871 with the construction of its pier, still the town's centrepiece, which drew holidaymakers and day-trippers from London.
But cheap holidays to Spain ended the boom years.
The area now has 40 percent unemployment, ranking 29th out of 632 constituencies in Britain, and is the second most-aged town in the country, with 31.3 percent of the population 65 or over.
"I don't like David Cameron, I knew he'd resign that's why I voted out," explained local Brexit supporter Christine Mason, 58.
"The other European countries are going to do the same," predicted Terry Lovadaw, a 57-year-old shop supervisor.
"There'll be more jobs. I think we have to give England its own chance, in the future..., it'll be better," he added.
'Give us 10 years'
For Elaine Norman, 61, and Sylvia Middleditch, 63 -- another set of sisters -- there was no discord, with both seeing a Brexit vote as "saving our country".
"There is no infrastructure and work for anyone, whether from the UK or the EU," said Elaine, whose abiding memories of the Europe will be "promises, over and over".
"It's going to be hard, very hard," she accepted. "But give us 10 years we will certainly not be worse off, and then our children, and our children's children, will see."
The pair accused young people, most of whom voted to remain within the EU, of apathy.
"They don't see the future, we remember what it was before," said Elaine.
Builder Robin Francis, 52, warned that "tiny" Britain was "running out of room".
"We don't want all the foreigners to come in," he said. "Within five years we'll be back on our feet, we'll keep our borders."
Evie Allan, 15, was one of the few people met by AFP to sing the EU's praises.
"It's all I've known," the teen, who is not yet eligible to vote, told AFP. "We don't know what lies ahead, but Britain is going to regret it."
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