A love letter to the Great British seaside
My earliest seaside memories are of visiting Rhyl on the north Wales coast – complete with erratic summer weather, being mildly petrified of the donkey rides and experiencing at least one sandstorm. Another trip featured a Punch and Judy show with a blue fluffy crocodile which has gone down in family history for terrifying my younger brother.
When I look back, it’s with huge fondness – just being by the seaside was exciting, the adventure of exploring rocks and rockpools, of building sandcastles, of paddling in bracing water. It was the start of a lifelong love affair with the Great British seaside – a love I’m now passing down to my daughter.
Because while I’ve found myself on beaches and clifftops around the British Isles over the years, it’s really since having my daughter that I’ve started to rediscover the coast at home.
Today’s holidays have changed hugely in some ways – stylish beach cafes with a whole array of kids’ entertainment and gourmet chocolate cake in St Ives, quirky boutiques and an oyster festival at Whitstable for example. But the best of my childhood seaside remains.
Eating fish and chips and ice cream by the waves, looking for crabs, cockles and tiny swimming things in the rockpools of Devon, the carousel and funfair at Herne Bay where I went on a helter skelter last weekend for the first time in decades. Wheee!
And are you ever too old to make sandcastles, go beachcombing or paddling in the shallows? I hope not. I’m still misjudging the waves and ending up with wet knees most of the time.
With such variety, I’m certain I’ll never tire of it: the wild rugged coast of Wales and Cornwall, the Caribbean blues of the Isles of Scilly, the piers along the south coast, the endless castles standing proud on windswept headlands, seals, puffins and even the seagulls eyeing up each and every picnic.
There’s nowhere better to let the imagination run wild: one net was all it took to transform the shallows of the Kent coast into a breeding ground for tiny sharks, according to my daughter, who ran screaming in glee from these toothy terrors before catching several to show me. And if they looked very much like seaweed and stones, I wasn’t about to say so.
Or reliving the days of knights and princesses, probably dragons too, in Dover’s imposing fortress, where you can retrace hundreds of years of history in a single spot.
No wonder we all flock there as soon as the sun shines. Besides, who needs blue skies when you’ve got stripy windbreaks, the promise of hot chocolate and a determination to believe you’re simply blowing the cobwebs away.
Beautiful though a palm-fringed crescent of white sand may be, it can never quite match my home coast: the crashing drama of the waves, the simple pleasures of running across the sand or the eternal Englishness of the end of the pier entertainment.
Because all these threads, woven together, have one result – to pull me straight back to childhood once more, to relive the excitement again. I can see the sea!
PIN FOR LATER: THE GREAT BRITISH SEASIDE
All images copyright MummyTravels
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It’s so true that since having Monkey, we too, have rediscovered the British coast. He adores it, in fact we all do – we had a day in Eastbourne a few weeks ago and swimming, fish&chips and ice cream made us such a happy bunch by the end of the day
It’s so easy to forget what’s on the doorstep, isn’t it – but we’ve had a few day trips recently too, and it’s such a good reminder of how happy I feel sitting by the sea with an ice cream! Oh, and my daughter 🙂
I love the British seaside too, we have an amazing coastline. I’m very nostalgic about childhood seaside holidays in Devon, and yearn for my very own beach hut!
I would love a beach hut too – there’s something very special about them, and so British.
Great post Cathy. It’s true – I too am looking closer to home a lot more now I have my little munchkins and becoming more nostalgic about my childhood beside the seaside.
There’s something so lovely about reliving part of it with children, or introducing your kids to the same things you loved, I think – particularly when it seems so unchanging.
Definitely! Hopefully it will help them to get a sense of our childhood as well as create new memories.
That’s very true too!
That beach looks amazing! The water is so blue and there is sand! (I’ve gotten use to seeing European beaches with rocks. Ouch!) It sounds so nice to have fish and chips and ice cream at the beach. I’d probably like it more if I actually ate fish, but you know… 🙂 Thanks for sharing your lovely pictures and reminiscing about days on the beach. 🙂
We’re not short of variety: sand, shingle, pebbles and rocks! Fortunately ice cream and chips (fish optional) works anywhere 😉
You took me back to childhood memories in a very quick heartbeat of excitement and love. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.
That’s lovely – I had such fun writing this post and remembering all the reasons I love the seaside, glad it brought back happy memories for you too.
Love British holidays, even in the rain! And British beaches are fabulous – we’re just back from Cornwall and thought they were very special.
Cornwall is easily one of my favourites, such a wonderful coast – and even the rain can’t put me off (well, only a little bit)
I remember my childhood days. I used to sit on that beautiful sand dunes and listening to the sea breeze too. Though it was long ago, but I never forget the beauty of the seaside.
That sounds wonderful – I can almost picture it now.
There really isn’t a better beach than most in Britain. Better weather, maybe, but you just play differently!
Definitely – a stick, some sand an a bit of imagination will keep my daughter happy for hours. And it’s never too cold for ice cream, according to her!
I love that there’s such variety in the British seaside, and the Brits resolute determination to enjoy it in all kinds of weather. x
There really is such a range across the country. And I think we’re bred from an early age to disregard more than torrential rain, typhoos and hurricanes as a mere annoyance that’ll pass before too long…
Gorgeous way to capture it. I am always bias that Australian beaches are the best but British beaches are unique and still fabulous for kids to explore
Thank you. Aussie beaches are definitely stunning and very much on my wishlist but there’s no place quite like home.
You’re right, the British coast has changed so much in recent years. I love the fact that you can still see the old peeping through the trappings of the new: slightly run-down amusement arcades nestled next to boutique cafes, etc. This is such a gorgeous post – so evocative.
Thank you! And definitely, there’s something very timeless about much of the British coast – and I think we treasure that too which helps.
I was born in Whitley Bay on the North East coast (not literally – I was definitely delivered in a hospital). Since then I do feel drawn to the seaside. Our last few trips have been in the UK – Devon, North Wales and Scotland, each time at the coast. It’s been a revelation to find even more fabulous beaches and I am just so happy there.
Beautiful post, Cathy. Lovely that you are sharing these places with your daughter.
#mondayescapes
Thank you! There is so much to discover, I don’t think I could ever get tired of exploring the coast here either.
What a sweet, nostalgic, post! I have fond childhood memories of visiting Lake Erie in Ohio. There’s just something about water and childhood, isn’t there?
Thank you! There really is – my daughter will spend hours on a beach or splashing in water, it’s lovely to watch.
You know I think my first beach memories are Rhyl too – possibly Pensarn but definitely that coast. My Gran lived there as we were growing up. #Monday Escapes
It’s funny, although I’ve been back to the north Wales coast, I don’t think I’ve made it to Rhyl. I wonder what I would think seeing it again today?
I love a day at the seaside, I always sleep so much better after breathing in all that sea air. Your post reminded me of seaside visits when I was a child, in Suffolk and Norfolk. I miss those old fashioned seaside towns, the ones that had the gardens that you could walk through with little boating lakes in them and I miss the old souvenir shops that used to sell trinkets and craft items that you only ever found at the seaside!
There definitely is (was?) a special kind of seaside shop which always had souvenirs you’d never find anywhere else, and I’m sure I always used to buy something. The sea air still has that effect on me too, and (even better) on my daughter.
This is one of my favorite posts I’ve read of yours, Cathy! So much beauty and nostalgia, I think it takes all of us back to our childhood adventures on shores around the world. I love it!!! #MondayEscapes
Thank you! That’s so lovely of you to say – I really enjoyed indulging in some memories as I wrote it.
My earliest memories are of the North Wales coastline, too. I grew up near Llandudno so piers, Punch & Judy, sugar dummies, and candy floss featured quite a lot. I’m very keen to make sure that they’re memories my boys have too 🙂
It is lovely to be able to pass those memories on in a way – and candy floss! Of course, always part of a day at the seaside then.
There’s nothing quite like the British seaside! Despite living in the midlands, we try and get to the coast at least once a year. Last year it was sandy Devon and this year we discovered North Norfolk. It’s such a treat to be able to share it with our son, as like you say, not much has changed since our own childhoods. Loved reading this post, it made me smile!
It is very special and so different around the country – and thank you, that’s so lovely to hear.