I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE

Ah, now we are well into the summer holiday season, my thoughts and inclinations are turning towards the beach and the seaside…I’ve always loved the sea – whether going on holidays, walks along the cliffs or mucking about on the sands – and have been lucky enough to have lived in 3 seaside towns. I was first introduced to the wide stretches of beach on the North Somerset coastline when, as a small girl, my father looked after a donkey over 3 successive winters at the farm in Bratton Seymour. During the summer, Sandy was back on the beach giving rides to children but in those winters he was ‘mine’! “Everyone knew when Sandy arrived with his loud ‘hee haw’ and he ran around the field jubilantly amongst the cows.”
Early on in my marriage we lived in both Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea, and then later, for complete contrast, we moved to Frinton-on-Sea in Essex – a great place for young families with a lovely safe beach and a large expanse of greensward for games and running around. There were tennis, golf and cricket clubs, cycling along the sea wall towards Clacton, and if you had a boat, Titchmarsh Marina at Walton-on-the-Naze was close at hand. Frinton did have everything for a small seaside town – apart from ice cream vans and only one rather superior fish and chip shop which was a late addition. We arrived a couple of years after The Lock & Barrel Pub – which was finally opened in the year 2000 after some controversy as it was ‘inside’ those famous ‘Gates’. Yes, there was a railway station with good connections to London Liverpool Street, and a smart high street lined with little bijoux shops and cafes and named Connaught Avenue after The Duchess of Connaught visited the town in 1904. In fact Frinton attracted many famous visitors including on occasion Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee and Gracie Fields, also Marconi lived there for a time. Back in 2002 there was a library, an art gallery bookshop, posh dress and gift shops, and even a small department store, but best of all there was (and still is) a wonderful Charity Hospice Shop specializing in books and vinyl and where I picked up many of my book and record collections. With an art deco flavour and design, antique shops, beach huts and slightly old-fashioned feel, Frinton did seem to exemplify for some – including ourselves – the 3 ‘P’s’ of pride, poverty and a piano! But I’m sure this has long since changed as the town has adapted to the demands of the 21st century and it can boast some of the smartest Avenues in England.
One last attraction to mention and still going strong, is the Frinton Summer Theatre where a troupe of actors based in London come for the season and present a varied selection of plays, most OK for a family evening out – we used to look forward very much to these evenings.
I’ll attach 3 photos of our 3 seaside stays –
the sands at Weston-super-Mare complete with donkeys,
Burnham-on-Sea with a glimpse of the old lighthouse,
and Frinton Golf Club and sea wall.

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