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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