Tuesday 3 September 2013

Oh we do love to be beside the seaside


Weston-super-Mare is not a classy seaside town.  Rather it is one of seafront chip shops, funfair rides, a pier, donkeys, bucket and spade stalls and ice-cream kiosks.  Perfect then for little people, who adore all of the above.


And there is space.  Acres of it.  Perfect for football, tag, knocking brothers down and practising the kind of tricky things that Christiano Ronaldo does.


It wasn't the hottest of days, and what you can't see from the pictures is the 80-mile-an-hour wind which was headed straight towards me.  If you sat still for too long, you disappeared under a layer of sand.  We took a picnic, and when I looked down the salad was covered in it after just a few minutes.  Although of course this is part of the full seaside experience.

The sea is a strange beast at Weston.  It's out there somewhere, but it's not the kind of blue and white rolling surf you find in other places.  This is the Bristol Channel, and it's a land of dangerous tides, sinking sand and lethal mud flats.  People do paddle further up the beach, but only when the tide is in.  When it's out, it's really out.  In fact the low tide mark is a full mile from the sea front.  This was the sea on its way in.  It moves fast.  As I said, it's dangerous.  The sign is one of many warning notices.


We ate our sandy picnic, and fed a little of it to the seagulls.  We don't normally do this, but I let the little people do it as a treat.  It was predictably riotous.



Note how they're all looking straight at me.

Then we did donkey rides.



Then we did ice-creams


Then I was done so we went home for tea.  I had a shower first because of the deep sand penetration.

So now the summer holidays are done, and it's back to school.  I will so miss these little chaps when they go.  If only the summer could last forever.

28 comments:

  1. A typical English seaside day by all accounts! It's been lovely reading of all your activities of this summer, you have been making wonderful memories...

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    1. Thank you Sandra. I have some lovely pictures to look back at, and hopefully the boys will remember happy times.

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  2. What great captures of your day - I love that 'menacing seagulls' photo!

    I have loved summer, but I'm sort of loving the transition to Autumn too. It feels time. But ask me tomorrow when we all have to get up for school....

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    1. Oh yes, the mornings are hard. There's never enough time.

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  3. That looks like the perfect last day of summer outing. It's our last day today and while I would rather like to plan a special outing, the girls have requested we just potter about at home. Probably that's a sensible option given the early start tomorrow - we are not morning people at all!

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    1. Home pottering is one of the very best things to do I think. It is what I miss when I have to go out too much.

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  4. Hi CJ, I came here through Nina's blog. :) I'm sad today because the new term has started and the house is so quiet!
    Weston is so familiar to me and as a child I had no idea the 'sea' was dangerous there, I suppose I was preoccupied with building sandcastles and begging for a ride on a donkey! I loved the old pier and was so very sad when it burned down. Do you remember the laughing mannequin man that would sit on the roof of the Crazy House? I loved the fortune teller machine too, very creepy! I hope you have a lovely day and your children enjoy being back at school. :)xx

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    1. Sad here too, the summer holidays went all too fast. I don't remember the things on the pier very well, but I do remember seeing footage of it burning down - such a shame. Thanks for visiting Jess.

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  5. Looking up when seagulls are about Nooooo

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    1. It was madness I know. But I do so love dicing with danger.

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  6. It looks like the perfect outing for the last day of the summer holidays. It was strange today having only one return to school instead of two, I still can't quite believe that my eldest has now left.

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    1. Being a parent is full of astonishment at how fast time flies by I think. Hope your school-going one has a good first day back.

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  7. Oh I loved Weston when I was a girl. It still a treat to go when I i visit my family. I remember the doughnuts and eating them on the pier train. what a great way to round off the summer holidays!

    Learned xxx

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    1. It is a place of treats and indulgences. I had an ice-cream too, and it was yum.

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  8. What a perfect end to the summer holidays. Those donkey rides look like a lot of fun, and I'm sure your boys loved just running around. Change can be so hard. Hang in there. At least you have all these wonderful pictures and memories and know that you took full advantage of your time together:)

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    1. Thank you so much Kari. You are right I know, and I am trying to be positive.

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  9. We do indeed, but I'm not so keen when it's a bit windy and the sand gets everywhere.
    Nice post, and terrific pictures. Flighty xx

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    1. It was a bit too much I have to say. I felt like Lawrence of Arabia. Thank you for your kind comment Flighty.

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  10. Now that looks like my perfect day out. I am never happier than when by the sea and there is something about those unfashionable resorts which always appeals to me. Your photos capture the day really well. Those seagulls to look a bit scary. x

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    1. Me too, I love the sea, even the tackier places. Chips, bucket and spade shops, saucy postcards - what's not to love?

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  11. we opted for an indoor swimming pool today. Actually it was incredibly sunny and warm and we could have gone to the lido... but they wanted diving boards so...

    School tomorrow. Mixed feelings about that one.

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    1. Ah yes, mine like to jump off of things if at all possible too. We did have a lovely visit to a locally run outdoor pool earlier in the summer though. It's run by volunteers and quite small and simple. But we had SO much fun. It was a really hot day, and we spent the whole two hours that it was open in the water, except for a break for a 10p ice pop. TEN P! Not much you can get for 10p these days. They also had wonderful home made cakes for 30p. Honestly, it was such a find. We could have gone again today if that pesky school thing hadn't got in the way.

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  12. The whole thing about the tides is so interesting to me. Although I've heard about extreme tides like this once or twice, I've never experienced. At least I don't think I have. It looks like the perfect beach day! Is the water very cold?

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    1. It is on the chilly side! I swam in the sea back in July and after the initial shock it was wonderful and I didn't feel cold at all. But it was quite a warm day! I've just checked and the sea temperature in these here parts is just over 60 degrees F at the moment. I'm guessing this may be a touch cooler than California.

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    2. It is on the chilly side! I swam in the sea back in July and after the initial shock it was wonderful and I didn't feel cold at all. But it was quite a warm day! I've just checked and the sea temperature in these here parts is just over 60 degrees F at the moment. I'm guessing this may be a touch cooler than California.

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    3. It is on the chilly side! I swam in the sea back in July and after the initial shock it was wonderful and I didn't feel cold at all. But it was quite a warm day! I've just checked and the sea temperature in these here parts is just over 60 degrees F at the moment. I'm guessing this may be a touch cooler than California.

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  13. My siblings and I were brought up by the sea, my dad being in the Royal Navy, and I still yearn for it. (Never imagined I'd end up in London!) My Bristol based sister used to take her children to Weston when they were younger so I've loved reading this post and seeing your photos! We Brits do like to persevere, don't we? I have the same "I'm here so I'm going to enjoy it" attitude and would have stayed through wind and all kinds of weather - and kids don't notice the weather! First few days of school feel strange, my son is past those years now so I look forward to term time for the peaceful days working from home!

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  14. Ooh, the memories ... that's my early childhood in your post! We were living half an hours drive from that beach and often went there at weekends. I wonder if those donkeys are the descendants of the ones that were there way back then! It does look as if your children had a fabulous time, despite the howling gale!

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