A day at the beach in our beloved Dorset

A Day at the Beach in Our Beloved Dorset.

We headed to the beach on Saturday. Jumping into our black Mini, Robert the Husband and I grabbed coffee on the way and hit the road. We both love Dorset, in fact our lives were effectively changed forever when we first visited this place, and seeing as we live so much nearer to this lovely county than we used to we can head down at a moments notice.

On this trip we headed for Swanage. Robert the Husband had been there on holiday as a child and I just wanted a day by the sea.

Swanage beach is wonderful because it’s sandy. Unfortunately people are allowed to take dogs on to the beach at certain times of the year and that worried me slightly. I heard one poor child calling out to her Dad that she had “found a poo”

I love dogs but I don’t think that it’s fair for a child to be building a sandcastle – every child’s right no matter what the month is – and come across dog faeces. Bleugh!

Anyway, I’m painting an awful picture of a town and beach that is idyllic. The pictures I took don’t do the place justice and it has a wonderful nostalgic tone hanging in the air.

Robert and I immediately headed for the local fish bar and had fish and chips on our laps and then proceeded to walk off the ten thousand calories we had just consumed by having a wander around town. There were some great crafty shops and one gorgeous french style interiors store that I intend to re-visit when I’m kitting out my new headquarters. Beautiful rustic country finds at really reasonable prices. Robert will come in to those shops with me as I think he likes that style of decorating too, he’ll also traipse around clothes store without a murmur and give GREAT advice when I come to try various pieces on but he will almost always stand outside if he sees yarn, thread or fabric! Ha!

With the weather being so great right now it was no surprise that so many folks had come out to play and the beach had filled with children by the time we settled on the front with a creamy Cornish ice-cream. I watched one little girl as she wandered in to a freezing ocean in a beautiful long pink sundress. I remembered how, when I was her age, I wouldn’t have felt the cold either I simply would have wanted to have been in the water as fast as possible. Another little one reminded me of my twin nieces as it was obvious that this was her first experience of sand. Here she was in pigtails and a little tartan skirt filling her bucket. Her Daddy helped her as she had trouble tipping it up and over in order to produce a castle. Her Daddy also helped her as she fell face down in to the sand after having tripped on the castle she had just created. Now you know why I don’t think it’s fair to have dogs on beaches. Again, bleugh!

I love our coastline. I don’t think that enough money is invested in it and I think that there is a minefield of potential that has yet to be reached. Perhaps it’s the weather that has stopped us from turning all of our beach towns into areas of pristine beauty? It can be harsh on the coast during the winter months but then again another part of me knows that a winters day on the beach is one of life’s more extraordinary experiences.

I’ll have to start a campaign. Right after my coffee I get on to it. After all ‘Coastal Chic’ is one of my absolute favourite styles of homemaking and seeing that as a nation we’re spending more and more holiday time in this country it makes sense. Brits by the sea deserve the best…….it should only take three or four generations to complete!
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Cherry Menlove

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