sand blows in my face as together on the towel, we huddle,
a solitary woman sits with a bucket and spade whilst her kids play at the edge of the waves
no sharks sneak up and snaffle
a child spouts ad hoc poetry:
armpit hair
underwear
people who don’t care
boys who won’t share
4 people sitting in a row on camping chairs facing outwards
a young mother struggles with her pushchair over the sand and shouts “Tylor James wait for me!”
windmills out at sea
windbreaks wrap around their people and red and yellow flags brace themselves in the breeze
a fairground in the background dips large, rolls along the coast, big wheel sliding off the pier
lifecrew
my hat blows off in the wind and I envisage equally windswept coasts opposite in Germany and Holland
plenty of photographic opportunities:
two red and blue kites flying in breeze
donkeys turning
towels flapping
a basketball bounces on the path behind
a man appears out of the water wearing long white swimming shorts and a white old fashioned vest contrasting with his black skin
icecream, lollipops, burgers, whelks, crab sticks, doughnuts, haddock and chips with fluorescent mushy peas, cups of tea
flat stones skimming
seagulls squatting, floating
large clouds hovering, watching
smaller clouds higher up move more quickly
children fleeing chased by brown waves
slot machines, twopenny falls, horseracing
international bowling
out of the bushes comes an explorer
he says”cor blimey mate”
and back to the car we go