F
Frantic
Guest
Yesterday, I took myself for a drive to a local beach. I sat and watched the waves, smelled the sea, and enjoyed the solitude of an empty beach, and my book, and flask of tea.
Then the memories came flooding in from my childhood. I tried to recall the first time that I 'remember' going to "The Seaside". In my case it was going up to Heswall (Nr Liverpool) where my Dad's sister lived. The anticipation, the train ride, pictures of seaside places in the carriages, the leather belt with holes in to open the window, the smell of the smoke. We used to stay for two weeks in a house owned by Mrs Davies, a widowed friend of my aunt. She would go and stay with my aunt while we stayed in her house. It was a "Bungalow" and it had a Door Bell (I didn't know anyone with a door bell in Aston). We used to go everywhere on th 'Crossman' buses. They smelled different to ours somehow, and they were green. We used to go to West Kirby and to Birkenhead, and there were ships and ferries and smells that I still can't get out of my head (and wouldn't want to). I can remember doing that holiday three times, it was all my parents could afford, they had to save all year for the train fares, but I will always be grateful to them for my early childhood holidays.
My dad bought an old Ariel 'Combo', and that opened up all sorts of possibilities. I can remember doing the Great Tour of Wales and camping everywhere, but the one thing that always stays with me is "The first one to spot the sea gets a shilling". My dad would say to my older brother and me. The competition for the shilling was one thing, but that first glimpse of the 'seaside' was for me, the biggest prize. You didn't really think about the sea very much when you lived in Brum did you? The idea of popping down to Aston Beach, or Saltley Sands for a quick dip, didn't really come up very often did it? 'Seeing the sea' is still a special thing for me, and although I now live less than a mile from the sea, I still get the same pleasureable feeling when I see it, as I did as a child. Can you remember the first time that you saw the sea?
Then the memories came flooding in from my childhood. I tried to recall the first time that I 'remember' going to "The Seaside". In my case it was going up to Heswall (Nr Liverpool) where my Dad's sister lived. The anticipation, the train ride, pictures of seaside places in the carriages, the leather belt with holes in to open the window, the smell of the smoke. We used to stay for two weeks in a house owned by Mrs Davies, a widowed friend of my aunt. She would go and stay with my aunt while we stayed in her house. It was a "Bungalow" and it had a Door Bell (I didn't know anyone with a door bell in Aston). We used to go everywhere on th 'Crossman' buses. They smelled different to ours somehow, and they were green. We used to go to West Kirby and to Birkenhead, and there were ships and ferries and smells that I still can't get out of my head (and wouldn't want to). I can remember doing that holiday three times, it was all my parents could afford, they had to save all year for the train fares, but I will always be grateful to them for my early childhood holidays.
My dad bought an old Ariel 'Combo', and that opened up all sorts of possibilities. I can remember doing the Great Tour of Wales and camping everywhere, but the one thing that always stays with me is "The first one to spot the sea gets a shilling". My dad would say to my older brother and me. The competition for the shilling was one thing, but that first glimpse of the 'seaside' was for me, the biggest prize. You didn't really think about the sea very much when you lived in Brum did you? The idea of popping down to Aston Beach, or Saltley Sands for a quick dip, didn't really come up very often did it? 'Seeing the sea' is still a special thing for me, and although I now live less than a mile from the sea, I still get the same pleasureable feeling when I see it, as I did as a child. Can you remember the first time that you saw the sea?