Do you have any childhood seaside memories ?

We lived between Weymouth and Portland during the fifties. About 10 minutes walk to the beach which we went to most days in the summer. There were small cliffs and rock pools and a small sandy beach.

When Dad was on holiday we used to go out for days. He had a motor bike and built a sidecar for us 4 children, plus the dog and a hamper and we would set off for a beach the eastern side of Weymouth. Not very many people there. Sometimes we'd go to Swanage by train and return by boat. We always climbed over the headland to a rocky beach on the western side of Swanage.

My Mum was Welsh and she had an aunt and uncle who lived at Pyle and we used to spend some holidays there. We would walk over the sand dunes to empty sandy beaches such as Sker and Rest Bays, picking whinberries on the way back. Sadly a large chunk of the dunes are now crossed by the motorway and the steelworks at Port Talbot have spread along the coast.

Fond memories

I remember there being a ride-on Muffin the Mule on the seafront at Hove/Brighton.

A trip to Brighton when i was about 4 i saw a monkey they were there for members lof the public to pay to handle or have a photo my mum paid the man for a photo op but i got extremely upset and had a paddy as i thought we had bought it to take home lol glad they do that here anymore xxx

That must have been lovely for you all Aldom.

Early evening on the beach is best of all. And early early mornings.

Growing up I lived at the seaside. Home was a few minutes walk to the beach. While I was still in primary school my father died. My two brothers were not even school age. Around the same time my mother's friend was also widowed. She had two boys. Occasionally the two widowed mothers used to make a picnic on summer evenings and take the five of us to the beach for tea. I clearly remember those balmy summer evening picnics. Sometimes, now, when the weather is just right and there's a warm breeze, I am transported back to that beach. Those simple picnics were an oasis in such a sad time in our lives.

What a great memory M0nica

I remember a day trip from our home in South London to Ramsgate to book summer accommodation. I was about 3

It was April, a lovely day, but chilly, we went to the beach and my mother took my shoes and socks off so that I could paddle, but a larger wave than the rest knocked me off my feet and I got soaked.

A couple of ladied sitting outside their beach hut saw what happened and wrapped me up in towels and offered to look after me.while my mother raced into town to buy me more. It was during the time of clothes rationing and it was luck that my mother had her precious clothes coupons in her bag.

She rushed out, bought me the minimum, all in sizes too large and with my sodden clothes in a bag and me looking most peculiar, we journeyed home.

My parents made me use a sunblock in the 1950s/1960s.
I loathed them.
Might have been a Piz Buin ?? I know one was really designed for skiing!

I think they were very low protection by today's standards.

TurtleDove

In the late 50's there wasn't any sunscreen to talk about, I don't remember it being a sunscreen at all, it just helped you tan so we made our own sunscreen out of olive oil and vinegar and put it in a bottle and we fried. The day after I could not straighten my arms they were so red and sore.

l remember the olive oil used as sun screen. It amazes me now as l think about it, how as we as kids we were never covered up but only told 'you'll burn if you stay in the sun too long' Then left to play on the beach all day burning raw

l remember going back to school where we would all show each other our peeling skin..it was like a badge of honor to have been burnt so bad..yuk..

My husband remembers he
did get covered up once with a large towel as they were lying on the beach but they forgot to cover the soles of his feet !!! His feet got so badly burned they had to pigback him back to the digs as he couldnt walk for days. It ruined his holiday and he still shudders thinking about the pain

We had to let the food "drop off the shelf" inside us, so my mum said.

We weren’t even allowed a bath in case we got cramp after eating!

Sandwiches always had sand in them.
Then not allowed back in the sea for "ages" after eating, in case the food weighed us down and we drowned.

Yes I remember our sandie sandwiches lol if you dropped on sand my parents would wipe them off and say just eat you will be fine. When I think about it now you don’t see ppl doing that nowadays

Juggernaut

My childhood home was right on the promenade in Hoylake, on the Wirral, so sand, sea and sunshine was my life!
I could walk out of the front door, down the drive, across the road and straight onto the beach!
I don't think I fully appreciated it at the time, it was just home.
Our DS lives in our old house now, with his own growing family, and we're on the edge of Chester, so can get to his house in twenty five minutes or less, which we do three times a week for after school care!

I was brought up near there, we used to walk out to Hilbre Island.. and ride along the beaches.. heaven

My childhood home was right on the promenade in Hoylake, on the Wirral, so sand, sea and sunshine was my life!
I could walk out of the front door, down the drive, across the road and straight onto the beach!
I don't think I fully appreciated it at the time, it was just home.
Our DS lives in our old house now, with his own growing family, and we're on the edge of Chester, so can get to his house in twenty five minutes or less, which we do three times a week for after school care!

BigLouis
This park is on my daughter’s doorstep. My grandchildren can’t go to this park for the reason given in this link.
Btw, this park is a spit away from Southend police station.
My grandchildren can’t ride their bikes now because of the brand: the county lines scrotes would love them.
Forget Southend town centre: drug dealer central.

www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/south_essex_news/17699317.young-woman-robbed-gunpoint-priory-park-southend/

We every year went to Orkney to visit my granny. I remember wearing my swimsuit with my cardigan on top. It never seemed to be warm and the sea was always freezing! Loved climbing over the rocks trying to catch things in the rock pools. The jellyfish put me off going in the water. No fairground amusements or candy floss or theatre shows just sea and sand. It didn’t put me off Orkney though I still love it. It is my “Happy place”

For many years we went to a caravan park in Wales - a place called Towyn near LLandudno. We kids used to go wandering around all day, as some posters upthread have remarked.

There were a lot of amusement arcades and I used to spend my pocket money in them. I dont remember winning anything. I also enjoyed walking among the rock pools and poking about in them.

I cant remember what my parents were doing but they never worried about us. They would tell us to come back for our tea/dinner and we always did. We grew up having to use our imagination and invent games and amusements. We were self reliant and learned how to organize our own time.

When I think of how much freedom we had in contrast to todays supervised and mollycoddled kids I feel really sad for them. If children were brought up today as we were there would be some snitch of a neighbour to call in a busybody from social services.

On one of my childhood holidays we stayed in a boarding house in Weston-Super-Mare. You had to be out after breakfast - no matter the weather- and had to stay out all day! I do remember enjoying though - I'm not sure if my parents did?

Cei Newydd, tomato sandwiches a bit gritty with sand and my Dad with a hankie on his head. 😍 Very happy days.

We used to stay in a boarding house in Worthing. If the tide was in we went on the pier and played the slot machines. When the tide was out we fished in the rock pools.

When I was 8 we went to Felixtowe because my mother had happy childhood memories of holidays there. I hated it. Nasty shingle beaches and no rock pools. Nevertheless we went back the following year. I immediately went down with pneumonia and had to spend the whole week in bed. One parent had to stay with me so they didn't have any time together at all. To cap it all the doctor said I shouldn't travel home on a coach, so they had to buy more expensive train tickets.

We went back to Worthing the next year!

My first holiday was at Butlins in Bognor and we got a coach there as my parents didn’t have a car . I remember the chalets had very noisy creaky plumbing which frightened myself and 2 siblings and my parents had to come back as we were crying , I think they had some system for monitoring the chalets , so kids were left alone in the chalets .
I learnt to swim at Butlins and broke a baby tooth on the dogems .
After that we had several years in Cornwall staying on a farm . Corned beef and tomatoes sandwiches always remind me of those holidays and getting sunburned as no one used sun cream .
We then had a few years in Northumberland where the beaches were stunning but cold and windy .
And then discovered West Wittering in West Sussex , my mums boss had a second home there. This was the mid 70s and it was a locals secret, the dunes at East Head were deserted . Now it gets mobbed in the summer .
I love the sea and the beach wherever I am and whatever time of year . Definitely prefer the beach to a pool

Until I was 6 we lived in London and holidayed at my grandmother's in Broadstairs and then we moved from London to Ramsgate where I lived until 18 and my parents lived until they died.

Wonderful to live by the sea and wonderful to holiday in Broadstairs before we moved. Donkeys candyfloss Punch and Judy, Morellis Ice Cream Parlour, rock pools, beach huts,buckets and spades sold in a shop selling all things seasidey, trays of tea on the beach. I can see it all now

In the late 50's there wasn't any sunscreen to talk about, I don't remember it being a sunscreen at all, it just helped you tan so we made our own sunscreen out of olive oil and vinegar and put it in a bottle and we fried. The day after I could not straighten my arms they were so red and sore.

Blackpool, Whitley Bay, Scarborough, Bridlington. We got a coach from the town we lived in and it was just for a week as mum and dad could not afford any longer. We stayed in lodging houses where we got breakfast, lunch and tea. In my and my sister's teenage years we went to Blackpool, dancing at the tower ballroom and jiving on the central pier. We had to stay at the same lodging house so the landlady could keep an eye on us, but we found there were boys in the lodging house on the top floor and a good time was had by all. We were good girls, a few kisses here and there and we always cried when we had to go home again as we knew it would be a year before we went back. I can still remember the lads in their kiss me quick cowboy hats. What a wonderful era the late 50's and early 60's were for teenagers.