General Chat

my mam n dad once took me winkling to the sseaside and it started thundering and lighterning, and i saw a snake and was traumatised lololol

We lived in Portsmouth when I was a kid, so we had fairly regular trips to Hayling Island. Sometimes there was a whole crowd of us - Mum, Dad, 2 sisters, Gran, the dog, friends or family who were visiting. We all piled in the car(s) with picnic, blankets etc. I remember I got lost there once when I was about 5, and wandered around for what seemed likes ages before Dad found me! Happy memories of sand, buckets, shells, paddling, and that lovely salty air which made you tired but happy and glowing.

I remember going to Hunstanton for days out, on balmy hot summer Sundays. The cliffs behind with their famous stripes, and the long sandy beaches.

I can remember paddling in the sea with my little blue cossie on. It was one of those bri-nylon things that were ruched all over. I had to wriggle around under a towel to get it on. We would have a picnic on the beach, usually egg or cheese sandwiches, and I honestly thought that was why they were called SANDwiches, some crisps and a slice of home made fruit cake or one of those individual size apple pies you could get, and some orange squash or a cup of tea from a flask (yuk). I wasn't allowed in the water for at least an hour after eating.

Later I would be allowed an ice-cream. I can remember the ice cream falling out of the cone into the sand. I think I screamed the place down, but I didn't get another one. If my grandmother was with me, she would always sit in a deckchair with a sun-hat on, and would have one of those wafer sandwiches. I always made a complete mess of eating those, so it was cones only for me.

Then it would be the journey home, sunburnt, tired and sad to leave.

Most of us will have memories of seaside trips as kids. What are yours?