A day at the beach

This past weekend we took advantage of the first real day of summer (in weather terms) and went to the beach for the day! After a bit of walking, two trains, three tube lines and a bus over three hours, we arrived in West Wittering which is home to a huge and very popular beach. It's especially unique since it's actually a point so depending on where you position yourself, you can see water to your right and left and kind of behind on either side.

We found ourselves a little spot way down the beach towards the natural reserve, and away from all of these people, and enjoyed a peaceful day of relaxing in the sun and swimming in the Channel.

Guinness was absolutely thrilled the moment we got there. As soon as we let him off the lead he went running into the water as if he had just found a long lost friend. He was in and out of the water all day, and of course every time he came out he would shake furiously. Needless to say we all had a bit more sand and salt in both our lunch and clothes than we might have had without a big wet brown furry thing.

One thing you will almost always see on the British coast are brightly coloured beach huts like these below. While some have recently been replaced with newer fresh versions, the majority of them have endured many layers of paint and years of sand, salt, sun and rain (this is Britain after all). When not being used, they are simply closed with a padlock covered in plastic bags to prevent the rust from destroying them.


According to this website, beach huts really came into existence in the early years of the twentieth century. Though people accepted mixed swimming at this time, the British reserve still wouldn't tolerate changing in public so beach huts were established to provide a modest and private place to change out of the public's eye.

Since then, they have evolved and are now mostly owned by families who have passed them down from generation to generation. Waiting lists for beach huts can be years and once one becomes available the price can be pretty extravagant for a 5 square metre wood shed. The luxury and convenience they provide however make them extremely popular and almost a status symbol for many.

My favourite part of the website above is where it says, "many are equipped with small stoves for boiling kettles". This of course, is a necessity in this culture where tea is part of everyday life. Even on a boiling hot summer's day at the beach, many Brits can't refrain from having a cuppa!