29th August

A strangely low-key bank holiday. A strong breeze ruffling up a decent swell and making curling white top waves for the visitors to delight in. But with warnings of rip currents and the hazards of swimming too near the groynes where the waves can thump you and drag you past the barnacles making for nasty grazes. So the beach is busy but there is plenty of room. There are spaces in the car parks. Many families enjoy wandering or playing about on the Green. Despite the wind, it is warm and humid with a milky sky sometimes giving way to bigger clumps of clouds. The resident pigeons seem to have seen off the urban invaders. Many small birds are in evident including robins which are gearing up their singing voices again. As the bracken dies back there are better views of the Royal goat working their way along the cliff face. Children always stop and try out their goat voices. Reading the notes from previous years, perhaps August Bank Holiday never were what they used to be.

From 29th August 2021

Not the August Bank Holiday weekends of yore. The morning is cold although the sun is shining and it takes a long time for the beach to begin to fill. Warm enough for a swim this afternoon and there are plenty of people on the beach but as soon as a cloud drifts across there is a chilly breeze. This evening is cold.

From 29th August 2020

It may be Bank Holiday weekend but there is a tranquility about the beach. It is as though some of the tension has gone out of the air. The sea is lap lap lapping at the sand. The blue sky is peppered with white clouds. The occasional black clump threatening rain seems half hearted and doesn’t amount to anything more than a need to pull a cardi round your shoulders. It is the afternoon for sitting with a nice cup of tea and listening to the idle chatter of the man who seems to know a great deal about not a lot.