Sunday, October 02, 2011

Seaside Memories

Childhood memories seem to fall into two main categories, those that are painful or hard to re-visit and those that leave you filled with a warm nostalgia.


I was never sure if my memories of our holidays when I was a child were seen through rose tinted glasses, although my little NHS regulation glasses worn from the age of seven onwards after a severe bout of measles never had tinted lenses and memories of having to wear them at school are still quite painful, but I think, on the whole memories of seaside holidays have a rosy glow.


Some of my most vivid memories are of holidays in Teignmouth in Devon with Mum and Dad and sometimes accompanied by aunts, uncles and cousins.  We used stay in a bed and breakfast owned by a lovely couple called Mr and Mrs Lofty, he gloried in the first names of Milton Zacharia. Isn't it strange what details you do actually remember? They or their family owned a small shed like beach hut on the riverside of the estuary so my Teignmouth memories are more of this stretch of beach than the bigger beach and pier of the sea front.  I went in search of the beach huts and I have a feeling that the little one may be the one.  We used it as a base all week, we children playing in the sand and running in and out of the sea.  Mum would make tea and sandwiches for lunch in the back of the shed which always smelt of slightly damp, old wood and salty seaweed, sandy wet bathing costumes and damp towels would hang drying  inside.


I remember once my Dad getting me up very early and taking me mackerel fishing. We  brought our catch  back to Mr Lofty to be cooked for breakfast.  I never liked them - too many bones for my fastidious tastes - but I loved going fishing well not the fishing as such but being on the sea.  I don't remember where the bed and breakfast was but I do remember the loud gong which was sounded to summon us to breakfast and evening meal.  I also remember the walk each morning down to our little hut clutching our buckets and spades, sun hats and fishing nets.


There was an ice-cream seller next door or next door but one to our hut so we always had a lovely creamy ice cream in the afternoon but my most vivid memory is of the ferry.  It left from just nearby and we would lock up our hut, catch the ferry and go over to Shaldon.  I remembered them being black and white and they still are. As Galant mentioned in her comment on my last but two post - the basic design hasn't changed much since Elizabethan times!  We loved the ride and then the walk up  by the Ness hotel and past a little thatched cottage with a pond outside it.


That was still there, too!   Then excitement rising we would head for the Smuggler's tunnel for the walk down to the Ness beach. We children used to shout and listen for the echoes as we walked.  It was cool and damp in the tunnel but all too soon you could see the sun again and feel the rising heat as we neared the end. Then it was out into the bright sunshine, dashing down to the sand to stake a place and set up camp for the afternoon buckets and spades at the ready.


I did notice that the tunnel had changed inside as  the original exit had been shut off and another tunnel built alongside with steps inside - I don't remember steps in the original tunnel but maybe there were.  Your mind can play tricks sometimes especially after  50 or so years.
One thing I did feel was that everything seemed smaller and more compact than I remember!  This beach seemed endless to me as did the one on the Teignmouth side of the estuary.  The ferry point seemed a longer distance from the old hut and yet when I saw it recently it was only a few steps away.


It was lovely to revisit these places and see that at least some of my memories were correct and that my mind wasn't playing tricks. 


The photo above is of me and my cousin John,  who was just two weeks older than me and sadly lost to throat cancer at the young age of 54, about to jump off  the wooden stand onto the sand.  It was taken not far from the old beach hut.  We look happy and excited, everyday of the holiday laying down another cherished memory.  I'm so glad I went back to take a peek at a life gone by but never forgotten.

24 comments:

  1. Rosie, I loved reading about some of your happy childhood memories. I just adore that picture of you and your cousin. I can just imagine being summoned by the gong too! Thank you for sharing such lovely memories. x

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  2. O Rosie you have just taken me down memory lane, I know Teignmouth very well. I went to school there and later worked in the small shipyard, now replaced with riverside flats. Ness beach 'h'mm used to do a bit of courting in the locality!
    Thanks for reviving my happy times x

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  3. Beautiful memories. For me it wasn't the Devon coast but North Norfolk, but even so you stirred up some nostalgic thoughts.

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  4. What wonderful memories you have of your seaside holidays. I love the photo of the cliff near the beach. Just beautiful.
    Anne xx

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  5. What a lovely post. Coincidentally our neighbour has just moved to Teignmouth!!!!

    Thanks for popping by my blog and commenting on my scavenger photos.

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  6. Love your first pic -for me that would definitely be nostalgia:) Never went fishing, because I have 2 brothers, and girls just didn't go fishing those days (In my family, at least), but I do love to eat smoked mackerel! That cottage is so pretty!

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  7. Lovely post Rosie - I have very similar memories as we usually went down to Paignton for our summer holiday and of course in much the same era. I too remember beach huts, buckets and spades, endless sandy beaches and the boarding house with the gong summoning us to dinner. Lots of lovely memories

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  8. Such precious summer holiday memories Rosie.

    Anna

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  9. What a lovely heartwarming post Rosie. I loved reading this. I'm glad you got to revisit your old haunts. xxxx

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  10. What lovely memories and a very interesting post.

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  11. What a lovely post. I'd love to revisit Brixham, the smells and sounds. We used to go Paignton and always visited Brixham at some point of the holiday.

    Other holidays were spent in Blackpool and although I enjoyed showing my daughter the tower and the piers, St Annes became my daughter's childhood holiday destination. Well there and Turkey. No such thing as foreign holidays when I was young.

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  12. Lovely post - happy and sad and poignent all at the same time. Am going to Devon in a few weeks for the first time ever (have passed through but never holidayed there). Hope its as lovely as your pictures.

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  13. Memories are so precious! Thanks for sharing yours with us :)

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  14. How fabulous....we used to visit relatives in Weymouth every year but I've not been since I was about 10....plan to go to Dorset in the next couple of weeks to visit a cousin who has moved there and can't wait to see it!!

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  15. How fabulous....we used to visit relatives in Weymouth every year but I've not been since I was about 10....plan to go to Dorset in the next couple of weeks to visit a cousin who has moved there and can't wait to see it!!

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  16. Lovely photos, I've never been to that part of Devon, it looks like the most idyllic place for a family holiday. Have a good weekend.

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  17. Rosie, your old photos of fun days at the seaside are lovely! I really hope that small hut was the one you remember. I hope you could possibly give Mackerel another go, I love it. My great-Grandad's father was named Zachariah, and I always said if I'd had a baby boy I would have called him this, or Zachary. x

    PS. My brother had NHS regulation specs back in the 60s, usually stuck together with a plaster, where he kept snapping off the arms!

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  18. Thank you for sharing those beautiful memories, Rosie. The smile on your face, in the photo with your cousin, tells the entire story, what a wonderful childhood you had.
    I remember going back to the house where I spent early years; I could not stand up in the bedroom, it was really a closet!! I had no idea then, but going back as an adult, I realized how small it was...

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  19. lovely photos, it's so strange returning to places after a long time. Great picures :)

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  20. It is indeed a very beautiful part of the world and one which we can now view through "Rosie" tinted glasses!

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  21. Thank you for this wonderful nostalgic post Rosie. A joy to read!

    Jeanne
    x

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  22. Oh Rosie, what a lovely post - so evocative and full of feeling. Loved the shots and the walk back in time. You looked really sweet when you were young, sorry to hear about your cousin. Isn't the internet and blogging fab for sharing/reliving memories. You are not alone. Love Helen, Darcy and Bingley xxx

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  23. This is a beautiful post Rosie. How wonderful to take a step back in time and revisit a place that holds such cherished memories.

    Marie x

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