Seaside

One of the great joys of childhood was a visit, or, better still, a holiday at the seaside. My earliest recollection is travelling to the coast from Nottinghamshire with my parents in an old Austen motor car to a bracing northerly resort. Later, ensconced in London, we would let the train take the strain. Visits to the Norfolk, Kent and Essex coastline would be replaced in adulthood with the south and west where the air was warmer and beaches sandier. The magic of the seaside always remained a potent memory; so much so, I yearned to have a house within view of the sea. Of course, eventually I did.