By the Seaside

e didn't have a lot planned this weekend and when Harry rang on Friday and said that he had found a reasonably cheap hotel in Bideford, we decided to go away for the weekend. (Hotel was reasonably o.k. built sometime in the 1800's right alongside the river so we could watch the tide go in and out from our bedroom window. From the door we walked uphill to the bed and Harry had to sleep on the down hill side of the bed so he didn't roll into the middle during the night (the thought of him rolling onto the floor did cross my mind - but I needed my sleep!!). On the Saturday morning just before leaving we got an invite for a day out at Hay on Wye (we would have loved to have done more exploring over there with friends) and an invitation for dinner (yes we would have loved to have gone there too) but we had booked the hotel so off we went (Murphy's Law strikes again - always get invited to more than one thing at one time). We started off where we finished last weekend at the little town called Lynton sitting on the hill overlooking the Lynmouth Harbour. As we had caught the cliff railway up the previous weekend, and it was quite late, we didn't really explore the town. Driving into the village this weekend we saw Lynton from a different perspective - passing some lovely old houses (most converted into B&B's) and boutique shops before heading to the Valley of the Rocks.
We lunched on the grass near the car park and then wandered along more of the hill tops with the wild goats and many others enjoying the sunshine. It was a glorious weekend, many people turned up to work with red faces and body parts on Monday - we were careful coming from the southern hemisphere but did enjoy feeling the warmth on our skin and having a bit of 'pink' to show off. We covered up on Sunday to make sure we didn't turn too red.




After the Valley of the Rocks we drove the coastal route to Ilfracombe (it is pronounced ILL at the beginning - I hadn't noticed before that the capital 'I' and the little 'L' are the same on a keyboard. On the way we stopped at a National Trust property and was talked ("Oh, its lovely, certainly worth the effort") into taking a one hour stroll (there and back) to Heddon's mouth. Well we enjoyed the walk and a chat with dog owners and seeing the MG club out for the day but the beach was a little rocky cove with very little attraction really - I guess the pub at the end of the return journey would be an attraction for many (and if it hadn't been for our picnic...) and perhaps the fact that it was once a haven for smugglers might be another - but there really wasn't much there. Anyway we have joined the informal club called 'ramblers' as the cove was described as a 'popular destination for ramblers'.

So on we went ... enough walking on the hills and the countryside we want the beach!!
Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside
I do like to be beside the sea!
I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play: "Tiddely-om-pom-pom!"
So just let me be beside the seaside
I'll be beside myself with glee
There's lots of girls beside,
I should like to be beside,
Beside the seaside!
Beside the sea!
I read an article on the web, written in 2006 by Jonathan Thompson. It was titled 'Britain on the beach. Which type are you?' His theory is that 'Britains' have a love affair with the seaside, but that we all divide into 'different tribes' when we step on to the sand. The tribes compete for space at the seaside and all have their own distinctive customs, dress codes and equipment. I wish I had read the article earlier as I would have looked more carefully at all the beach go-ers but to a certain extent I think he is right. The tribes are the

• "sunworshippers" - the biggest tribe - they just visit the beach for sunbathing (about 30% of all beach goers)
  
• "socialisers" who go to the beach mainly to meet friends and play games (close to 30%)
• then there is the "picnickers" who apparently compete for space with the sunworshippers and socialisers (about 25%)
• and the "watersports lovers" - this covers everyone in the water I think from floating in a dinghy, kitesurfers, swimmers and paddlers (about 9%)
  
• and the "specialist tribes" like those that use metal detectors to hunt for treasure at low tide, and "sea anglers" and I guess rock pool lookers etc.

Sitting on the beach will never be the same again!! Not sure where we fit in, as we would have loved to swim but oh so cold (it hurt our feet to paddle), did lots of walking and exploring and yes eating too. Anyway, another survey said that UK residents make around 298 million trips to the coast every year - out of 60 million people I don't think that is many trips really - but I guess it could have something to do with the weather and there are so many parts that are a long way away from the beach (how lucky we are in NZ).
At Instow beach we were the "picnickers". We barbequed in the late evening on a little disposable barbeque (not many people use gas - its still charcoal here). Instow Beach is a long beach on an estuary very popular for fishing and sailing as well as other beach activities. It has heaps of sand dunes and is on the mouth of two rivers (though I can only remember seeing one and don't know if it was the Taw or the Torridge).
Then there was Woollacombe Beach - where we were just visitors for a few minutes. We didn't stay long enough to join a tribe for the day. It was a lovely long sandy, surfing beach (rather rare in England), but parking was difficult and we wanted some brunch and there didn't seem to be much around unless you had bought your own food. The residents are very proud of their Blue Flag standard (its given to beaches with "high quality bathing water, good management, cleanliness and safety"). Speedboats and jet skis aren't allowed (so lots of water sports tribe members go elsewhere). There were lots of surfers amongst the swimmers which didn't seem particularly safe and you are allowed to windsurf, sail, sea canoe and kite surf. We went on to Ilfracombe for brunch and on a beautiful day, when it felt like it was around 25 degrees at 11.00 in the morning we were the only ones sitting in a cafe along the beach front and it occurred to us once again, that the English don't seem to do brunch - a Sunday carvery after 12.00 is more popular.


A visit to Ilfracombe Beach was really a history lesson and we joined the "picnickers, sun worshippers and specialist" tribes for a good part of the day. Ilfracombe's Beach is another Blue Flag Award with - wait for it - the 'third best rock pools in the UK" according to the BBC Wildlife Magazine. We couldn't resist. We walked through 4 tunnels (carved by hand by Welsh miners in the 1820's to enable the English gentry to visit the sheltered and private coves of the area - one for gentleman and two for ladies - or it might be the other way round). In 1903 the Ilfracombe Gazette & Observer, wrote"The visit to the Tunnels should certainly be included in the programme of every visitor to Ilfracombe" but they were advertised earlier than that and in 1867 the pools (made with limestone and available for use in low tide) were described as ideal for "invalids, waifs and strays from the heat of India, worn out clergyman ... and to people whether young or old, whose ailments arise mainly from want of stamina, and general lack of tone".
There were articles along the tunnels giving some interesting insights into the life of the bather in the early 1800's. There were articles on etiquette for boys ("Guard against a profusion of slang that would give credit to a pick pocket"), and men ("Men who can not swim should never take ladies upon the water), and for girls ("Get up in time for breakfast") and woman (oops I forgot to photograph it or perhaps there weren't any rules for us). There was the history of horse drawn wooden bathing machines which were wheeled to the waters edge so that the "modesty of the ladies could be maintained" - these are beach huts with wheels. It wasn't until 1905 that mixed bathing was "allowed for a limited time in the hotel baths...The new regulation has revolutionised the 'Gentlemen's side of the Tunnels Beach'...and it works so well, one wonders why it wasn't introduced before". So, we sat for ages enjoying the scenery and watching the "tribes at play", paddled in the water (waiting for it to warm up which it never did), and waited for the tide to go out so that we could see the Victorian swimming pools and the 3rd best beach rock pools in the UK. The tide did go out eventually, and we walked the wall, like lots of others (one man who had obviously been reading the "Etiquette for Gentlemen" stepped back to let me pass and promptly fell in). I enjoyed looking at the colourful seaweed which the children swam around in (didn't see any crabs, or little fish, or other sea life that makes the rock pools so much fun to explore). When I got back to Bristol I did a bit of research I discovered that NZ has its own Tunnel Beaches. Around 1870s workmen John Cargill employed a number of work men to excavate a tunnel down to a secluded beach in Otago so that his family could bathe in privacy. That's a must when we get back to the Southern Hemisphere. We finished our trip to Devon by looking around the harbour and the little church (previously light house) on the cliff above the harbour (where the light house keepers family amounted to 14 children living in a little 2 bedroom stone hut).