Beaches and countryside belong to us all
Sally Bromley is principal of The College of Richard Collyer in Horsham. Her column will sometimes be about educational matters but more often a random ramble about house moves, house renovations, beach huts, Morris Minors, boxer dogs and keeping chickens.
has been written in recent days about seaside living, mostly by those living by the sea resenting ‘incomers’ swarming over ‘our’ beaches and leaving ‘their’ rubbish.
Perhaps the possessive should be used to include rather than exclude. Beaches and national parks are the museums and galleries of the seaside and countryside. They are our heritage and belong and should be accessible to all. City dwellers can be the first to see the latest exhibition; living by the sea you can be the first to see a gorgeous sunrise. Many of our beautiful south coast beaches have not been swamped but visitors have treated them with care and respect and taken their sandwich wrappers and empty Coke cans home with them or purchased what they need from local cafes providing a lifeline for local businesses. All while observing a courteous social distance.
As well as enjoying the seaside and the unexpected sunshine of half term (I say this after 38 years in education when invariably I’ve been wearing wellies rather than jellies at the end of May) I have been attacking the weeds and ivy in our new/old cottage garden. There have been many surprises and delights like this beautiful rose. I think it’s a David Austin ‘A Shropshire Lad’ but would be happy for anyone to put me right.
On the other side of the wall we uncovered something a little less delightful - an old car port clumsily constructed from corrugated iron and planks of wood and held together with thick ropes of ivy. A friend said she thought it looked charming but was probably a more fitting home for Cat Weazle than our beloved Morris Minor Doris!
And then ‘just like that’ I turned sixty. I suppose you have to be sixty to get the Tommy Cooper reference and yet be completely clueless about Jay Z (question in family quiz and yes I did think it was a cleaning fluid). I’m still processing the age thing.