#a seaside british pub

[walkswithmycamera]

British Pubs - the Druids Head, Brighton and Hove, UK.

Source: Michele Chapman Unsplash

[myheartbelongsindorset]

On a blustery day in Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK

[aneurinallday]

Gibson and the Shivering Soldier

Chapter 1: Les Solitaires

The shaking in William’s hands still hadn’t stopped. As he wandered along Weymouth Harbour, it took him a while to adjust to the dry land under his boots, after spending the whole day at sea, being rocked by the never-ending waves.

He watched hundreds of exhausted and shell-shocked soldiers being herded off the boats, welcomed by a throng of doctors, nurses, and joyful civilians. He recognised nobody - all of the men he’d served with were dead. He looked out across the English Channel, across the Strait of Dover towards Dunkirk, but in the darkness he could see nothing of the horizon.

It was the night of Tuesday, June 4 1940, and 215,000 British soldiers had just arrived at the picturesque seaside town of Weymouth in Dorset, southern England; having been evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk, northern France, just hours before. They left behind 22,000 dead, scattered across the sand or doomed to the deep water.

Thousands upon thousands of soldiers had already disembarked, but more boats were still arriving at the dock. Hundreds had already been shepherded onto trains and taken elsewhere, packed in like sardines, with barely enough time to get their bearings. Others were having their injuries tended to, or were seeking a place where they could lie down. The low thrum of weary voices, punctuated by the occasional flurry of commotion, was a constant background noise.

Had he killed that boy on the Moonstone? What was his name - George? A blanket-covered body had been carried out on a stretcher, but William wasn’t sure whose. Maybe it was one of the burned, oil-covered soldiers who’d been fished out of the water. Maybe the boy was fine. It had been a nasty fall down the steps, though. William tried not to think about it.

The scent of saltwater hung thick over the port - something he never wanted to experience again. He felt the sudden, overpowering need to get away from the water, from the ever-present sound of the waves on the rocks.

Putting his hands in his pockets to hide the tremors, he turned his back on the sea, left the harbour behind him, and began to wander the streets of Weymouth. Closed-up shop-fronts stood alongside little seaside attractions and a museum of orange bricks. Street-lamps punctuated the darkness with their harsh electrical glow, emitting a constant, faint buzz.

The small town was struggling under the sheer number of evacuated soldiers. Every pub and little hotel was full. Men were sleeping in the town hall, at the school, anywhere where there was space to spread out a blanket. The locals had even opened their homes, but still it wasn’t enough.

Drawn to the smell of cooking, he arrived outside a fish-and-chip shop, a hubbub of activity. The owners were handing out hot food to hungry soldiers. Through the brightly lit window, he watched the women bustling about behind the counter, the battered fish and sausages being dunked in sizzling oil, the batches of chips being wrapped up in newspaper pages.

One of the women gestured for him to step inside.

“Hungry, love?” she asked as he entered.

“Yes.”

“Here you go. No charge.” She passed him a portion of chips and a sausage, wrapped in a copy of The Daily Express. Black-and-white images of France’s destruction stared at him from the greasy pages.

“Thank you,” he said.

Exiting the chippy, he found a stone bollard to perch on, wincing as he bent his stiff joints. He unfurled the paper and, with trembling hands, started to eat. The first bite was like a little burst of heaven in his mouth. It was his first hot meal in more than a week, and he’d never tasted anything more delicious. He was so absorbed in eating, that it took him a few minutes to notice a presence nearby.

Another soldier - a dark-haired man in his mid or late twenties - was sitting huddled on the curb, hugging his knees. His shoulders were hunched, and he kept his head down, his chin tucked into his collar. He kept stealing furtive glances at the chippy, but he didn’t go inside.

“Want a bite to eat, love?” the woman behind the counter yelled out to him, but he didn’t respond. Perhaps he hadn’t heard. Perhaps the bombs had blown out his ear-drums.

William approached him.

“It’s free, you know,” he said, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any money. Go and ask them for something to eat.”

The soldier looked up at him. In the stark light of the street-lamp overhead, his face looked angular and almost gaunt. He said nothing.

A faint memory stirred. Darkness on the open water. The crowded row-boat, returning in defeat from its failed attempt to cross the Channel. The torpedo striking and the destroyer sinking, dragging down hundreds of souls with it. The desperate survivors swimming and thrashing about. He’d picked up a few along the way, until the overcrowding had forced him to stop.

He hadn’t registered their faces - the night had been pitch-black, and besides, they were just a handful of souls amid thousands, their faces no more memorable than anyone else’s. But perhaps one of them had sat in the same way, hugging his knees with the same defensiveness, frowning with the same large eyes. Keeping his head down, as if he were trying to hide his face - trying to go unnoticed.

Then the memory drifted away and was soon forgotten.

“Here.” William held out the food. “Have some. It’s still hot.”

The young man saw the chips, sitting in the crumpled newspaper like precious chicks in a nest. He glanced up at William, seeking confirmation that he was allowed to eat, or perhaps reassurance that this wasn’t a trick. William nodded encouragingly, and the young man snatched the paper from his hands. He began to devour the limp chips and crispy lumps of fried batter as if he hadn’t eaten in a week. He probably hadn’t.

“Good to be back, eh?” said William.

The soldier stayed silent. While he chewed, his shadowy eyes flitted around at the milling soldiers. Tentatively, he reached one hand in the pocket of his khaki jacket, withdrew a crumpled scrap of paper, and held it out. It looked like it was probably torn from a nurse’s clipboard. He’d tried to smooth out the wrinkles, but the writing on it remained barely legible. It was one word, scrawled in a shaky hand:

G i b s o n

“Gibson, eh?” said William. “Lost your voice, did you? That’s alright. It’ll come back.”

Gibson hastily stuffed the scribbled note back in his pocket, as if afraid that somebody else might see it. There were a few chips left in the newspaper. He offered them back to William.

“No, keep it. I’m not too hungry. I should go.”

William meandered aimlessly away from the chippy, thinking nothing of the encounter that had just happened. But he hadn’t gone more than a block when the sound of aggressive, raised voices made him glance back.

“You! I thought I told you to fuck off!”

There was a commotion outside the chippy. The dark-haired soldier had risen to his feet, and was backing away from four or five angry soldiers.

“Fucking Frog! You aren’t one of us.” They snatched the greasy newspaper from Gibson’s hands and threw it on the ground, scattering what was left of the chips. “Get the fuck out of here! Don’t let me see you around here again!”

At first, William simply stood and watched without much interest. The mayhem and carnage he’d witnessed over the past month had been difficult to comprehend, and the sight of a few men having an argument outside a chippy was a staple of British life.

But then one of the soldiers shoved Gibson, and Gibson retreated in fear, hugging his jacket around him for warmth and security. The sight broke William out of his torpor. He was an officer, a leader, and these men were fighting each other for no apparent reason. It was his duty to step in.

“Stop!” he barked as he strode towards them, hating the way his voice cracked from strain. “What’s the problem here?”

“He’s the problem! He don’t belong here.” One of the soldiers gave Gibson another rough push.

“Settle down,” William commanded, “Haven’t you seen enough fighting already?”

“You don’t get it. He’s a Frog. He robbed that uniform off some poor bastard, and jumped the line to save his own skin.”

“Is that true?” William turned to look at the silent Gibson. “Did you rob an Englishman?”

Gibson said nothing.

“He belongs back on that fucking beach,” the irate soldier continued. “He’s got no right to be here.”

“How do you know all this, anyway?” said William.

“Because we saved this bastard’s life! We saw a fishing trawler going down, men jumping off, so we went over to help. By the time we got there, the survivors had already been picked up by other boats. But we found this one clinging to the debris - he was the last one out, and there was no space left for him. They were just passing him by. He’d lost his mind, raving like a madman. Probably thought we’d pass him by too. We should have!”

He spat at Gibson’s feet, causing the Frenchman to flinch back.

“We fished him out of the water, tried to calm him down, asked him his name. Then we realised he was babbling in French. Français this and Français that. He had British tags on - Gibson, they said - but that was a fucking lie. We should’ve thrown him right back in the sea! Only reason we didn’t was because we’d wasted enough time already. We couldn’t sit around discussing it. If we could’ve, we - ”

“He wanted to survive, like all of us. Why are our lives worth more than theirs?”

“But he’s a dirty little coward. He - ”

“Enough,” William interjected. “He committed a theft, not a murder. What’s done is done. All that matters is that we’re back home, with dry land under our feet, food in our bellies, and no Luftwaffe flying over us.”

“But sir, he don’t deserve to be here. Think of our lad who could’ve survived, but died because this fucking Frog stole his spot on the boat. We could have one more Englishman sitting here, but instead we’ve got him. He - ”

“We had a boat too, you know,” William interrupted, “Me and my men. A row boat. We thought if we rowed hard enough, we could make it back across the Channel, back to our families. But it was too crowded. We could barely move under the weight, and it kept getting heavier. More and more men kept climbing onboard - English men, British men, just like us. I forced them back into the water. They had families too, and they deserved to come home just as much as we did. But I pushed them off regardless. I pushed them off so that the rest of us could live. Are you going to throw me back in the sea too?”

They said nothing. Gibson’s eyes were darting around, looking for an escape route, but he didn’t bolt - perhaps afraid of drawing attention back to himself.

“In the morning, we found another boat - a better one, stronger and bigger. We tried again to cross the Channel, but a torpedo struck us. I was left alone on the water. Of all the men on that boat, I was the only one who survived. Not because I deserved it more, but because I was lucky. That’s the only difference between this Frenchman and our dead English lads - he was lucky. You could have one less soldier sitting here, but instead you’ve got him. Be glad for him. Now be on your way.”

Begrudgingly, the soldiers left, shooting sullen glares at Gibson as they passed him. William watched them disappear into the crowd, making sure that they were truly gone, then turned to look at Gibson. The Frenchman appeared uninjured and mostly unshaken.

“You should consider leaving too,” William said. “The next ones who take issue with you might not be as amenable.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away, leaving Gibson standing alone under the street-lamp.

Chapter 2: Un Homme, Deux Ombres

[girlreviews]

Review #128: A Night At The Opera, Queen

Growing up in England, Queen and their songs are just part of life. I kind of love thinking about how a tiny little island has so much of its own art, music, and culture, and how when you step away from it you see how quirky and cool it is. Queen and their hits are still on heavy rotation on the radio, get people dancing at parties and big events, and every Millennial has probably seen the We Will Rock You musical 20 times.

So how is it that I had never actually listened to a single Queen album from start to finish? I since learned I am far from alone on this. Most of us haven’t! It makes sense. Everyone has the Greatest Hits album, and that’s what they know.

I was DELIGHTED by A Night At The Opera. Queen in their truest form, the most British sounding record ever. Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon is silly, whimsical, operatic, has a Kinks vibe, and lets you appreciate the harmonizing ooooohs and aaaahs that are signature.

Every song has its own persona and they’re all really different, but you can hear how they informed later Queen — the rhythm in ‘39 reminds me of Fat Bottom Girls. It’s different but it is just a glimpse into future paths of future songs. It’s the kick drum I think. It’s also completely beautiful, folky, gentle and whistful. But like they do, they overlay their melodic solos and the rich backing vocals so you end up with what sounds like Simon & Garfunkel if they got stuck at a pub lock in and forgot they were American.

Guitars and their solos sound like they are singing, answering the vocal melody. They really just weave between lighthearted and snarling serious. There is an entire song that is really big and brash that’s literally a love letter to a car. I really feel that, even though I drive a Prius hatchback. I AM in love with my car, and finally a song exists that acknowledges that love. Okay the song has existed since 1975, but I didn’t know that. I’m a late adopter I guess. In this track Freddie is singing about breaking up with his girlfriend so he can be in love with his car. I’m sort of inspired by the idea that one can be complete with nothing more than the freedom and autonomy of a car. It’s tongue in cheek for sure but that’s what’s beautiful about music — it can mean anything to anyone. I can listen to it sincerely if I want to.

You’re My Best Friend is still so sweet, and musically wonderful. What better way to express love and gratitude to someone than by a song in which you tell someone “you make me live”. I love it. It’s charming. It’s such a simple but deep sentiment.

I can’t help but hear The Kinks in these more whimsical songs, like Seaside Rendezvous, it’s the tinkery piano, the vocal effects, I swear this song actually DOES feature a kazoo or something similar. It’s got big Victorian seaside holiday energy. I can’t imagine that’s not what they were going for. It’s so British. It’s so unique. It’s so much more complicated than you initially hear. There’s so much to unpack in every song.

Okay, so Bohemian Rhapsody came to us via this record. Most of us heard it later when it was re-released and popularized by Wayne’s World in the 90s. Obviously it’s iconic and that’s why my mother and her girlfriends went out one night and on the way home Bohemian Rhapsody came on the radio. They got pulled over and questioned about their sobriety because they were witnessed recreating the scene in the car with Wayne and Garth. They were just rocking out.

I heard Bohemian Rhapsody REALLY young. I have vivid memories of sitting in the backseat hearing it and just being totally moved by it. I realize now it’s mostly because I heard it and understood it to be true and autobiographical. I sat and despaired that Freddie Mercury’s mother killed a man and now he’s gone and thrown it all away. I was so sad. I thought it was all true and happened. I got teary-eyed whenever it came on. I was a very sensitive child, if you couldn’t tell, and it wasn’t unusual for me to be moved to tears by music and words, even when I was tiny. That hasn’t changed much, either. I often wonder or wish that I could experience this song through someone else’s ears. What might they notice that I don’t? How might they feel?

I have a friend that shares my love of just going for a drive for no reason to look around and get lost. We often stick Bohemian Rhapsody on to lift our spirits and snap us out of a funk. It’s all the things and covers all emotions. It’s genuinely a journey, and honestly the entire record leading up to it is a journey too. Literally, like a night out at the opera.

[misscrawfords]

British seaside holidays for the reverse unpopular opinion ask meme (as I'm currently in Whitby haha)

This is easy as I love British seaside holidays. Here are some things I love about them:

no formality on the beach - no rows of umbrellas and charges and timings for swimming... You just put your towel down wherever you want and do whatever you want

The sea is cold and wild and wonderful and my favourite place on earth

Fish and chips

Ice-cream

Seagulls

The beautiful, beautiful coastline and wild nature as well as the quaint towns and villages

Foreign tourists are not interested

Those little mini trains that sometimes go along parts of the coastline

Walking to the end of a pier

Stone harbours and fishing boats

Walks along the coastal footpaths

Sunset over the sea

Pubs

All those tacky beach shops and slot machine arcades and cafes

Everywhere is full of sand. EVERYWHERE.

What's not to like?? My seaside mini holidays this year will be to Wales and I cannot wait!

Enjoy Whitby! It's been years since I've been and it's so nice... Love the photos so far!

[daggersandarrows]

in the six years that i've been listening to the no sleep podcast, i mostly just let it all wash over me. there are ones that i enjoyed for sure, like i absolutely love the british seaside pub saga, and i'm fond of apocalypse stories, poe reimaginings, urban legends with a twist, whatever. but a lot of the time i just listen and i'm like. mm. alright. that was okay i guess. i just really adore the voice actors (especially nicole goodnight) and it's familiar and idk it's become a comfort podcast at this point. HAVING SAID THAT. there are some stories from some episodes that slammed me against the wall by my neck and held me there in a vice grip while the air drained from my lungs. and those are:

grey, the whistlers, the suicide stitch,

and most recently for reason that i couldn't even begin to explain, pigfoot. what the fuck. why was this so fucking good. someone explain. WHY IS PIGFOOT A PERFECT HORROR STORY.

[breelandwalker]

Hey :) For the autumn/Halloween asks:

flannel— do you prefer sweaters, hoodies, cardigans, or zip-up jackets?

rainy— what's your favorite scary book or movie? why?

flannel— do you prefer sweaters, hoodies, cardigans, or zip-up jackets?

Sweaters, hoodies, and cardigans, YES. I love a good floppy frumpy sweater or a cardigan big enough to curl up in. And I love an oversized hoodie, to the point that I once demanded one from my husband for Christmas. ("Wear it for a week, then put it in a box for me." "....You want me to buy a hoodie for myself just so you can steal it?" "Yes, I'm glad we're on the same page.")

Zip-up jackets, less so? I have nothing against them, it's just that all my heavier coats have buttons.

rainy— what’s your favorite scary book or movie? why?

How does one choose a favorite star in the heavens?

For movies, there are quite a few. My favorite overall is Trick 'R' Treat and Lil Sam is my tiny spooky Halloween baby. Other perennial darlings include The Lost Boys, Dog Soldiers, Lake Mungo, Sleepy Hollow, Van Helsing, Army of Darkness, and several more that I can't think of because my brain is a sieve. But I'm happy to go on a tear about horror movie tropes and history and why I love them.

There were a handful of Dean Koontz books that I wore to shreds as a teenager. Shadowfires is probably my favorite of these, since it was the first proper modern horror novel I ever read and loved enough to read again. Watchers and From The Corner Of His Eye hold places of honor on my shelf as well. Coraline is a long-standing spooky favorite read for very different reasons, not least of which is that I love Neil Gaiman's work and that the whole premise of the story is that children often nonchalantly bear things that would reduce adults to gibbering wrecks.

I haven't read much horror lately. Most of my consumption of literary horror has come through podcasts in recent years, mostly because I don't have a lot of time to sit down and read, but I can listen to things all day while I'm working or cleaning. The No Sleep Podcast has produced some real bangers, including "A Seaside British Pub" by C.M. Scandreth and the "Dearest Summer" series by Marcus Damanda, which I understand is now published as a novel.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐍 & 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬

[georgebuckettwo]

“Ticket to Ride” // The Beatles

In Paul McCartney’s eyes, the song is just about a British Railways ticket to Ryde, a seaside town where his cousin owned a pub. But in Lennon’s raunchier eyes, it was about the girls who worked the streets in Hamburg who would get a card from medical authorities signifying they had a clean bill of health aka a “ticket to ride.”

[robertleechestateagents]

Our 6 Favourite Beaches in the South East

With the temperature rising and summer nearly upon us – who doesn’t love a trip to the coast. Here are our favourite spots.

Camber Sands, East Sussex

Camber Sands is a truly gorgeous stretch of golden beach and sand dunes. At nearly 5 miles long, there will always be somewhere to lay your beach towel. The best section of beach is the western end, near where the River Rother empties into the sea. Here it is wall to wall sand, whilst further along the beach it becomes more shingly.

It’s a popular windsurfing / kite-surfing spot which might suggest it is worth packing a windbreak! Despite its fantastic natural assets, Camber Sands remains largely unspoilt. For the larger part of the year, there is a good chance of finding some solitude here and even in the height of summer the crowds are bearable.

Dog friendly? – Dogs are allowed all year but between May and September they must be on a lead and restricted between beach Zones F & H.

Travel time – Approx 1hr 30mins from RH2

West Wittering, West Sussex

A firm favourite with most of the office is the beautiful beach at West Wittering. Unfortunately, it is also a firm favourite with most of the south-east so make sure you set off early to avoid the traffic.

Offering wonderful views of Chichester Harbour and the South Downs beyond, the natural and unspoilt sandy beach of West Wittering is the perfect spot for a day at the beach. The extensive acres of neatly mown grass close to the beach are perfect for parking and picnics. The sea is popular with wind and kite surfers, while shallow lagoons are left on extensive sandy flats at low tide. The whole area is internationally recognised for its wildlife, birds and unique beauty.

Dog friendly? Bins are provided and dog free zones are in place from May to September.

Travel time – Approx 1hr 30mins from RH2

Ferring, West Sussex

This is one of our closest beaches and it’s a real hidden gem. Located between Worthing and Goring on the Sussex coast, Ferring is primarily a pebbly beach but if you go at low tide the sands seem to go on for miles. The beach starts at the Bluebird Cafe a great spot for brunch / lunch or a sundowner – you can also park here. The beach is very dog friendly with no restrictions at any time of year. This part of the coast is popular with kitesurfers and windsurfers and you can swim here. There are no lifeguards on duty, but coastal wardens are on patrol in the holidays. You can ride horses on this beach, and you will often see them riding along the seashore.

Dog friendly? Yep!

Travel time – About 50mins from RH2

Broadstairs, Kent

On the East Coast of Kent Broadstairs is a gem a town, full of seaside charm mixed with seaside chic and it boasts an impressive seven sand-filled beaches and bays. Head to Joss Bay to learn to surf, or rural Botany Bay to saunter amid towering chalk stacks. At the town’s main beach, Viking Bay, discover children’s rides, beach huts, Kent Surf School, a harbour and cliff-top promenade. Check out Morellis, the retro ice cream parlour along the promenade which has been open since 1932.

Dog friendly? During the summer months there are time restrictions on most of the beaches between 10am-6pm

Travel time – About 1hr 30 from RH2

Whitstable, Kent

The chic seaside town of Whitstable, on the North Kent Coast, has been a longtime favourite location for Londoners to get away from it all. The beach itself is a long stretch of shingle divided up by wooden groynes. It runs from just south of the town’s harbour to neighbouring Seasalter -a distance of around a mile, where you will find the The Sportsman, the well renowned and Michelin starred pub.

Despite the lack of sand Whitstable is still a fantastic spot. It represents the best of the traditional British seaside; not piers and donkey rides, but quirkiness and charm. There are beach huts, weatherboard cottages, fishing boats pulled up on the beach and the Neptune pub sits practically on the beach. There are a few other places to grab a bite to eat along the beach too, including the Whitstable Oyster Company restaurant if you fancy something a little upmarket.

Whitstable beach is popular for windsurfing and sailing, with the Whitstable Yacht Club located at the northern end.

To top this all off Whitstable beach faces west meaning it is a great place to catch a sunset.

Dog friendly? Yep!

Travel time – About 1hr 30 from RH2

Dungeness, Kent

Don’t expect your usual ‘beach trip’ as it’s impossible to escape the sense of having reached the end of the world when you get to Dungeness. This tiny fishing town, at the southernmost point of Kent, is very different from the ‘Garden of England’ of the imagination. Instead of bucolic homes and village greens, you’ll find a stark, wild landscape. The vast shingle desert headland is overlooked by the imposing Dungeness Nuclear Power Station but is renowned for its unique beauty, from its weathered wood cabins to its abandoned fishing boats – not to mention the wildlife that thrives there. It is also home to Prospect Cottage and its beautiful garden – former home of Derek Jarman, the film producer. Its bleak, beautiful and I love it.

Dog friendly? Yes

Travel time – Approx 1 hr 50 mins from RH2

Original article - https://www.robertleech.com/our-6-favourite-beaches-in-the-south-east/

[hopping-bug]

UK School Holidays Calendar 2023 Template (United Kingdom)

In this guide, we'll delve into the best ways to make the most of UK school holidays, ensuring a perfect blend of adventure, education, and relaxation.

The United Kingdom is a land steeped in history, culture, and natural beauty, making it an ideal destination for unforgettable school holidays. With its diverse regions, each offering unique attractions and experiences, families have endless opportunities to create lasting memories.

Here you can checkout UK school holidays.

1. Cultural Immersion:

The UK boasts a rich cultural heritage that can be explored during school holidays. London, with its world-class museums and iconic landmarks, offers educational adventures that cater to all ages. The British Museum, National Gallery, and Tate Modern are hubs of art and history, providing interactive exhibits and workshops designed to engage young minds. Meanwhile, Edinburgh's historic charm, complete with the Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile, offers a glimpse into Scotland's past.

2. Coastal Retreats:

The UK's coastline is dotted with charming seaside towns and stunning beaches that come to life during school holidays. Cornwall, with its golden sands and quaint villages, is a family favorite. Explore the captivating rock pools, embark on coastal hikes, and indulge in freshly caught seafood. For a more rugged experience, the Scottish Highlands offer breathtaking landscapes and opportunities for outdoor activities like kayaking, wildlife spotting, and hiking.

3. Historic Landmarks:

Delve into the UK's rich history by visiting its historic landmarks. UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Stonehenge and Bath's Roman Baths provide an immersive journey into the past. Engage in guided tours that unravel stories of ancient civilizations, allowing children to connect with history in an interactive and memorable way.

4. Nature Escapes:

The UK's lush countryside offers numerous opportunities for families to connect with nature. The Lake District's serene lakes, rolling hills, and charming villages make it a perfect retreat for outdoor enthusiasts. Activities such as boating, cycling, and horse riding provide a fun way to explore the natural beauty while staying active.

5. Adventure Parks:

During school holidays, the UK's adventure parks come alive with excitement. Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor, and Chessington World of Adventures are just a few options that offer thrilling rides, interactive exhibits, and live entertainment. These parks combine education with entertainment, ensuring that children learn while having fun.

6. Cultural Festivals:

Throughout the year, the UK hosts a multitude of cultural festivals that align with school holidays. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, for instance, is a celebration of arts, music, and performance that takes place in August. Attending such festivals exposes children to a variety of art forms, fostering creativity and cultural appreciation.

7. Wildlife Encounters:

The UK's diverse ecosystems provide ample opportunities for wildlife encounters. From the marine life of the Scottish islands to the birdwatching havens along the Norfolk coast, families can learn about and connect with the country's native species. Consider joining guided nature walks and workshops to enhance the educational aspect of these experiences.

Twin Peak boasts an impressive array of mouthwatering options. Whether you’re craving traditional pub fare or something more adventurous, you’ll find a wide selection of appetizers, sliders, and flatbreads to tantalize your taste buds. From crispy buffalo wings to loaded nachos and cheesy quesadillas, the menu offers a perfect blend of classic and innovative flavors.

Conclusion:

The United Kingdom's school holidays present families with a multitude of opportunities to explore, learn, and bond. Whether you're fascinated by history, enthralled by nature, or captivated by cultural experiences, the UK has something for everyone. By embracing the country's rich heritage, natural wonders, and diverse attractions, families can create treasured memories that will be cherished for years to come. So, when school holidays arrive, consider the UK as your gateway to an enriching and unforgettable family adventure.

[readingforsanity]

I Found You | Lisa Jewell | Published 2016 | *SPOILERS*

In a windswept British seaside town, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and now idea how he got there. Against her better judgement, she invites him inside. 

Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, 21 year old Lily Monroe has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed. 

23 years earlier, Gary and Kristy are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. Their annual trip to the quaint seaside town is passing by uneventfully, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gary uncomfortable - and it’s not just that he’s playing the role of protective older brother. 

Two decades of secrets, a missing husband, and a man with no memory are at the heart of this brilliant new novel, filled with the beautiful writing, believable characters, pacey narrative and dark secrets that make Lisa Jewell so beloved by audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Alice, a 41-year-old mother of 3, finds a strange man on the beach outside of her cottage during a rainstorm. Concerned, she brings him a coat that once belonged to a tenant of hers, and goes about her day. However, when she returns, she still sees him sitting outside in the rain. Alice offers him food, a drink, a hot shower and a place to sleep, which is thankfully, albeit reluctantly, accepts. 

Unsure of who he is, where he is, how he got there, amongst other things, Alice’s youngest child, Romaine, dubs him Frank. Frank is suffering from what Alice later finds out as memory loss, or of a fugue state. Something traumatic has happened in Frank’s life that has brought on this sudden memory loss, and has led him to the small seaside village of Ridinghouse Bay. 

Back in London, we are introduced to Lily Monrose. Newly married to Carl, a financial adviser, she is becoming increasingly worried after her husband doesn’t return home from work despite having heard from him. She calls him continously, until finally her calls stop connecting indicating that his phone has died. She reports him as missing to the police. Lily, a Ukrainain, has only been married to Carl for a few weeks, and their love story happened quickly. She is young, 21, to his 40 years of age. In a country wher she knows no one else, she is finding it difficult to cope. 

With flashbacks set in 1993 in perspective as well, we are introduced to the Ross family. Tony and Pam, with their two children Gray and Kirsty. Gray, 17, is having a hard time coming to terms with his younger sister’s, 15, growing up. She is blossoming into a young woman. When they meet a seemingly kind stranger on the beach who invites them to his aunt’s posh home on the cliff’s, Mark Tate, 19, Gray struggles as he is thinking there is something off with Mark. They meet Mark’s aunt, Kitty, and Kirsty even goes to the fair with Mark after they agreed to meet up later. Gray follows them, and sees his sister’s first kiss occur before his eyes. But something changes. Kirsty begins to balk at Mark’s advances, and begins to avoid him. Gray tells Mark that Kirsty appears to be no longer interested, but things change quickly. 

After dinner at a pub, Gray is invited back to Mark’s aunt’s house for a small get together with friends from his hometown, including Izzy, who performed at the pub that evening and Gray has taken a liking too. They go back to Gray’s home and bring Kirsty along with them. They find themselves deep in a mix of alcohol and drugs for the first time. They attempt to go off on their own to find the peacocks that Mark’s aunt keeps in the garden, but Mark attacks them, keeping them hostage in a room on the upper floor. Gray and Kirsty fight back, and after stabbing him with a knife he was using to keep them hostage, Kirsty and Gray run for their lives, eventually running into their dad on the beach. However, Mark has also caught up with them and takes Kirsty and throws himself over the edge of the cliff into the sea below. Gray and Tony attempt to find them and rescue them both, but Tony is plagued by a sudden, and fatal, heart attack. 

Gray is found next to his father’s body, his first bought of memory loss occurring as he couldn’t remember who he was, who his father was, or the circumstances that led him there. After days of searching, both Mark and Kirsty are believed to have drowned. 

Frank begins to spend more time with Alice and her children. Jasmine, the oldest, is hesitant to be around him, as he has clearly come from somewhere and may have a life waiting for him, including a wife and children of his own. But, she quickly comes around, as does her middle child, a son named Kai. Romaine has taken to Frank quite quickly, as does Alice’s three dogs. The more time he spends in Ridinghouse Bay, the more he begins to remember, and the more he begins to believe that he isn’t a good person and that he may have killed someone. 

The morning that he is meant to be taken to the police station by Alice, they’re out for coffees when Lily walks in. Having come to Ridinghouse in an attempt to find Carl’s mother whom she has never met but spoke to on the phone, she is looking around for any information she can find. Alice introduces herself, and thinks that this may all be connected somehow. Luckily, Lily doesn’t recognize Frank. 

Derry, Alice’s best friend, hears back from a journalist who reported on the story back in 1993, and they meet. And it all begins to come back to Frank. He is a maths teacher, and during an outing with some of his students for a competition, he saw Mark Tate, long since believed to have drowned 22 years ago. Taking a leave of absence from work, he begins stalking Mark, eventually taking him hostage in the abandoned apartment complex next to his home. It is here that Mark confesses everything: he had attempted to save Kirsty, but was unable to, and that she simply faded away from him in the sea. He called his aunt for help, and he has been in hiding ever since. Frank, turns out to be Graham “Gray” Ross. His anger gets the best of him and the last thing he can remember clearly is strangling Mark before his mind goes blank. 

Lily phones Carl’s friend Russ, who goes to the building but Carl isn’t there any longer. They are back at square one. Lily, Alice, Frank and the journalisst Lesley, go to the white house on the cliff’s where the attack on Gray and Kirsty occurred so long ago. They find an address for Kitty, and they go to her home. She allows Frank and Alice inside, nobody else, and confesses the actual truth: 

She received a call from Mark at 1 AM that morning stating  he had been in trouble. She knew this call would be coming, as he had had a troubled upbringing before being adopted by her sister and brother-in-law. After an incident that occurred with Mark’s older sister’s friend, his parents decided to abandon him at 18, when he began to live with Kitty and her husband. Their relationship was fine, until her husband passed away and Mark thought it was Kitty’s fault. Kitty, growing tired of his antics, was trying to get away from him, but then, Mark met Kirsty and it appeared to be turning around until Kirsty decided that she no longer wanted to be involved. When Kitty received the call, she found him on the beach injured, hypothermic. She also located Kirsty’s body, where she was unconscious but breathing. Mark attacked his aunt at this point, telling her that she needs to get them out of there. Unfortunately, Kirsty died on the way back to Kitty’s homestead. For two days, they expected the police to appear at any given moment, but when they didn’t, Mark buried Kirsty in the garden of the home and Kitty placed a rose bush to mark where she was laid to rest. 

When they meet back up with Lily and Lesley, and the story is retold, Lily decides that her marriage to this Carl, who was never really Carl to begin with, was over. She reports to the police who are working on his missing persons case what has unfolded. When she returns to London, she begins living with Russ and his wife to care for their new baby, and she will continue to take her abroad accounting classes she was pursuing before everything went down. 

Frank and Alice remain close, and he explains to her that now that he has regained his memories, he will be going to therapy and placing himself in an in-patient psychiatric ward in order to figure himself out. They agree to speak when he is able too, and that Alice will attend the funeral they have planned for his sister once he is better. 

At the end of the novel, Alice comes to London in order to bury Kirsty. Frank is happy, though he is now preferring to go by Graham, the person he was always meant to be. He and Alice continue to discuss the potential for them to have a relationship with each other, so long as they can handle each others baggage. It appears that they both can, and a happily ever after for Graham and Alice is in the works. 

Discussion Questions 

1. Before they ever speak, Gray has a decidedly negative impression of Mark. His family chalks it up to jealousy and possessiveness. How big a role do you think those biases played in shaping Gray’s apprehension around Mark? Is it possible to determine when you should trust your instincts and when you are being unfairly prejudicial? How might you tell the difference? I think it was a mix of both instinct and possessiveness. He has watched his sister grow, and it’s hard for anyone, siblings included, to watch your younger counterpart blossom into a young man or a young woman. To see them do things that you yourself want to do, like relationships and sex and intimacy. In this case, Gray’s apprehension of Mark turned out to be for good reason. 

2. Mark reveals his jealousy of Gray and Kirsty when he says, “you live in your lovely, cozy little mummy-daddy-brother-sister bubble. Did it surprise you that Gray’s envy and resentment was reciprocated? Considering what we learn about Mark’s family background, did you feel sympathy for him? Why or why not? I feel no sympathy for Mark, because despite what he had growing up, he was brought into a home that was more than willing to love him and he chose to not accept it. He was close with Kitty, but he blamed her for her husband’s death despite her not having anything to do with it. But, it’s normal for two people to be jealous of the other, to have what the other has. We likely wouldn’t even know, except when being told. I’ve felt jealousy for my friends, for wanting the lives they live. Or even celebrities or people I don’t know. That’s the harmful part of the technology age. Though for Gray and Mark, this was a face-to-face jealousy that turned deadly. 

3. Gray notes that there were plenty of girls on the beach who were, by appearances, a better match for Mark, and who weren’t accompanied by their families. What do you think initially attracted Mark to Kristy? Why was his attention drawn to her rather than other women on the beach? Discuss. If Lily is any indication, Mark appears to like younger woman. Maybe it is their vulnerability or their innocence, but he never seemed to be interested in any one his own age. I think he liked to be the one to take that innocence away from them, which is actually quite charateristic of a psychopath. To want to take something from them that they’ll never get back, but that he’ll get to keep forever. 

4. When asked about how Carl treated her, Lily says “he worshipped me...it’s more than love. It’s obsession. Later, he writes her a letter saying “i love you more than I have ever loved anyone or anything in my whole stupid life.” Do you believe he loved her? Why or why not? I believe he did love her. Mark has the capacity to love and be loved back. But, it’s like he doesn’t know what to do with it once he has received it, or in Kirsty’s case, it was reciprocated. He turns into a crazy person. But, I do believe he did love Lily, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone through the motions with her. Same with his first wife. He wouldn’t have gone through with marrying her if he hadn’t loved her. 

5. After discovering what Frank did before he lost his memory, Alice chooses to forgive him. Would you have forgiven him if you were in her position? Absolutely. Frank’s anger and ultimate kidnapping of Mark was entirely justified in my eyes. Contrary to popular belief in this day and age, I totally agree with people who are the victims in tragedies being allowed to take out their hatred and revenge on the people who have wronged them, only in extreme cases like Kirsty and Gray’s. Kirsty was sexual assaulted, and Gray was there to witness it. He had every right to want to protect his sister’s livelihood, and eventually, her death. 

6. Both Lily and Alice are attracted to men who have done terrible things in their past, and feel on some level they shouldn’t love anymore. In what ways do these two loves parallel each other? In what ways are they portrayed differently frome each other. Compare and contrast, discussing the reasons behind these similarities and differences. They love the people they have come to know, and despite the people that they learn the person they love is. For Lily, she couldn’t handle the fact that the person she ultimately married was a rapist or even capable of doing something that he had done. But, she is smart, and left. For Alice, she is basically me. She believes that Frank had the right to do what he had to do in order to fight for his sister. 

7. When Lily reports her husband’s disappearance to the police, she pretends to understand what a policewoman is saying because she’s already sure this woman thinks she is an idiot. Discuss with your group examples from your own life in which you saw or experienced someone making assumptions about intelligence as a result of cultural or langauge barriers. Have you ever inadvertently made similar assumptions yourself? Absolutely I have. It’s human nature to pass judgement on someone you don’t know. For Lily and the policewoman, the policewoman only sees a young woman who married a man from outside of her country: he an Englishman and she is from Ukraine. It is easy to believe that there was something more sinister there, maybe she was only marrying him for his money, or to gain access to the country. 

And I’m absolutely sure someone has passed judgement on me withotu getting to know me. In fact, people have told me before. A few years ago, I worked for a car dealership, and worked in a tiny office with three other girls. At first, it was just me and my co-worker answering phones, but when it got to be too busy for just the two of us to handle, they brought in extra help. One of the girls told me she was afraid of me because I didn’t seem like a nice person. And it’s true. I come off as someone who is not nice because I’m protecting myself. But, the truth of the matter is, I’m a fairly easy person to get along with, and don’t have that many expectations out of my friends. 

8. In response to Alice offering a lost stranger a jacket, her friend Derry tells her not to get involved. Repeatedly throughout the novel, various characters question whether Alice’s geneorsity is adviseable, or if she is unwisely endangering her family. Did you see her actions as kind, or foolish? If the stranger had turned out to be Lily’s missing husband, would that have changed your ultimate opinion of Alice? Where would you draw the line between being charitable and leaving yourself overly vulnerable? I thought Alice was being kind. She saw someone who seemed to be in peril and wanted to help. And simply offering him a jacket isn’t the worst thing in the world to do. However, they have alluded to problems with men in the past when it comes to Alice, of which she admits. All three of her children have different dads, and some of them have even been criminals themselves, and she knows she is not the best judgement of men in her life, and for the last 6 years, has basically kept to herself. But in this case, Alice finds herself a true gem. He just needed to find himself first. 

9. When Frank is trying to remember who he is, some of his memories are more accessible than others. For example, he is unable to remember to cut a bagel in half before toasting it, but he quickly rediscovers his ability to draw. Which of your memories or talents do you think would remain or be easily regained if you forget who you were? Oh gosh, I’m not sure. I don’t really have any talents to begin with other than being an OK singer. I would hope I was never in the position to lose any of my memories. They’re too precious to me. 

10. Lily unabashedly describes herself as a very dark person. What do you think she means by that? Do you think that is an accurate self-assessment? Do you consider yourself or any of your loved ones dark people? Lily was the most god-awful character until the end. She was brusque and didn’t give a damn about anyone other than herself. I understand she’s in a new country with nobody around. But simple kindness goes a long way for the majority of people. 

11. Frank insists that he is not as bad a person as Mark, saying his actions “makes me wrong, but it doesn’t make me a monster. Do you agree with this statement? Are there circumstances in which revenge - even violence - is justified? If so, where do you think the line should be drawn? How do you differentiate justification and simply the motive for a crime? Go back a few questions, and I actually answered this one. However, I do agree with Frank’s statement. His actions do not make him a monster. 

12. Mark’s aunt says of his parents, they thought they could heal all wounds and make up for all the hurt and unfortunately they were wrong. It was hardwired. Do you agree that there is a ponit in a child’s life when it is too late to heal the effects of trauma, or to rehabiliate selfish and destructive behavior? Whether you agree or disagree, what do you think Mark’s family could have done differnetly to help? No, I don’t agree with this. Do I agree that Mark likely went through something horrible as a child that left him in foster care or the system to eventual adoption? Absolutely. But, what he went through in his past does not give him permission to do the nasty things he did as an adult. Therapy, drugs...there are so many options out there for people who are dealing with traumas of all kinds. Mark could have gotten him the help that he needed, or Kitty could have taken him for the help that he desperately needed, but instead, his parents, Kitty, everyone around him chose to ignore it and hoped it would go away “when he met a nice girl”. Meeting someone and having a relationship with them does not solve the problems. 

13. One of the major themes I Found You contents with is how our memories shape us as people. Are there aspects of our personalities that are innate? Do our memories determine who we are attracted to, as Frank wonders when he questions whether he would have been attracted to Alice if he met her before his fugue state? Are some perosnal attributes more or less impacted by our experiences than others? Discuss. I think Frank and Alice would have been attracted to each other, regardless of his fugue state or not. He was still attracted to her even after his memories were restored, so I have no doubt in my mind if they had met under different circumstances, the end result would have been the same. 

But, I think memories help determine who we’re attracted to, but isn’t the endgame of it all. I’m attracted to my husband because he is strong, independent...something that my mother and father were not. So, essentially, I have daddy issues and my husband is helping to “fix” them, in a way. However, can I be independent without my husband? Absolutely. I’ve done it, in one respect during his deployment a few years ago, and every month and every year when he is away for military duty. It’s a bit harder for me now, as I don’t work and have no means to take care of myself or my children WITHOUT him, but that’s not saying I couldn’t find a way to make it work should something happen between him and I, and he wouldn’t leave our kids high and dry, though I likely wouldn’t be as lucky. LOL. 

But, personal attributes and experiences definitely have more of an effect than others. For me, my own personal traumas and experiences have essentially led me to live the life I live now, and I’m not perfect. But I’m hoping to end the cycle of childhood trauma with my own children, though I myself am a work in progress. 

[edharrisdaily]

Filming Eugene O’Neill When the Elements (and Investors) Don’t Cooperate

Starring Jessica Lange and Ed Harris, Jonathan Kent’s adaptation of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” started production, only to lose key financing.

WICKLOW, Ireland — “Strong winds, gradually subsiding” read the call sheet.

Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, and Jonathan Kent, the director of the forthcoming film version of Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” were standing in a rehearsal room here in early November, listlessly running through lines. Harris, playing James Tyrone, an aging former matinee idol, touched his toes and did squats as he spoke, while Lange, playing his fragile, morphine-addicted wife, Mary, flitted distractedly around the room.

Producers and assistants, phones glued to ears, bustled in and out, anxiously monitoring the stormy weather that prevented the cast and crew from heading to the set: a house modeled on the Monte Cristo Cottage in Connecticut, the seaside home of O’Neill’s family that provides the setting of this autobiographical play.

The go-ahead came several hours later. The shoot finished close to midnight as Kent and the cast tried to push through the day’s packed schedule.

It wasn’t the first storm the production had weathered, literally and metaphorically. One day after filming began on Sept. 19, the lead producer, Gabrielle Tana, discovered that their biggest chunk of financing had fallen through. “I had to go to the set and tell them we were shutting down,” she said.

Tana (whose credits include “Thirteen Lives” and “The Dig”) said it was one of the worst moments of her long career. “I let them know I wasn’t giving up, and was already in conversations with investors,” she said.

During the nail-biting weeks that followed, she spent endless hours in meetings trying to drum up the money. Remarkably, the cast — including Ben Foster and Colin Morgan, playing the Tyrone sons — as well as most of the crew and production team, never wavered in their commitment to the project. A handful of staff members, including the director of photography and some production design workers, weren’t able to stay with the production. The rest waited it out in this coastal region about an hour south of Dublin.

“We were shocked at first, of course,” said Lange, who played Mary Tyrone in 2000 in London, and won a Tony Award for the role in a production directed by Kent that transferred from the West End to Broadway in 2016. “But never once did we think it wasn’t going to happen. We just hung in, went to the pub, took long walks. We really became friends and cared deeply for one another, because we were going through the same thing.” She added, “I think that in some way it added to our intensity and passion for doing this.”

Three weeks of waiting to restart, Harris said, allowed him “to sit back, think about the character, calm down, and just be this dude rather than worrying about playing such a classic, important role.”

The actors also made calls. Foster made a connection to the British theater producer Bill Kenwright, who had worked with Lange on productions of “Long Day’s Journey,” “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “The Glass Menagerie” in the West End and on Broadway.

“I knew we would figure it out,” Foster said. “If we had to do it as a sock puppet show, we’d do that till we raised the money.”

The sock puppet show was averted; Kenwright came through. “He was our knight in shining armor,” Tana said. A few other knights had to be found too, including the film producer Gleb Fetisov.

First adapted for the screen in 1962, “Long Day’s Journey” is Kent’s debut feature. “This is, probably, the greatest American play, the invention of the dysfunctional family drama, and when you do it in the theater, there is a sort of reverence from the audience,” Kent said. “I thought that perhaps with film, one could shred that reverence a bit and allow its rawness and immediacy through.”

Then he factored in current events that coincided, like the opioid epidemic and the coronavirus lockdown. “Here are these four, addicted not just to drugs and alcohol, but to each other, endlessly going over the past, the missed opportunities and failure, trapped in a house by the sea,” he said. “Somehow it felt resonant.”

Lange said that she and Kent first talked about a film version during the Broadway run. “I immediately thought, yes!” she said, adding that Mary Tyrone “gets under your skin like no other character I have ever played; you never come to the end of it. And because of the nature of filmmaking, there is so much more subtlety that can be brought to light: the expression in the eyes, the subtle shift in the voice.”

Tana first heard about the idea when the actor Ralph Fiennes, a friend of Kent’s, asked her to help with the project, which is scheduled for release this fall. She was intrigued and engaged the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire — his “Good People” had been directed by Kent — to adapt the drama, which needed to shrink from an almost-four-hour theatrical event to an under-two-hour film.

“There was never an agenda of ‘Let’s improve this,’” Lindsay-Abaire said in a video call from New York, adding that there isn’t a word of text in the film that wasn’t written by O’Neill. “It was the opposite: Let’s maintain what we love while telling the story in a different medium. It wasn’t using a machete as much as a scalpel. We took the dramatic Hippocratic oath: Do no harm to O’Neill!”

Film, he pointed out, has communication tools that the stage doesn’t have. “You can sometimes replace four lines with a close-up,” he said. “We kept asking, does the character need to say that, or can they just act it?” He and Kent also discussed ways to make the drama more cinematic, by withholding some information that O’Neill reveals early. “Ghosts, hauntings, what is Mary doing up there? We wanted to lean into some mystery, to hint at things and reveal them more slowly,” Lindsay-Abaire said.

Gabriel Byrne, who had starred opposite Lange onstage, was slated to reprise the role, but he fell out due to scheduling conflicts. Tana emailed Ed Harris, who had appeared with Lange in the movie “Sweet Dreams” almost 40 years earlier. He said yes immediately. “As tough as it was when the money fell out, it was the most rewarding film acting experience I’ve had in quite a while,” Harris said. Kent, he added, “gave us the freedom to just be those people — that it wasn’t a sacred text, that this was about human beings, not a dried-up historical piece.”

Kent said that he had considered updating the 1912 setting, but had decided that too many fundamental details would have to be altered. Still, “to the designer’s chagrin, I asked that the costumes not be too ‘period,’” he said. “Whatever the setting, the text makes it a living, contemporary thing.”

Two weeks of rehearsal before the start of the shoot allowed the four main actors to begin to build a family dynamic. “I immediately fell head over heels for my parents,” Foster said, adding that he had brought some foraged greenery from the actual Monte Cristo cottage as a talisman.

“The rehearsal time was all about finding out what might work for character,” Morgan said. “A director who isn’t as theater-versed as Jonathan might work out camera angles first, then what the character does within. But I think the best directors work so that the camera is actor-led, and that’s how Jonathan approached it.”

Then, almost immediately, came the hiatus and a roller coaster of emotions. “The bonding of that time was actually wonderful,” Foster said. “Historically I don’t socialize a lot with fellow actors. But in this case, it really did become a family.”

The difficulty of making the film, Tana said, is indicative of the changing cinematic landscape. “It’s really hard now to make this kind of literary, straightforward, old-school independent movie,” she said. “There is so much value to this: these great, great actors doing a great American play that every kid studying literature will be able to watch. But it’s a sea change moment in our field in the way we access content, how it is monetized, where the resources are.”

Kent agreed that the film goes against the current grain, but added: “We all have mothers, fathers, our terrible sense of failures and disappointments and guilt. I think what we crave from film or theater is truth about our human experience. There is an audience for that.”

[norfolkcoastcamping]

Things to Do in Norfolk

Camping on the Norfolk Coast provides a wide range of alternatives for outdoor enthusiasts of all levels of expertise and interest. Our beachfront campground provides something for everyone, whether you're searching for a place to pitch your tent and create a fire or a campervan/motorhome site with all the facilities.

Beautiful views of the North Sea and Lincolnshire can be had while camping along the Norfolk Coast Camping. This gorgeous environment also offers several chances for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and hiking.

VISIT KINGS LYNN'S HISTORIC TOWN

Kings Lynn is a medieval town in West Norfolk on the River Great Ouse. For centuries, it was one of England's busiest ports, and it is now a bustling market town with plenty to see and do. Kings Lynn has a rich history and many interesting buildings, museums, and monuments to visit. The town center has some wonderful shops and cafes, while the surrounding countryside is ideal for hikes and bike trips.

ESTATE OF SANDRINGHAM

The Sandringham Estate is a 20,000-acre estate near the village of Sandringham in Norfolk, England. The mansion is Elizabeth II's private residence on the royal Sandringham Estate. The estate consists of a historic home, gardens, woodlands, farms, and several additional properties. The house was erected in 1870 and has housed four generations of the British royal family. The Sandringham Flower Show, one of the major horticultural exhibits in the United Kingdom, is also held on the estate. From April through October, the Estate is available to the public.

GO TO HUNSTANTON SEA LIFE SANCTUARY FOR A DAY OUT

Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary is a fantastic place to take the kids! They'll like meeting all of the friendly creatures, which range from penguins to turtles, and there are also plenty of interactive displays. Even the seals can be fed!

VISIT HOUGHTON HALL & GARDENS

Houghton Hall & Gardens is a gorgeous stately mansion located in beautiful gardens. The hall itself is worth seeing, but the gardens are truly spectacular. You could easily spend an entire day exploring the over 30 acres, which include a walled garden, rose garden, and water features.

A WALK ALONG THE NORFOLK COAST

The Norfolk Coast region is a lovely destination to visit, work, and live. It contains a number of well-known and popular beauty places, as well as hidden corners and lovely villages connected by a network of pathways and peaceful rural lanes. You can locate your own peaceful haven away from the bustle of the beaches and seaside towns.

WALK FROM HUNSTANTON TO CROMER ON THE NORFOLK COAST

Norfolk's shoreline is well-known for its bird watching and wildlife reserves. This coastal walk is well-known for its large beaches, sand dunes, salt and freshwater marshes, natural reserves, barrier islands, and abundant bird life. Titchwell Marsh and Snettisham are notable RSPB sites along the coast, as are other National Nature Reserves, including Cley Marshes, Holkham NNR, and Blakeney Point.

OUT WITH YOUR DOG

The Norfolk Coast welcomes dogs and competent dog walkers. Dogs are permitted on several beaches all year, and our campsite is dog friendly. Dogs are accepted in the majority of pub gardens and bar areas.

As a responsible dog owner, you should not only clean up after your pet, but you should also avoid disturbing people, wildlife, and animals in Norfolk. Some regions may prohibit dogs or require them to be kept on leads at particular seasons of the year or in specific zones; please be aware of any restrictions and respect the guidelines.

The views from Heacham South beach are magnificent; this is one of the best beaches for a dog stroll. It boasts a large, sandy beach that is ideal for playing fetch and strolling along the shoreline. The beach is also well-kept and has lots of poop bags, making it a great place to take your four-legged companion for some exercise. There is a small car park near the beach's entrance that costs £2 for four hours or £6 for the entire day. There are also public restrooms nearby.

[sleepysuburb]

I've listened to c.m. scandreth's 'a seaside british pub' so many times and hadn't drawn any of the characters yet, so I had to change that. on principle.

[scrapnick]

Had another try at C. M. Scandreth's pub patron Stan, mid transformation! Loved the second installment of A Seaside British Pub!