british summer...is it all over

St Leonards ...with fire-ravaged Hastings Pier in the distance

what a jolly day for a bicycle ride along the seafront

having spent most of this year sorting my home out (new kitchen, etc) i haven't made much time to go away at weekends so its been really lovely, right at the end of summer [unless you believe the recent forecast of a heatwave in October] to be able to visit a couple of beaches recently.  i took a quick day trip to St Leonards to see a friend who had given up city life (and a small flat in Hackney) to move to a lovely seaside home and as we strolled along the boardwalk to Hastings and back in the sunshine I was very envious.  St Leonards is very small and cute and seems to be filled with arty types.  the coastal currents arts festival was on the weekend i visited and we had a look round artist Phil Oakley's converted pub home/studio on the London Road and all his amazing neon signs - when he bought the pub there were lots of old fairground bits, bobs and signs left in the basement, which are on display alongside Phil's work. the town itself is also liberally dotted with street art from ben eine.

Phil Oakley's illuminations

it's a sign! "S" and "P"....my initials!

Eine's bonny Prince Charlie...on the seafront...

the following weekend i went to Hampshire to visit my parents and my mum and I decided on a trip to Bournemouth, where we lived briefly (and I was at boarding school between the age of 10 and 17 while my parents were posted overseas). my mum hopes to live there again one day as she loves to be beside the seaside too - we just need to bring my dad round to the idea! 

a bench with my name on it...at Boscombe Beach

at the tip is Hengistbury Head and in the distance...the Isle of Wight

beautiful beach huts

we had a lovely walk along Boscombe Beach toward Hengistbury Head (where, as boarders dressed in woolly hats and flapping green capes we had spent many a weekend outing strolling the cliffs in crocodile formation).  we then drove over to Sandbanks - home of millionaires and footballers as it's prime real estate in this beautiful harbour - to catch up with family who live in Bournemouth.

the harbour at Sandbanks

a view of the beach through the pavillion

no riff raff allowed!

me & my cousin, Sarah, she normally towers above me (i'm on a rock!)

my mum & and i on the left and my aunty Jennie, cousin Sarah and her daughter Renee - can you tell we are related!