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Full Description
My sand life, my pebble life. My life measured out in tides, coming in and going out. My life measured out in games of trying to spot the sea first. My life measured out in the delicious and indulgent sadness that comes from leaving a holiday cottage for the last time and for the first time in several days it isn't raining, but at least the kids have had a great time and, let's face it, so have you.
Warm and darkly funny, this sublimely crafted book transports you (in a blue Ford Zephyr, with an AA route map, a granny in the back and a bingo hall on the horizon) to the world of childhoods by the sea. Specifically, Ian's memories of childhood: ones we'll all identify with - endless sunny days on the beach, done to a turn fish and chips, legendary games of cricket, tea and cakes and family crammed into a tiny caravan, holiday cottages that live forever, buckets of shells, a busted fishing net and enough sand to make a beach, with the tide out, way out...
In this nostalgic collection of reminiscences (with the odd poem thrown in) journey with Ian as he walks barefoot to the sea to see the sun rise. He is attacked by seagulls, and midges, and wasps. He eats a lot of fish and chips and it's always the best yet. He nearly avoids a frisbee. He searches for jazz in Scarborough. He walks. He even tries to run. But mostly he savours the sea and our seaside moments and our seaside dreams.
If you want a shot of salty sea air, a tussle with a seagull and the congenial companionship of someone described as 'relentlessly jolly' (The Guardian), this will be a joyous and moving read.
Contents
Introduction: Coasting
Barefoot in the sand in Blackpool
One day that boy will be prime minister
July 2020: There's a couple there with masks on
September 2020: The eternal EPCOT fridge magnet
March 2020: The lost glove and the high wind
Years went over and nobody found us
The helicopter at the picnic
Pieces to camera
The coast that wasn't a coast or maybe it was
Overexposure
Six and out
The saxophone, the sea
Jazz and bells and early morning coffee
Joe's Prize Bingo and the lockout
East Coast, magnetic coast
Who's that in the picture?
My sand life, my pebble life
Filey fact, Filey fiction
The shape of the watch on the wrist
The map of getting the map
Carrying the Methodist
The wallet
I haven't seen one of those for years
Going to extremes: North
Going to extremes: East
Going to extremes: West
Going to extremes: South
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Summer
Snow beach
Like a statue
Seeing the sand
You'll write a poem about that
Pre-Cleethorpes dreaming
April 2021: Almost forgetting the pie
Drugged by the pie
The running man
Don't touch the sides of that tent
What the weather said
Eating chips by the sea, a rhapsody
Islands of midges and wasps
Being a curator
Into the wind
The snake in the bed
The oar
The currency
The Hunstanton Frisbee incident
Coast as a series of novelty cruet sets
Young man with a notebook
Towels and trunks
Tide out
Up the path
My sand life my pebble life
