The Met Office had issued a severe weather warning, the beachside kiosk owners had battened down the hatches, the donkeys were given a day off. But was that going to stop the British seaside visitors enjoying themselves? Not at all.
“We’re having a lovely time,” said Bill Salkeld, who has made no fewer than four trips to the bucket-and-spade resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset since his retirement in December. “We stay at the holiday camp and just love it no matter what the weather.”
Salkeld, 65, from Buckinghamshire, had ventured out on to the wind-battered pier with his wife, Phyllis, and mother Elsie, 85. Elvis was belting out “I feel my temperature rising” from the tinny speaker behind their bench. It is fair to say that Salkeld and his family refused to be put off by the elements.
“We’ve been abroad, to Benidorm and Gran Canaria, but this is better,” said Phyllis. “The beach is clean, the people are friendly, the air is fresh. The pavements are flat. What more can you want?”
The “staycation” – the term that came to prominence during the recession to describe Brits forced to holiday at home by the recession – appears very much still in vogue.
Matthew Creen had driven down from Birmingham with eight-year-old Emmy. The pair were huddled against the sea wall and Emmy was working hard to prevent sand and her long hair being blown into her eyes.
“We’re going to sit on the beach all day if we can,” said Creen. “We love it all – the sea, the sand, the hotel – and we’re not going to be put off by a bit of wind.”
It was remarkable how many people had ignored the warnings of 50mph winds and decided to take a day trip.
A coach from Birmingham pulled over and spilled two score pensioners from the Midlands on to the pavement. They made sure their waterproof scarves and baseball caps were secure, put their heads down and headed for the town centre. A mum found herself chasing after a pram wrenched from her grasp by a particulalry fierce blast.
John and Lynn Staite had brought their grandchildren Max, 11, Evie, eight, and Poppy, five, down from Gloucester for the day. The children loved skidding through the puddles on the edge of the promenade on their scooters and laughed and giggled as they battled the wind on the beach. “We come here a lot,” said Lynn Staite. “It doesn’t matter what the weather does, it’s just nice to be on the beach.”
Even ice-cream seller Paul Fella, whose trade was by no means roaring, refused to be downtrodden. “I’ve been here more than 40 years,” he said. “Sometimes it’s sunny and we go for it. Sometimes it’s like this. We haven’t had a good summer so far – too much wind – but we’re optimistic it will come good. And if it doesn’t, I’m sure next year will be better.”
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