Coast

I feel the coast of this island in my bones. Whenever I reach the edge of our land I get all elemental and in looking outwards find a physical sense of belonging inside. Which is about as hippyish as I get without magic mushrooms and The Battle of Evermore on constant replay.

So it's a bit of a shame, considering no-one here is ever more than 72 miles from the sea, that I hardly ever get there. This year I'll have been briefly to Brighton, Lyme Regis and Crosby Beach, all terrific in very different ways.

My personal favourites, for the record, are:
Embleton Beach, Northumberland - "our" favourite.
Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall - "my" favourite, especially with a winter tide coming in.
Rhosili Bay, Wales - where I once drowned.

So, being landlocked on the great prairies of the West-Mids, I like to settle down with a bottle of something and a hanky on my head and watch some overly enthusiastic pop academics prat around at the seaside. I don't pay much attention to them, just look at the scenery and imagine the spray in my face and the sand underfoot.

What I want to know is, where is that outcrop they show at the start of the show, and why isn't it a major worldwide tourist attraction?


You know, the one that spells out Coast...




A Landlocked County

We be a long way from the sea my wife and me,
Though not like Kansas admittedly...



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