The harbour beach

(written for Groovy Reflections)

“Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside
I do like to be beside the sea!
I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play:
Tiddely-om-pom-pom!"

The day had arrived. My two sisters and I all pile onto the back seat of our family car and look back at the stack of suitcases and beach bags behind us. We’re on our way!

Every year in May, we would take our annual holiday in Tenby, west Wales, in the same maisonette overlooking the harbour. My dad would park the car at the kerb outside and we’d climb up the steps into the familiar smelling hallway and take the stairs up to the next floor.

The living room had a wooden staircase that led up to the bedrooms, which was slatted, meaning you could see (or at that age maybe fall!) between each stair. There were two paintings on the wall, of homeless children sitting in the street, reminiscent of the images described in the song Matchstalk Men & Matchstalk Cats & Dogs.

My parents’ bedroom was at the front of the building and had a small iron balcony outside the window where you could look out at the beach and imagine the adventures that lay ahead over the next two weeks.

Once unpacked, we’d put our swimming costumes and towels into a beach bag and venture down to the sand. The harbour is small and there is always a cluster of small fishing boats moored in the shallow waters, which you could navigate in between in a rubber dingy. Sometimes, large jellyfish would get washed up on the sand overnight and we'd hop over them on our way into the water.

The town is small and centred around five stone arches. The first was built by the Normans in the late 13^th century, the others added later to allow more traffic to pass through.  There was a Woolworths, a few others shops, pubs and bakeries and the Tenby Rock Shop. Its window displayed an array of sticks of rock and a selection of sugared masterpieces, including the traditional egg and bacon on a paper plate. We'd visit at the end of the holiday to stock up on presents to give to our school friends when we returned home.

There are three main beaches – the South, harbour and North. Located between the South and harbour lies the home of the Tenby lifeboat; originally founded in 1852. Adjacent to the lifeboat house is a mound, on which stand the old cannons once used to defend the town when it was under attack. We’d climb up onto their bases and shimmy up to the end, our legs dangling high above the ground as we looked out to sea.

In the evenings, we’d take a walk along the pathway between the harbour and North beach, jumping over the iron bollards used to moor the boats as we went. At the other end, was an amusement arcade we called the Bing-A-Bong (because the sounds that rang out from the machines and rides). We’d play the tuppenny pusher and watch our parents master Pac-Man and the fruit machines. Then after it was dark, we’d walk back along the seafront to the sound of the waves hitting the sea wall and we’d go to bed, full of anticipation of what lay ahead the following day.