Tuesday, 9 September 2008

Personal

To the seaside arsonists

Please stop.

Brighton's loss was bad. And I didn't manage to make it to Weston Super Mare before their pier caught fire. Now Fleetwood. At least I've seen that one.

The piers are my favourite punctuation on the coastwalk. They're landmarks I look forward to: a chance to walk out across the sea rather than alongside it.

But they're more than that too. Teignmouth Pier in particular was a significant element of my family's annual summer holiday when I was young. Each time I see a pier I'm transported back there, picking up any coppers I can find and feeding them to the machines above the waves. (But never on a Sunday: Gran would be horrified at the idea of gambling on a Sunday.)

By my count there are about fifty left along our coast. So, dear arsonists, if you have to burn them one by one please let Teignmouth be the last.

Posted by pab at 21:31 | Comments will be back later in the year. Please email me instead!