A Sunday stroll.....

This afternoon we had a lovely walk along the seafront from West St. Leonards towards Bexhill.   Some hardy souls were canoeing along the coastline and we stopped to watch them land, then carry the two-seater canoe up the beach, up the steps and load it onto a tiny car.  
PP seems to think that a canoe is a Good Idea but Small Dog and I are unconvinced.

We then walked along past the beach huts, where a group of local artists were exhibiting coastal prints, ceramics and fused glass.  I do quite fancy the idea of a beach hut, which could double as a seaside studio. The council owns and rents out a lot of wooden beach huts and several concrete beach chalets (which have electricity and running water), but the waiting lists for both is usually years long (in fact at the moment they're all closed) and you have to wait for people to move away, or die, before they become available.  

The relatively few freehold beach huts sell for silly money, considering they're just a glorified wooden shed, with no amenities at all, apart from a communal water tap.

I do love pottering along the beach though, being nosey and looking to see what people have done to personalise their huts and the imaginative use of space.  Mostly they're really multifunctional, with small kitchenettes, dining space and a seating area, all with an outlook right onto the beach and the sea on your doorstep.  Today there were families cooking on BBQs on their little verandas, taking advantage of the late September lull, lots of dog-walkers on the beach, people fishing, or just sitting on the shingle, enjoying the view out to sea.

In the hurly burly of daily life and work, it's easy to forget how lucky we are to live in such an interesting area, so close to the coast.............