Easter Monday: The English Seaside #1 - background and sea swimming

So, it's the coldest Easter for about the last, say, thousand years, well at least since records began.  Great.  However, we still ventured down to the coast though and that's inspired this particular blog post.  So, why do you like the English Seaside then?  Well, I kind of grew up on it if I'm honest, well, since my Mother married my Stepfather (SF) in the 1980s they bought his auntie/friend of the family's holiday bungalow on the Kent Coast, which wasn't at a discounted cost as my Mother is quick to state!  It was part of a 1920s holiday bungalow estate which was constructed from a single brick course and therefore unsuitable for use before say, April and indeed after October.

I seem to recall it being quite quaint and it didn't contain a bathroom - merely a scary high flush toilet and a cold room off of that which housed a washbasin, cupboard and fridge(!)  Later on my SF fitted an electric shower and we used to wash ourselves by poking the nozzle out of an open window and rinse off after swimming in the driveway.  Bizarre.  The loft was also full of birds nests, the welsh dresser had severe woodworm and the mattresses were constructed from horse hair.  Still, it was fun.

 When asked why I like sea swimming I'll say this, I just do.  I'm a fairly hardy soul who also used to enjoy splashing around in lidos too, although there are precious few left in London nowadays.  The sea's never crowded and being three minutes run from the bungalow there's no need to carry out that intricate 'wrap a towel around yourself and wriggle out of your clothes' dance on the beach - it's cossie, sarong, rubber swimming shoes (to counteract the stones!) and you're off.  One of my favourite things is to walk into Herne Bay or Whitstable in the morning and return along the sea wall/coastal route with the sea enticingly glinting at me, blue and magical, just waiting for me to run into its welcoming waves.

So, do you like swimming in the nude then?  Er, why do you ask?  Strange question.  OK, yes, I admit it - it's bloody amazing, you feel so primal, so raw and pretty sensual.  I have done it a few times on this coastline, but it's not really allowed and if it causes offence to somebody, it's illegal.  However, once I made a bloke fall off of his bike.  It made me laugh anyway.  I have since sought out suitable locations to bathe au naturel, but they are a bit few and far between - such as the famous Brighton Nudist Beach at Blackrock.  The ponds in Hampstead Heath are also a good place to go, but I read in the Daily Wail last year that they're now full of red crayfish which are proving a bit nippy for those in the nuddy.  I think my best bet at the moment may be to plump for the sessions which take place in the University of London (my alma mater!) pool in Malet Street every Sunday.  Happy days!