We are having a heatwave, bad for my garden, but perfect for being in the sea, except first you have to get to the beach or your beach hut…Yesterday after writers’ group I decided to get on a bus and get off at Woodland Walk, which as its name suggests is a cool and pleasant walk from a busy road to the cliff top. As soon as I left the shade of the trees the heat hit me. I crunched across our toasted cliff top to approach my beach hut from the other direction to my usual walk from home.The stone building is not a castle, but the toilet block by our beach huts. The descent down the ravine, more fun going down than up.
The hot weather reminded me of last year when my daughter-in-law sent a clip of a beach hut on fire. I quickly ascertained it wasn’t our strip. Everyone was safe, but I imagine there wasn’t much left of the beach hut or its neighbours! Gas rings, flapping curtains and wooden huts are a recipe for disaster perhaps. In the local paper the owner was quoted ’my nephew came to fetch me and said Aunty I think the beach hut is on fire… ’ hmm, my suspicious mind wondered what the boy might have been up to..
I fully expect that one day calamity will strike my hut, either one of the regular cliff falls or a cliff fire in scorching weather. But other dramas also occur. I am now a member of that group ’widows who sit in beach huts.’ There are three of us in my little strip and it is only recently I heard the stories of the other two ladies, widowed a good while. We were all chatting when the most senior said to the other ’I don’t think you were here back then when my husband died.’
‘Oh yes I was,’ she replied ’I remember doing CPR on him on the beach hut floor!’
Those beach huts remind me of the little huts people used in Victorian? times to change into their bathing suits. I have seen them in films when they have wheels and rolled up to the water and the person exits them into the water. Your beach huts may be larger, like a little cabin.
Yes you are right Deborah, that is their origin, it was quite a business for locals who would be attendants for the ‘bathing machines’. Our huts are only six foot square, though some are larger.
Others seem to like your idea Doug so watch this space. As for the weather, my phone says 22 degrees today in Bournemouth, but 28 predicted for danger day Monday. 40 is being touted as a possibility in some places.
You’ve told us about the beach huts before, but I’m still trying to understand how it works. I thought it was something people rented while they were at the beach, but now it sounds like they belong to homeowners.
Yes Pete I can understand your confusion and you are partly right. Yes our council owns lots of little beach huts which holiday makers can rent for the day or week, but there are also beach huts owned by locals who rent the tiny piece of concrete they stand on from the council. You have to be a local resident and they are very sought after and rarely relinquished, with some families perhaps failing to mention to the council that the official owner has died!
‘Widows in beach huts’ has a successful TV series all over it! I am casting it in my head as I type, and I think you should work on a rough pilot episode script idea to get out to TV producers. It could be a ‘Cosy detective’ style series that would work in both the UK and over in America too.
That’s your winter project, Janet! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
Hello Pete, well I have already written a novel with a camper van detective, so perhaps a beach hut detective could be next – she could probably start with who started the deliberate fires in our toilet block.
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
Stay cool, Janet! It’s pretty hot here in New England, as well!
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The poor grass looks so parched!
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Yes Liz, it wasn’t long ago it was long grass and wildflowers!
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We’re pretty dry here as well. We had a thunderstorm about an hour ago, but it didn’t last long enough to help very much.
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No sign of rain here and amber heat warnings for the weekend, though that would be amusing to people who actually live in hot countries!
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I shall, we are lucky to have sea breezes.
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Those beach huts remind me of the little huts people used in Victorian? times to change into their bathing suits. I have seen them in films when they have wheels and rolled up to the water and the person exits them into the water. Your beach huts may be larger, like a little cabin.
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Yes you are right Deborah, that is their origin, it was quite a business for locals who would be attendants for the ‘bathing machines’. Our huts are only six foot square, though some are larger.
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Stay as cool as you can! The thing about being at the beach or beach hut is that first you have to get there – so true.
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‘Widows who sit in beach huts’. Perfect title for your next collection. (Stifling guffaws about the ‘heat’.) 🙂
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Others seem to like your idea Doug so watch this space. As for the weather, my phone says 22 degrees today in Bournemouth, but 28 predicted for danger day Monday. 40 is being touted as a possibility in some places.
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Bloody hell. Climate change indeed!
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Great idea! 😀
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I think Doug is on to something here, Janet! Stories exploring beach hut culture. A suspicious fire. Maybe a murder…
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Hello Audrey, this seems like a popular idea and I am long overdue to start on a new novel.
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Beach hut widows as detectives!
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You’ve told us about the beach huts before, but I’m still trying to understand how it works. I thought it was something people rented while they were at the beach, but now it sounds like they belong to homeowners.
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Yes Pete I can understand your confusion and you are partly right. Yes our council owns lots of little beach huts which holiday makers can rent for the day or week, but there are also beach huts owned by locals who rent the tiny piece of concrete they stand on from the council. You have to be a local resident and they are very sought after and rarely relinquished, with some families perhaps failing to mention to the council that the official owner has died!
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Thanks for the clear explanation, Janet.
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‘Widows in beach huts’ has a successful TV series all over it! I am casting it in my head as I type, and I think you should work on a rough pilot episode script idea to get out to TV producers. It could be a ‘Cosy detective’ style series that would work in both the UK and over in America too.
That’s your winter project, Janet! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hello Pete, well I have already written a novel with a camper van detective, so perhaps a beach hut detective could be next – she could probably start with who started the deliberate fires in our toilet block.
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It’s certainly a bit warm.
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Yes Mick, even my sister in Australia is worried I might be too hot!
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CPR on the Beach Hut Floor. Great anecdote to end on!
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Yes Geoff, I couldn’t resist that.
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Love the last line. 🙂 … memory is a fickle thing, isn’t it? 😀
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Thanks, yes I have often been surprised someone had no recollection of an event I thought we had both experienced- that could be an idea for a story!
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Wow, what a story. The beach grass looks parched. And how cool you formed a small widow’s group there. I would fit in perfectly. ❤
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Yes Debbie you would be welcome.
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