Happiest Holidays of my Life

The Sands c1955
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Year after year my family had our summer holidays in Jaywick Sands, we used to stay in the same small chalet in Meadow Way, Jaywick Sands. How we all used to fit in there I'll never know. It had tiny windows, an outside toilet, a small front garden with double gates at the front leading out to the long road, Meadow Way. Across the road about 300 yards away was the sea and the beach, and just about 100 yards from our chalet was the Las Vegas amusement arcade, directly across the road from the Las Vegas was The Mermaid pub. The very first time my family took me to Jaywick Sands was so very exciting for me. I will always remember my wonderful grandmother handing me a little bag full of pennies which she had put away for my brother and I to spend in the amusement arcade while she would sit and play bingo, she would always get there early so she could save seats for my mother and auntie and any other female friends or relatives who were with us on holiday. There was a wonderful array of bingo prizes, and depending on how many wins you had, you could pick a prize, my grandmother used to save all her wins for the whole two weeks we were there and she would always let me choose a prize for myself before we would go home. I remember playing on the steps of The Mermaid pub with a drink of lemonade and a packet of crisps, waiting for all my family to walk back to our chalet together, including our little dog. We would get ready for bed, always having a good laugh, and the following morning my grandad would go up the road and buy the lovliest soft bread rolls for our breakfast. After breakfast we would run across to the beach. I learnt how to swim in the sea at Jaywick and spent hour upon hour there. Sunburnt and hot, we would finish our time at the beach and go off to the Las Vegas amusement arcade for a few hours and sometimes my auntie would walk with us all the way along the sea front to the wonderful Clacton pier where I loved to go on the big dipper and bumper cars and buy candyfloss. All those things and more spent at my lovely Jaywick Sands. I will always hold Jaywick Sands dearly in my heart of some of the happiest memories of my life.