Holidays 50s And 60s....And Now

A Memory of Weymouth.

I was born in 1952. My Mum and Dad were brought up in Weymouth and although they moved to Gloucestershire after the war, all four grandparents remained in Weymouth. So the whole family, which included my three sisters, would catch the train from Stroud or Stonehouse and spend the entire long school holiday in Weymouth, first with one set of Grandparents in Old Castle Road, then with the other, in Abbotsbury Road. So, equal if different beach delights, at Sandsfoot Cove, and then the main town beach.

The Boat Train steaming through the street, bell ringing to warn pedestrians and motorists away from the tracks was probably the greatest and slightly scariest treat for a small boy. Also slightly scary were the numerous bomb sites, which toook long to be cleared or repaired, and the torpedo testing in Portland Harbour, for which everyone would have to leave the water when the siren sounded. The course of the miniature steam railway by Radipole Lake seemed incredibly long and exciting. The frequent sailings of the Caesaria and Sarnia steam ferries from the Harbour to the Channel Isles (my uncle was one of the first officers). Amazing sand modelling, out in the open on the main beach. The Carnival procession included clanking steaming road traction engines. The floral clock in the gardens beyond the pier bandstand. How great it is now to be able to explore inside Sandsfoot Castle, which was strictly out of bounds behind iron railings for the whole of my childhood. See of you can still spot the faded outline of Old Nick the devil painted high up on the right hand side castle wall before it is entirely lost to the elements. We had to crouch down low outside the railings to glimpse this mysterious picture. The kiosk in Sandsfoot sold orange squash in third pint glass milk bottles with green foil caps.

My wife and I have just (2013) retired to Weymouth, and our five grandchildren are reliving exactly the same sort of simple seaside delights on their visits as we did half a century before