April 25, 2013
A SUNNY, breezy day in Southwold and a few welcome hours to myself. I
mean that in the nicest possible way.
While David and Mike set off for Minsmere and some serious birdwatching,
taking the dog in the Hymer, I settled down in the kitchen with Ferdinand the
cat to catch up on a blogging backlog.
The sense of freedom as the day stretched out in front of me was so
relaxing.
At Mike’s recommendation I strolled down to the Dome antiques warehouse
– crammed from floor to ceiling with Arts & Crafts furniture – a style I
like very much, but this was way out of my league price-wise.
I presume I was being watched on CCTV, since I didn’t see a soul in the
whole hour or so I was there. Could hear the odd noise somewhere, but no
voices. Spooky.
Down to the Pier for coffee and a panini in the Clock House café – an excellent
place to take pictures of the iconic beach huts. I was totally bowled over by
the mad automata in the Under the Pier Show and the water-powered clock.
The coin-operated Rent-a-Dog treadmill was my favourite machine, though
Crankenstein the wind-up monster and the My-Nuke reactor were top value, too,
and I loved the innocent old-world lunacy of the whole concept.
Chickening out of climbing the lighthouse steps, I contented myself with
taking a photo to prove I’d been there, and launched myself upon the shops.
It was good to see that some independent food retailers were doing well
despite the inevitable, if somewhat incongruous presence of a Tesco Express and
a Costa.
I stuck to buying cards and presents from the multiplicity of
seaside-themed gift shops and galleries.
Our friends were out for the evening, so David and I walked back into
town with the dog for second helpings from the Lord Nelson’s excellent menu.
A thoroughly satisfactory day all round, including for David a weirdly
coincidental meeting with another old birding friend at Minsmere.
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