Richard Wyatt.qxp_Layout 1 20/07/2021 16:39 Page 1
CITY | NOTEBOOK
Richard Wyatt: Notes on a small city Columnist Richard Wyatt remembers the holidays of his childhood and plans a series of August breaks firmly in the British Isles
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Oh the excitement of holding my father’s hand as we rushed down the wooden plank covered jetty, high above the incoming coffeecoloured tide that swirled around the rocks below, at the same time as the stately Bristol Queen pulled alongside – the pride of the White Funnel Fleet. We were going down the coast to Ilfracombe, a seaside resort with a lovely little harbour, in North Devon.
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There was the promise of dandelion and burdock lemonade and towering knickerbocker glory ice-creams
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he Roman Emperor Augustus chose this month to bear his name because it was the time of the year he had enjoyed several of his greatest military triumphs, including conquering Egypt. I have enjoyed visiting Egypt in slightly more peaceful times and have fond memories of cruising the Nile and exploring its temple-crowded banks. This year the pandemic has literally clipped all our wings. Holidaying at home is back in fashion. Hopefully it will give an added boost to many of our seaside towns that have taken a back seat while our affections for resorts with cheap flights opened up many a farflung beach and guaranteed sunshine instead. I will be based in Brighton for a few days, but have planned visits to places like Charleston Farmhouse in Lewes, home to Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, and the country retreat of the Bloomsbury Group. The house not only provided inspiration for many literary works but became a hub for art and decoration – where walls were painted, wallpaper was stencilled and curtains, fabrics and rugs were crafted. I am also planning to go to the Kent coast to visit the shingle shore home of the late Derek Jarman, an English film director who made a famous garden among the pebbles that surrounded his wooden cottage near Dungeness Nuclear Power Station. Later in the month – travelling from one side of the country to another – I will enjoy a short stay in a converted railway carriage overlooking Cardigan Bay in West Wales. In the past 18 months we have all grown used to pushing back our overseas holidays and it sounds as if foreign travel is now more viable for the future. However, I welcome the chance to tick off some items on my bucket list and visit parts of these islands I have not set foot in before. We never had family holidays when my eldest sister and I were young. There wasn’t the money and my father was often absent on long trips in the Merchant Navy. At least on his homecoming I got to experience things like chewing gum, a Mickey Mouse car and instant coffee long before any of my friends who didn’t have a dad returning from transatlantic passages on the SS (steamship) Bristol City. I do, though, have a special family day trip that I remember well, involving another sea-going vessel bearing a local name. Birnbeck Pier – or the Old Pier as we Weston super Mare locals called it – was where you boarded the paddle steamers that P and A Campbell operated in the Bristol Channel.
There was the promise of dandelion and burdock lemonade and towering knickerbocker glory ice-creams to tempt Ann and I once reaching dry land, but for me the biggest thrill was dad taking me down to the engine room as we were ploughing our way down the Somerset coastline. Through glass windows you could watch those shiny steel pistons (even the name evokes the hiss of steam) turning a shaft that rotated the paddles I could watch – half submerged – through a nearby porthole. Thud, thud and splash, splash – such mechanical power in action. Needless to say I didn’t become an engineer, the Bristol Queen went to the scrap yard and Weston’s old pier is a sad and derelict place. There are hopes for its revival – a come-back from the maritime grave like Clivedon Pier just up the coast. That was restored and re-opened in 1998 following the dedicated efforts of many. I remember stepping ashore upon it from The Waverley – the last seagoing passenger carrying paddle steamer in the world – to officially switch the pier head lights on. Living now in Bath – as we have for the last 11 years – l still have the raucous sound of the gulls to remind me of my seaside past. I have a picture from 1959, taken with my Kodak Brownie 127, of Mr Mayo and his teacher colleagues from Uphill Primary School dipping their toes in the briny on a day’s outing to Weymouth. If only we’d had social media back then! n Richard Wyatt runs the Bath Newseum: bathnewseum.com
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