A day at the seaside

Summer continues into a second day! Mrs Talpa and I set off early with Talpa III to the beach at Collieston, complete with our bucket, spade and a few biscuits. Soon we were joined by a horde of other families staggering through the sand under the weight of their beach accessories; folding chairs, rugs, wind-breaks, beach umbrellas, tables, cool-boxes heavy with sumptuous feasts, barbecues, designer sun-glasses, wet suits, wet dogs, gallon bottles of sun-unctions, blow-up canoes, and such like.

It was all a far-cry from the simple beach-life I enjoyed as a young lad on our annual week in Blackpool! I have tried to recreate that nostalgic vision with this photograph of the fortifications that Talpa III constructed on the Northern Frontier early this morning.