Several months ago I started blogging about a holiday I had been on, several months previously! So here's an attempt to continue!
The weather, which had been so dismal on the Sunday, turned out hot and sunny by Tuesday. So hot and sunny that it was definitely a Beach Day. In as much as West Dorset, of Chesil Beach fame, can ever have 'Beach Days'.
We drove to Charmouth, not far from Lyme Regis. A place that's obviously geared up for a large influx of tourists, at least in the peak season. A car park and an overflow car park, the Charmouth Heritage Coast Visitor Centre and not one, but two cafés: one in the visitor centre and one on the beach. We chose the latter. There was some reason I asked the question, a sign perhaps. The question was whether we could hire deckchairs. I was even willing to pay money. Her response: 'We don't get them in until summer.' I said nothing, but coupled with an insipid insult of a cup of tea - the coffee wasn't even worth asking for - I did wonder why these people even bothered running a business, complacent and lazy. Anyone with a bit of a spark and inspiration could really make an attractive business with a nearly captive market. And, frankly, if I was a seasonal business, I'd have the summer offer available in mid June.
I know that probably reads like a rant, but I do get very frustrated by people who can't be bothered to try in thse places. I'm not talking about places on high roads - the market gets them. but beaches, parks etc, where there's probably a queue of people wanting to run these places, and there is no or very little competition - you kind of feel that they've probably got the lease due to who they know rather than their business case. And it's annoying, because it's the customer who suffers!
But it was fun to walk along the beach, paddling at the water's edge!
More Dorset photos
