I was such an anxious child that I was terrified that I would fall through the gaps between the great wooden girders of the jetty at Semaphore. I also didn't want to walk close to the actual rails either. All the adults chatted away as they walked to the end of the jetty and back, and I was nearly frozen with fear. So the funny thing is that I was scared of doing something that would not hurt me but I was not scared of the water. I loved the water and even when I was little I would be going out into the little waves. Now Mum was paralysingly frightened of the water. If she did sit in the water with me and a little wave splashed her she started huffing and puffing and getting upset. Good grief you are in ten inches of water woman for God's sake. She never ever walked into the water except for a paddle and then only in water that barely covered her feet.
I remember the once I was following some big girls into the water and kept following them until the water closed over my head. One of the girls looked back and dived in and saved me. I didn't even think I needed saving but obviously I was too silly to know not to go out of my depth. My august parent however, was sort of tap dancing along the edge of the water but made no attempt to run in and save me herself. The water would hardly have been up to her waist. Because I am not scared of the water I cannot but think how ridiculous it was not to go to your child's aid. I think personally think she was trying to get rid of me. I am sure I gave her plenty of reasons to do so.
At that time all the kids went into the water and had a brilliant time. We wouldn't come out until one of the adults came and checked on us. If our fingers had turned into prunes and our lips were blue we were hustled out of the water and then dried roughly to bring our circulations back to normal. We had to do the old don't go into the water until an hour after our meal. We were not to go too far out and we had to always listen for the shark siren.
Ladies and gentlemen of the time did not come to the beach with their bathers on under their clothes, they went to the Palais where there were change-rooms. It was a penny I think to pay for a little cubicle. You had the key to the cubicle which you had tied around your wrist or neck, and after all the swimming you went back to the Palais to get changed into your street clothes. I was only little so if I sat down on the wooden floor I could see the big white moons of the ladies bottoms in neighbouring cubicles. Of course children could be changed on the beach. It was rather a complicated effort where your Mum wrapped the beach towel around you and then shufftied off all your clothes and then pulled your bathers up. The same was done in reverse at the end of the day. It was a little harder as you were all sticky with salt and still a little damp. Still it was all done under the towel and proprieties were preserved.
In the summer the beach was so crowded. The tents were erected almost on top of each other. Some of them were shaped like teepees and others just the ordinary sort of lean-to. It was hard to get from the beach and up to the ramps as you had to dodge the tent pegs and people's towels and of course people. The ramps are there now except they are under about six feet of sand. People quite often set up their spots under the ramps and also under the jetty where there was plenty of room right up to the sea wall. How things have changed. There was no bushy grass but just the sand and the sea weed.
Mum hated the sand and always wanted to sit on the seaweed. I am amazed that someone who hated both the water and the sand would even bother to come. It is sort of like visiting the Botanic gardens and hating plants, trees and lawns. Well I say, "Why bother Mum?"
During the summer there were swimming lessons on the beach and I always wanted to go and join in but Mum of course wouldn't let me. I asked why I couldn't go and she always said, "Because I say so." That is the most ridiculous thing to say. If she had said that it cost money to go I would have been fine because that is a good reason. Because I say so, I hate that and I don't think I have ever said that to the child of my loins. I could stand corrected though.
Needless to say I never really learned to swim. I just copied what other people did and tried not to drown. I was still not afraid of the sea though. My best swimming style is back stroke. I am so claustrophobic that I really don't like to have to keep my face in the water for too long. Of course a bit of judicious diving to the bottom to pick up shells or something of interest, well that is a different thing entirely. I have learned that I am able to float vertically. It is sort of spooky really. I start off lying on my back and then my feet drift down and there I am floating away. Since Jaws I don't think I have really gone swimming in the sea much, if at all. It is sort of like Psycho and showering. Those movies have a lot to answer for. I must add I am not scared of the water it is what is under it that disturbs me.
Nowadays paddling in the water has a most soporific effect on me. It is peaceful and after a good paddle I feel ready to take on the world or just go and have a nap for an hour or so. I took one of my poodles down to the beach one time and walked him through the little pools of water which he found acceptable. However, when I took him in to moving water, well that was another thing entirely. We spent the rest of the time with him on one end of the long lead and me in the water. My other dear old man is fine with the water he is just a bit short in the legs so gets pretty wet.
Last time I went to the beach I went with one my friends. We had the best fun. I picked up a few jelly fish and chased her with them. I threw a couple and they splattered on her feet. She has horrified at first but then she got the idea and it was my turn to get squished. We ran along the beach bumping in to each other and laughing. It was brilliant and my most enjoyable day at the beach for ages. Of course there were a few walkers that looked at us. I really don't know why they stared but maybe it is because I am in my sixties and she is in her fifties. Suffer people, we may be mature but we certainly know how to enjoy ourselves. We both had a double icecream before we went home because you just cannot go to the beach and not have one.
I adore Semaphore beach. I love the history of the place. I love the sea and the sand and the seaweed but perhaps not the silly green bushy plants. I love all the things I remember about growing up there and the stories that are so long and involved that a book could be written about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment