Lulled into improbable levels of optimism after my recent sunny promenade in Brighton, I was looking forward to taking in the sea air and enjoying some bracing walks in Bognor Regis on Saturday afternoon.
As the train ambled to its destination, the sky grew darker and the rain heavier. My first stop upon arrival in Bognor was the nearest Poundland for an umbrella which promptly turned itself inside out in the gusting wind.
Determined to take in some sea air, whatever the weather, I buttoned my coat up against the freezing gales and headed for the seafront.
It was wet. It was cold. It was, frankly, miserable.
Two walkers, a dog and a can of Fosters.
The rain was so insistent, that it was nearly impossible to stop the lens being covered with water.
Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your clothes were stolen
This is the coastal town
That they forgot to close down
Armageddon – come Armageddon!
Come, Armageddon! Come!Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey [—]
Rusty overflow pipe.
No deck chairs available today.
Hardy walkers brace the rain.
Fishing boats by the pier.
Bognor’s much-diminished pier.
The old pier cinema/theatre now hosts a suitably garish amusement arcade.
Wet planks on the pier.
Some of the buildings on the pier are in very poor condition.
The pier used to be much longer, but the severe storms of 1964-1965 saw the seaward end structure collapsing into the sea, taking the pavilion building with it.
The rain on the lens adds an impressionist air to this beach scene.
Notice from the Pier Anagemen.
Crazy golf with a fnarr fnarr inducing ”Lucky Last Hole’.
The Belle Vue Hotel, full of 1970s seaside charm.
I stopped off for a coffee to get out of the rain. Here’s what I wrote in my notebook.
We lost the football game 0-4.
Like the nearby Littlehampton branch, Bognor Regis still retains its splendid steam-era semaphore signalling. These things please me disproportionately.
More Bognor photos:
Bognor Regis – photos from around the town and along the seafront
Bognor Regis Pier – Run-down Grade II listed pier on the south coast
Related posts:
Heavy rain on a train window, England
Bognor Regis, East Sussex – street shots, Terry’s donuts and the run-down pier
A sunny summer’s afternoon in Brighton
An autumnal day trip to Bognor Regis on the south coast – photo report
Bognor photos: dark clouds, windy scenes and a knackered old pier in photos
A wet and windy afternoon on Brighton’s seafront, Autumn 2015
A rain-lashed August Bank Holiday Monday in Cardiff, south Wales
Brighton: an early autumn stroll along the seafront in photos
just as I remember it , as in R.A.F during War :):)
You come to Bognor on the 1st day of March when spring hasn’t even arrived and really blame it for being wet and miserable ? And I would suggest you buy a slightly more expensive umbrella if you want it to work effectively where ever you maybe ! And we don’t want Armageddon we want investment to make it better , come back in the summer and take some nicer pictures eh ?
Perhaps you missed the series of photo articles linked at the bottom of the piece, or this blog post: http://www.urban75.org/blog/an-autumnal-day-trip-to-bognor-regis-on-the-south-coast-photo-report/
They’re both rather complimentary to the town, but it *was* bloody grim on Saturday, and no umbrella would have stood up to the wind.
I personally thought the pictures pretty much summed up Bognor at this point in time…a bit tired and run down, especially in the winter =/…and the little note in the cafe was quite funny, but if your going to stop for a coffee might as well make it a nice one. Next time your down go to reminisce restaurant, it’s along the road running next to the crazy golf, opposite the pier (closed on a Monday and Tuesday though!), You can even get real tea made with tea leaves =)
You can buy umbrellas for a pound? What are they made of, paper? 😀
Poundland. And it was every big as ‘good’ as the ones I normally pay a fiver for (i.e. not very)