Sunday, February 16, 2014

Calm (shorts, ice cream, picnic) after the storm (30ft waves, 60mph winds, flying shingle)

INSIDE STORY: The mirror and decorations in this ruined beach hut open to the elements
SUNDAY afternoon in Milford on Sea and the day-trippers sitting on the sea wall soaking up the sunshine could be forgiven for not believing what they see on the front page of the Mail on Sunday.
Forsaking the flim-flam of politics or the tittle-tattle of celebrity the MoS leads with - Shock! Horror! - a news story and Milford is the main image on the page.
Friday night's storm ravaged its way into the Marine restaurant, scattering diners as water and wind-blown shingle smashed windows and sent them scurrying for safety.
Fast-forward 36 hours and life could not be more benign on the south coast. It's always busy down here at weekends but the headline-grabbing events and sunny day brought the sightseers down in their hundreds if not thousands.
They saw that the intrepid hi-viz men of New Forest District Council and the hastily drafted in muscle of the Signals Regiment from Fulford near York (are there no soldiers nearer?) have pulled off an amazing clean-up effort.
There's still much to do, but the beach-side paths are clear and the car parks ready to receive the paying public (every day, all year, incidentally).
  • BY THE BOARD: the devastated Marine Restaurant now boarded up and weather-tight
MISSING LINK: Some beach huts survived the pounding...some did not

  • ANYONE FOR BONFIRE NIGHT? Debris piles up on the beach 

  • STAND (SIT?) EASY: Soldiers from the Royal Signals grab a lunch break