The weather has been foul for the best part of the past fortnight. It managed to not pour down on Christmas Day (which was kind of it), but by and large it's either been pouring down as if Armageddon was about to occur, or it's been devoid of all colour. I'm not sure which I dislike least; I think the incessant rain was preferable as at least then the wellies get used!
It was beginning to feel like we'd never see the sky with any form of vibrancy in it again, until we woke up on New Year's Day to a world of blue skies and brilliant sunshine! As Mr. TBaM said, "It's almost like the weather's trying to make a New Year's Resolution!"
We donned our wellies, coats, scarves, hats and gloves and headed down to Barry Island.
Along with every other person in south Wales!
I seriously cannot remember the last time I saw the island so chockablock with traffic; not even on the hottest day in the Summer was it that bad (and I'd know because I was there then as well!). However we persevered and did actually manage to park on double yellow lines find a parking space quite close to the beach!
The Boy and I set to building a sandcastle, only the little monkey soon demolished it repeatedly at which point we decided to dig a hole instead. It was to be of epic proportions!
We were quite a way up to the top of the beach but as you can see, after a while we hit the water table. Did this stop us? Nope, we kept on digging and in the end The Boy took his bucket down to the water's edge to increase our supply.
It was at this point that I went to get some chips for us. Again, I wasn't the only person with that idea: six chippies on Barry Island and three had run out of chips, with a thirty minute wait in all the others. In the end, thanks to 'Big Dave', we did get our supply and we sat in the car with rosey cheeks and drippy noses munching on big, fat, chips!
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Also linked up to No Such Thing As Bad Weather's Outdoor Play Party
Love it, so good to see the sun, all be it fleetingly! It really did look like the place to be, but a bonus with it being mild. That hole reminds me of the one Guy built with his cousins at Polzeath in December. Hours of fun!
It was amazing to see such a bright and beautiful day after the grim and grey week that we'd had. I disappeared after half an hour to get the chips so goodness knows how big it was by the time they came up to me half an hour later.
Looks like a really lovely day. I think a day at the beach in the winter can sometimes be better than a day at the beach in the summer!
We have problems with chips here! We very rarely get chips at any of the seaside towns because they are either too busy, too yukky or closed!
A day at the beach in the Summer, the height of Summer, can be absolutely unbearable; so hot and crowded. At least in the Winter it's possible to warm yourself up rather than cool yourself down, and the sand brushes off clothes a damn sight easier than sun protectioned skin!
I did actually walk past the 4th and 5th chip shops on the island because they sell skanky chips, the place I finally got them was the best place left!
This is one of the reasons I wish we lived nearer to the sea. Looks like you had fun.
We're incredibly lucky to live so close. Having spent three years in Reading, I hated being so far from the sea, possibly the furthest I could possibly get from water. I find the seafront eases all my troubles.
I can't hear the words Barry Island without picturing Gavin and Stacey but, that aside, these are really lovely photos. I adore the light created by a blue sky and winter sunshine. We've had incessant rain apart from Thursday when we went to the zoo. We had a tiny (literally, about three drops) shower walking from the Rhinos to the Meerkats but, other than that, we've had rain and grey skies every day.
Barry Island has completely milked the publicity from Gavin and Stacey, I don't blame them! The day was so beautiful and it was a pleasure to feel the wind and sun. I've done Barry Island in the rain and it's not so bad.
What a perfect New Year-gorgeous pictures-I can smell the sea air-almost! Happy New Year x
It was completely gorgeous and really what we needed after being stuck in for so long.
What a lovely happy day! Good ole chips!
Nowt as good as chips from Barry Island!
Looks like a lot of fun. Everyone on my twitter seemed to have gone to the beach on New Years.
Happy New Year.
It was such a beautiful day I don't blame them! Hope you had just as much fun?
No beach trip is complete without chips -yum!
Over from Country Kids x
Chips are an asbolute must, it's a change not to have the bloody seagulls swooping down and trying to punch them.
Glad you had a fab day too! As envious I am of digging a whole and reaching water I suspect one of mine would have ended up with wet hair! I bet the Boy loved it!!
It was so beautiful wasn't it? Wish I'd known about the dip because we'd have gone down earlier. Hope this is the first of many trips to the Island.
I wish we'd had a dry enough day to do this but we had non-stop rain for the whole two weeks.
But from the sounds of your twitter stream from the weekend you obviously made it to the sand? We've got to start making more of an effort to get out in the rain because otherwise I'll go bananas.
The sun finally shone for us on New Year's Day too! Thank goodness! This looked like such a fab time. It's funny that we have not taken the wee man to the beach here in Scotland…it's about time. Maybe we can see if we can match your hole proportions and of course any excuse for chips!
Oh you must go to the beach, rocky ones are just as much fun as the sandy ones! And there's always space for chips.
Lovely photos. I wish we lived near a beach
The weather up here has been total rubbish. It looks like a fresh spring day in those pics, really lovely and memorable and looks like a really nice thing to do on New Years.
I love the beach in winter and there is nothing quite like digging a great big hole!
What great pictures. Looks like someone had a lot of fun x
there is something magical about the English seaside in winter (especially if the sun is out)
I have many a fond childhood memory of playing on the beach in torbay in the freezing cold with a smile on my face 😉
Welsh, but you're quite right 🙂