A Lovely Day at a Classic English Seaside - But There's Something Strange About It!

Today I went to the seaside with my little family. My 22 month old son had been saying he wanted to build sand castles for the past few days, so I thought, it's sunny (in fact the longest run of hot weather in England since 1995), so we set off in the morning with a car full of buckets spades and an umbrella to Sandsend.

I must admist though, I had a bit of a shock when we first arrived. I was looking forward to the classic English seaside food, fish and chips, and couldn't find a shop that sold them anywhere. I went into a local shop and asked where to find one, and was told that they don't have a fish and chip shop in anywhere in Sandsend!!

Now if you're reading this and not from England that might not sound strange, but in England, believe me, it is VERY strange. Fish and chips is THE CLASSIC English seaside meal. When I asked why not, the shop owners told me that the whole seaside resort is owned by the Mulgrave Estate. The Mulgrave Estate is owned by a the "Phipps" family and the decision was made to ban any fish and chip shops because they don't like seaguls, and say that fish and chips attract them.

First of all, imagine being that wealthy that your family owns a whole seaside resort (see pictures), but ALSO, imagine having that much power that you can just decide "well I don't like seagulls, let's ban fish and chip shops!"

I got home and did a bit of research and this family has owned Sandsend, and a lot more nearby land and villages since the early 18th century. Now my dad owns his house as well as a bungalow, and I'm aware that this is a great position of wealth to be in compared to the masses of poverty in the world. BUT, imagine being that previliged that you are born into such wealth that you own whole towns and villages, and never have to worry about money your whole life. It's just a different world.

Has anyone ever met anyone like this?

Anyway I digress.

So after my shock about the fish and chips (I know, I should get over it ha) we went to a nice little cafe and got some sandwiches, eating them on the beach in the sun.

Here's a shot of my fiance and son enjoying an orange and a nice healthy drink.

And finally here's a pitch of my little family. We had a great day out. We've decided to come back again soon.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my post. I'm not sure whether I should do more posts like this, so please any feedback is welcome.

@birdistheword