Life is strange

5 mins wow! lovely

It’s my not so secret dream, I do love to be beside the seaside tiddly om Pom Pom

As the crow flies, I am about 3 miles from the sea, by road a minimum of 5 miles, but as I`m on my own now I don`t get to see the sea anymore. Even if the family offered to take me it would be a bit further to a main resort, which doesn`t really appeal. Years ago, when we were still doing the lottery, I picked out "my" house in Cornwall for when/if we won big, intending to knock on their door with a blank cheque!

Annie one of happiest memories of New Quay was watching dolphins playing happily on the waves.?

On of my scariest memories was our friends boxer puppy leaping over the sea wall.
Bil managed to catch her by the collar .?

Elaine Morgan in her book The Aquatic Ape (great read!) thinks that the pull of the sea is a vestige or relic of our time as aquatic apes.

Cherry, the Dolphins are just magical to watch aren't they ?

Baggs, surely something more romantic than descended from Apes ? . I think I love the sea because my ancestors on Anglesey were wreckers . England sent coast guards to the Island, they didn't trust the Anglesey men, but the coast guards married local girls , ?

Anniebach, do you know of the Scottish selkies? Maybe that's who we are descended from! ebooks.visitscotland.com/ghosts-myths-legends/selkies/

I grew up by the sea and whilst I don't really want to live there again, mainly because of the cold, I am to this day hypnotised by the sea, the waves, the beach.

I'm 20 miles from the sea now but I can see a river from my house and that is almost as lovely.

I lived by the sea for many years and loved it, especially in the winter. Shetland would be fine for me as I don't like the heat or sun. I couldn't live further from the sea now in SW France.

I used to live close to the sea but the salt in the air killed the plants and ruined the paintwork, the windows were always salt coated.
DS and family have been unable to secure a holiday in Shetland this year, the TV programme has the place fully booked. Must say it is not my idea of a holiday but they seem to like it.

Born and brought up on the Firth of Clyde, followed by four years in St Andrews, I am drawn to the sea and feel happier on the coast than anywhere else, no matter what is going on in my life at the time. Sadly, I live in East Cheshire, and don't drive far nowadays. Both my sons' families also live in land-locked counties. My favourite fantasy arises from swimming in a delightful cove on Ithaca, overlooked by a little house with blue shutters. I yearned for that house and still go back to that cove in my imagination.

As a newcomer here, I’m anxious not to say the wrong thing, but it seems such a shame that you can’t visit the Welsh coast again - sounds like you have such fond memories. Is there no way for that to happen? As I am a newcomer, I don’t know your situation - are you housebound / serious illness or somesuch? I love the mid and South Wales coast - we used to go to Cwmtydu to try and see the seals. Beautiful area. Lived in Aberdovey years ago. We only have one life. Best wishes to you

i live about 10 minutes max from the sea.
i was born in torquay, devon so was brought up near the sea and spent many happy days on beaches in both devon and cornwall [loved the moors too].
after living briefly in manchester without a glimpse of yhe sea, i returned to torquay to get married.
almost 20 years later we moved to poole, dorset where i've now lived for over 30 years - living through marriage break up and children leaving home.
i don't think i'll ever move away from the sea now.

Wishing you many happy hours viewing stunning seascape images anniebach. So difficult if you can't physically make it but maybe you could write a few happy memory lines to any views which resonate of the past. I know nostalgia can be utterly painful but sometimes it's helped me personally to write of golden times even if I've ended up in floods of (mainly healing) tears! God bless

We've both lived on the coast for all of our lives, and there's no way on earth that we'd ever move inland!
When DS was doing his training he had to live and work in Manchester for almost three years, he hated it!
As soon as he possibly could he moved back here, and he, DDiL and DGS now live behind us, one road from the prom. We've lived in this house, right on the prom for almost thirty four years and love it. Out of the front door, (which is on the side to give a tiny bit of protection from the wind), down the drive, across a pavement, across a narrow road, across another pavement, beach!
There are distinct disadvantages to living so close to the sea, many plants die, windows get really dirty, really fast, hairstyles rarely last as far as the car, due to wind, rain or spray, sea spray damages car paintwork and bare metal underneath, in the winter it can be as cold as charity! However, I can sit up in bed watching the sea, smell the freshness coming in through the window, hear the gulls, (and this year, lots of Arctic Terns) shrieking as they wheel above the waves, watch children learning to ride new bikes, laugh at owners trying to train puppies to walk to heel, I love every moment of it!
Our front garden is very long and the house is above the level of the pavement, so we can't be seen by people passing.
The house is getting to be a bit too big for just the two of us now though, and we're looking at bungalows, but there are very few actually on the prom itself, so we may go a couple of roads further back, but no more than that.
DS has already told us that he'll buy our house when we leave it, he grew up with the prom right opposite his bedroom window and wants to get back to the view!
DH and I have both traced our families back as far as the mid sixteenth century, when they were living on the same stretch of coast as we're on now, so it's in our DNA to live as close as possible to the sea

We are an island race.

I feel I belong by the sea but I've lived in landlocked places all my life. I really hanker for deserted beaches to walk on with the breeze on my face, or to open the front door to mountain scenery.

I have quite a bit of the Greta Garbo in me. I love people but I also like to be alone, at one with nature and I sometimes feel very trapped inland. I really love our home and having family nearby - it was our choice to stay near them when we moved recently - but I feel that the remote seaside or mountain life I hanker after will never be mine.

No idea why I am drawn to it but part of my soul feels it's withering away. I do feel like running away to the sea, which is madness, because the reality, at my age, would be so different from the dream. I am learning to be content with the lovely life I have but deep down inside I know it's the safe option and a compromise.

Oh I’d love to live near to the sea. An estuary, canal even a lake would do. We’re lucky it’s about 45+ Minutes from the coast, so days out are possible. Your right though Annieback life is strange, unfair and throws us some curveballs. We always planned to move near the sea but under our current circumstances can’t see us leaving here because we’re so heavily involved in our sons family since our DiL diagnosis. I hope you get your wish one day Anniebach it’s very hard to give up on our dreams. [sigh emotion]

Like NanKate, I too can easily do day trips to the IoW (athough I live further inland) and have enjoyed many hot lazy days on the beaches there. I was brought up with a river and beaches directly at the bottom of our garden and have always felt the pull of water and endless horizons.
Luckily, I'm fit and able to travel to coastal resorts quite frequently.
Last year (Feb 2017) I booked into a b&b in Whitley Bay for a week. I had a great time, travelled by train, ferry then metro and was met by my host who took my luggage ahead after handing me the bike he'd hired on my behalf from a local shop. I visited the lighthouse and had a show-round at the local lifeboat station. It was a fantastic week and one worth repeating.

juggernaught Please don't move. Thirty four years of that sea view. You'll regret losing it.
A couple of roads back will never be sufficient for your need to see the sea from your home.
I'm talking from personal experience.
From a couple of roads back you'll be able to hear the sea, particularly when rough, but not see it, tormenting yourself further.

I used to live close to the sea but the salt in the air killed the plants and ruined the paintwork, the windows were always salt coated

Yes that’s the downside Harri my plants get battered by the wind and my windows are almost permanently salt coated.

I’m like you Juggernaut and would find it hard to move away from the seaside. We are about a 5 minutes walk away.

From 1958 until 1963. My parents had a house in Cornwall overlooking the sea.
I was devestated when they left, but since then I’ve always
managed to go back and stay at b&b’s or apartments in the area.
A few years ago I managed to stay in the house we had lived in, which had become a B&B.
I even managed to get my old room and being able to look out of the window and see St Ives Harbour that I had last seen 50 years ago was a wonderfully emotional experience.

St Ives was one of my parents' favourite places.
They always planned to retire to Cornwall, but my Dad died very young, so it never happened.

I like the coast but have never wanted to live by the sea. I moved 3 years ago from Somerset to Devon, I live in a small Town on the edge of Dartmoor which I love as I grew up on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. My DD lives nearer the sea & it only takes me about 20mins to be on the coast (except in Summer when there's lots of Tourists) My DiL was brought up in a seaside Town & couldn't bear to live away from the coast

I love the sea and am drawn to it, always have been. We lived in London, but on seaside holidays when young, I would have to be dragged out, blue with cold but not wanting to go.

Now we live about 15 mins from our nearest beach. I don't go as much as I'd like. The sea does not have the same pull for OH, so I usually go alone. Even sitting in the car there on a winters day with a flask and book is calming and reenergising for me.

I am a water sign if that means anything!

My dream would be to have a bedroom where I could hear the sea at night, and be near towering cliffs, with beautiful wild thrift growing and seagulls whirling in the wind. We are on the flat Suffolk coast, but it's better than nothing.

We’re 20 minutes by bus from the sea front and have a river and nature reserve at the back of our home. It’s made a huge difference to my wellbeing and also general health as I walk far more than I have done at any other time in my life. Where we live is so important.