Visiting an English seaside resort on a rainy day in September is not everybody's idea of a great day out. But experiencing the wind and the rain whilst eating fish and chips on the promenade watching surfers trying to stay upright has a certain charm!
So we decided to visit Westward Ho!, famous amongst other things for being the only place in the UK with an exclamation mark in it's name, and named after a novel by Kingsley Amis, who lived in the area.
Geographically, it's in a windswept part of the Devon coast, on a long stretch of beach which goes up to the Taw and Torridge estuary. It's long beach and Atlantic facing means it's popular with surfers and other watersports.
For me, it's also the kind of place that's lacking in soul. Unlike other places that have evolved from fishing villages, and traditional communities, this place seams to only exist for tourism. There's a lot of new-build apartments that I'm sure will be empty in the winter, either utilised as second homes, or part of the burgeoning Air B'n'B revolution that is sweeping through the world.
Visiting on a Saturday we noticed that there were quite a few people who seemed to have visited for the weekend, with the intention of spending a lot of their time in the local bars, noisily sharing there experience with anyone who cared to listen.
If you're looking for a beer by the sea, fish and chips, amusement arcades, crazy golf, ice cream vans, seagulls and doughnuts made to order though, Westward Ho! has it all. I hope you enjoy these pictures that capture the good, and the bad, of what constitutes the great British seaside!