In mourning for a favourite seafront seat . . .
OK, so I stamped my feet, walked round and round it, managed to stop myself from kicking it (that would have hurt me more), and then made a hrmphhing noise, and stormed off, disappointed.
Very disappointed.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the new stretch of promenade at Felixstowe’s Cobbold’s Point – it’s a great addition to our seafront.
What’s got me annoyed is that my favourite seafront seat has vanished, and I’m not the only one who is sad to see it gone from what people are telling me.
The seat made out of a piece of the wishbone reef at the Point was the perfect place to enjoy the bay, with views right across the shore and out to sea, great for watching the sunrise and sunset and soaking up the sun during the day.
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It was the ideal spot to hunker down and read a book – three deep seats with its concrete arms offering protection against the wind and a trio of directions to escape the breeze.
Many pleasant summer evenings have I had over the past few years, lost in a good book, looking up to dreamily watch the waves, or sometimes chatting with friends or others out for a stroll or a bit of beachcombing, canoeing or fishing.
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So what happened to my seat. Well, councillor Andy Smith told me – with relish, no less – that he had crushed it. Smashed it. Destroyed it.
I wasn’t even asked.
He said it would be replaced, and I mistakenly thought with a new structure of some kind suitable for sitting on.
But what we have now is a lump of grotty granite. Which I had to restrain myself from kicking.
The aim, I guess, is to mirror the piece (which my eldest son Matthew once wrapped up as an art installation – startling passers by who wondered what on earth was going on) at the end of Sea Road. Like stone bookends, two miles apart.
It’s no seat though, and that’s what Cobbold’s Point is crying out for.
This scheme cost �10million – surely there must be a couple of hundred quid left somewhere in the budget for a nice bench or two on the edge of the prom.
Perhaps the contractors VolkerStevin would like to donate one as a gift to the town to make up for the disruption of the past year – it could have a nice plaque on it with their company logo so we could remember the excellent job they have made of our sea defences.
