Buckets and Spades By Melita Godden As a small child about 50 years ago (early 1950's) – OMG - am I really that old! – I was taken to the Sandgate beach, in those days the beach had a huge shelf where you would walk into the sea, at nearly high tide for about 10ft, and then the seabed just dropped away.

I was with my mother, older sister, baby brother and grandparents.  As shown on the picture, S9 'Other Peoples Photos' on the Saxon Shoreline people went to the beach to swim and to sit in the sun in their best clothes,  if you went out you wore your best clothes, which would explain why my grandfather was wearing his best brown brogues and best suit. I wore a swimming costume, which was ruched with elastic, and you could pull it away from your body & let the water fall inside down your costume, this garment can only be bettered by the famous hand knitted costume.  As a small child I had blond curly hair and a wonderful rubber bucket & spade with the marble pattern on it. I was playing with this bucket at the waters edge, when horrors it floated way, I walked after it, it kept going out to sea, I kept walking after it, I seem to remember voices calling me back, but I loved that bucket so I kept walking after that bucket. I just walked along the seabed down the drop all that could be seen was my hair floating on the surface, which was what my grandfather pulled me out of the sea with; he was still wearing his best suit and best brown brogues.  I was not little Miss Popular, I was also very cross as my bucket was still in the sea, if they had left me I knew I could have retrieved it, what was the use of a rubber spade without a rubber bucket to go with it? Such a fuss was made of my grandfather’s shoes & trousers and my bucket still floated in the sea. Article published in the Spring 08 Sandgate News