Diary entry

“I got here at about 2pm, I didn’t leave Poole until late as it had been raining very hard all morning. I didn’t think that the seaside in the rain would be a good idea so I thought I would wait a while and see if it stopped... It is now 4.30 and I have been here about 2 ½ hours. The weather has gradually cleared up although it is still very windy.

…after a tiring weekend of nostalgia and catching up with people I am now in Lyme Regis not really knowing what I should be doing.

My observations and actions so far have been the decision to park in this carpark – 50 yards away from the B & B that Dad has a photograph of and is listed in Mums address book. I have recorded the sounds that I have heard. I have noticed the smell of the place – the sea has a very distinguished smell – salt and fish and seaweed. The change in the weather is obvious with the sky... In the museum it mentioned a photograph taken in 1980 (ish) of Lyme Regis (from the sea). It has a stormy sky over it that makes it very dark, yet the sun is still shining on the front of the buildings. John Fowles (he of French Lieutenant’s woman) is quoted to have said that this photo captures the way that Lyme Regis has escaped the contemporary influences going on in places at the time.

The sea has been very animated and quite threatening (as has the weather!) I hope I have captured some of this. The sky is still very black now. There are a number of seats in memory of people along the lower part of the cob, and there are also footprints in the cement.

Dad has given me some photos, there is a place that is shown that I haven’t seen yet – I will go back and find it in a minute. The other thing I noticed was that the house opposite Albany B & B is called Vancouver – Mums last holiday.”