Whoo are the people on the beach There’s a mother and granddaughter paddling; grandma has just started saying “When I was a girl..” and the child is saying “ice-ceem, ice-ceem, me want ice-ceem”. Or maybe she isn’t a grandma, maybe she’s a grandpa and it isn’t a child but a dog, a dog who isn’t sure whether he likes the water or not.
There are two people standing on the water-line, one of them is saying “I’m sure you can’t walk to Wales,” the other one is saying “Of course you can while the tide’s out, come on!” and the person standing beyond them is looking back at them and saying “Look, if you don’t want to go, just say, but let’s go now before the tide comes in.” Idiots, they can’t walk to Wales because there is the Bristol Channel between here and Wales, as well as treacherous sinking sand and mud… if they go the coastguards will be called out to rescue them, and the first one will be saying “I told you we couldn’t walk to Wales!”
Beyond them is a single figure walking, head down, he’s thinking “How can I win her back, what can I do… maybe it was my fault after all… what a fool I am…”
Beyond him is a person with two dogs, they are just messing about on the edge of the tide, they don’t want to go in any further, but the owner is trying to encourage them. “I’ve brought you all the way to the sea, now come,on, come and start swimming properly.”
The couple at the front of the picture are the most interesting, striding along, hand in hand and very purposeful… just looking for a nice picnic spot, or…
What do you think?
Lois Elsden 