How well do you know the area you live in? I've lived in Southend for over a decade now so I figure I should know it pretty well. But the thing about living in a place for a while is that you start to have your own haunts, the coffee shops you drink in, the beach you like the most, the restaurant you know will have crayons, and so after a while I'm finding that I don't know the area perhaps as well as I thought.
About a five minute drive away from us is Old Leigh, an area I used to frequent quite a bit Pre-Toddler but which I haven't bothered with so much recently. Visiting it again this week I'm not sure quite why I've avoided it?! Old Leigh is a proper fishing village. Unlike the main bit of Leigh which can be a bit TOWIE for some people, Old Leigh is filled with fishing boats and fish sellers, nets, pubs where you can get a proper pint. A grand total of one shop. They have a huge free folk festival every year and a regatta too. Going past Old Leigh on the train when I used to visit from London was one of the things that made me move down here.
Bringing The Toddler to Old Leigh made me see things I hadn't before. He dragged us into the Heritage Centre which we'd never visited before but which dates back to around 1851. There were some gorgeous antique quilts upstairs.
Taking my camerawith me meant that I also viewed the area as a tourist would, seeing it through different eyes, rediscovering it. I think I'll have to start getting the camera out more often when we're out, it seems a shame to live by the seaside and not document it more often.
So we looked at the crabs and the lobsters and the boats and played on the beach with the kids visiting from London. And then of course it was into Ye Olde Smack which we discovered had a children's area, hurrah! Meaning The Husband and I could have 10 seconds peace in a pub and pretend again that we are Proper Adults. And to celebrate our day of discovery? A fish finger sandwich. Well, what else would we have wanted?!!
Kate blogs about silversmithing, sewing, printing, baking and whatever else comes along.
Blogs at: Crafts on Sea
Twitter: @craftsonsea