Margate

With spring very much springing and Southeastern Railways offering £10 returns to various juicy UK destinations, what better way to spend a balmy March Saturday than with an Icicle school trip to Margate?

Icicle Liz with her fantastic researching and planning skills was in charge: nothing could go wrong. I'm not trying to build tension here: nothing went wrong.

We convened under some very pink, befronded parasols at BeBeached cafe on the harbour arm, enjoying coffee, chips and other vittles, rounded off with a complementary stick of rock each.

Who needs Miami when you've got Margate?

Next stop, the Turner Contemporary, the Tate of Margate and a very cool space. I forgot to take a picture of the outside but wikipedia remembered:

For all its stark modernity the building has a rather diffident way of blending into the sky and clouds, and felt very welcoming both inside and out.

We scampered round an exhibition that mixed (dare I say juxtaposed? no) Turner with an abstract American painter (Helen Frankenthaler, since you ask) and enjoyed the sea views through tall windows.

Anyway enough with the non-swimming chat - onto the main course of the trip...
WALPOLE BAY SEA LIDO!

All set to swim

We set off east for the mile or so along the coast path..

...and before long the sea lido hove into view, the walls just showing along the top of the water as the tide went out (at high tide the whole thing disappears like magic, re-emerging about (ebb-out?) 3 hours later to provide all the thrills of sea swimming without the hazards of being swept out and/or eaten by sharks - like a sandwich with the crusts removed).

It's a big old expanse of water - I'd guess something like 100 x 200 m. And funnily enough no-one else was there! We could barely contain our excitement.

Liz: the author of our content

Rules are for fools

We opted to get changed amongst a series of sea puddles halfway along one of the walls. And OH NO a gust of wind blew Marianne's nice new t-shirt into the water (not the lido side but into the actual Whole Big Sea) about 10ft below us, whence it slowly drifted away, presumably to the Low Countries.

Goodbye Marianne's t-shirt

No time for lamentations, time to swim in the sea ourselves - hoooray!

Of course super swimmer Noelene immediately shot across to the far side like a torpedo deployed, eluding camera, but here are Lesley, Marianne and Sara having a jolly splash:

And a couple of pics from Sara:

Liz the glamour queen

Katie the friendly otter

The water felt just WONDERFUL! Fizzy and restorative as a tonic, refreshing but not particularly cold (I'd guess 8 or 9 degrees), mild air and proper sunny sunshine. I wondered "am I dreaming?"

Back on the wall for a quick change under ever-descending towels, flashing passing boats enough to be designated a lighthouse.

We emerge triumphant:

On the way back Marianne and I busied ourselves collecting shells and sea glass along the beach.

Then who should arrive on the scene but Lido Mike and mini entourage, who had been cycling the Viking Way (I didn't even know Vikings had bikes) and were set to follow in our sandy footprints to the sea lido.

Lido Mike would rather bike than hike

As for our party, time for a post-swim pint in a cosy pub, The Lifeboat, serving up lots of local ales and exciting ciders.

All aboard The Lifeboat

Three cheers for beers

And finally, the crowning glory to the day - fish and chips on the sea front as the sun set.

Home time - full, tired and happy