An August visit to Seaton in the neighbouring county of Devonshire.

On August 23, the Friday before the Bank Holiday weekend, I had a pleasant drive in bright sunshine down the A358 to the seaside town of Seaton in Devonshire.  Having passed through Axmouth it became obvious that the fine weather had drawn people to the coast as most of the little laybys beside the B3172 overlooking the River Axe were occupied.  On the Esplanade around 80 percent of the car parking spaces were taken, but I found a space halfway along the seafront and put £2 in the meter to allow a couple of hours strolling.

The first thing I noticed was that the new ‘modern’ apartment block in the middle of the Esplanade appeared to be complete, and is just the monstrosity I expected it to be.  In my opinion it’s a blot on the coastline in general, and a blot on Seaton’s seafront in particular!

The Esplanade, Seaton, Devonshire in August 2019.

Walking west along the Esplanade the sea front was as crowded as I had ever seen it.  All the benches on the sea wall were taken, lots of people on the beach, queues for ice-creams, people in the sea, and the usual promenaders. 

I strolled up Castle Hill, occasionally stopping for a breather and taking the odd photo.  The benches between the cliff top and Cliff Field Gardens provided a convenient place to sit down and enjoy the view to the east.

A view of the beach and seafront at Seaton in Devonshire as seen from Castle Hill.

A view of Beer Head in Devonshire as seen from Seaton.

The steep path down to The Hideaway café gave me an opportunity to take some photos of Beer Head with the sea sparkling in the afternoon sun.  My return journey took me east back along the seafront where every other beach hut was occupied, and past the ice cream kiosk – still with its queues.

My two hours were up by the time I got back to the car, so it was off to a busy Seaton Tesco for some shopping, and then back home for tea.