The group is clearly visible as silhouettes on the skyline; a whirly gig of adults and children hunkered down on top of the most exposed sand dune that is catching the full force of the offshore wind that’s pushing over the long grass and kicking up little sandstorms here and there. It’s hard to tell whether swirling, chaotic movement in the group is the result of the wind blowing them around or the unbridled energy of the children let loose to play among the sand dunes. A few moments of watching shows it’s clearly the latter. There are three females with what I presume are their respective children. I don’t know where their fathers are, probably playing golf or something and I muse that I know without any doubt where I’d much rather be.
The children are laughing and cavorting almost dangerously among the dunes. In places the sides are cliff like, the drops up to three maybe four metres but they are all cushioned by deep drifts of sand and so the risk of falling has actually become something of a game. I remember a childhood holiday in Tenby, South Wales, where each day at low tide the portable walkway that allowed foot passengers to board the ferry to Caldy Island would be pushed back onto the beach. It was maybe two metres high though aged five it felt more like four or five and that sense of height made the game of Geronimo we invented for the holiday all the more thrilling. This involved our newly formed holiday gang climbing onto the walkway and then launching ourselves in one long line off the platform while shouting ‘Geronimo’ as loud as we could. The landing was cushioned but it still felt like a thrill.
I love the pastoral feel to this images. As ever the trepidation of pointing a camera at children on a beach, even ones fully clothed in onesies, piqued my nerves but the joy, movement and fun filled chaos was too good to miss. I wasn’t even using a long lens. At one point all hell broke loose as the dogs from other families broke loose and hurtled into the group to make friends with their own dog. In a moment of almost pure comedy gold, a large Dalmatian and a scruffy looking whippet started chasing each other in continuous circle, revolving around the three women sitting in the ground as if they were pioneers encircled by native Americans.
I don’t know why I’ve not been to West Wittering beach before but it is certainly my new favourite place and somewhere to take the boys for their own sand dune adventures.