Here in England we always have a weeks Half Term holiday in the middle of February, and although the weather can be very cold and unpredictable we do enjoy getting away for a day or two at this time of year if we can. As it's me who always does the organising for this little jaunt, it'll come as no surprise that we always end up by the sea. Gotta feed my addiction whenever possible you understand, and the family are very accommodating for the most part. You might remember that last year we went to the Yorkshire coast {Scarborough} and a few years before that we were freezing our butts off on the same coast {Whitby}.
This year, J said that he really didn't want to drive the ninety miles across to the east Yorkshire coast when the west Lancashire coast was only fifty miles away and just as nice. Fair point. So I abandoned my Yorkshire coast ideas and began a little search for somewhere beachy to visit on the Lancashire coast instead. In the past, we've holidayed further up this bit of coastline (Silverdale, Arnside, Grange-over-Sands) and have enjoyed it very much. We've also holidayed near Blackpool and not enjoyed that quite so much to be honest. But J told us tales of his childhood summers spent in Lytham St Annes on the Fylde Coast, and how he thought we would all really love it there, so I searched and searched and managed to find us a really rather lovely holiday house to rent for a very reasonable price (less than the Youth Hostels would charge at this time of year in fact). According to the www, Lytham St. Annes is "the Lancashire coastal gem flourishing with surprises", well that sounded promising!
We arrived on a blustery Saturday afternoon in the middle of February to find the house waiting for us all clean and warm and really rather lovely. It was a big house in a quiet residential street just five minutes walk from the beach. The rooms were enormous, spacious, modern. There was black leather furniture, chandeliers, huge mirrors, modern art, polished floors, a fridge which made ice on demand (oh, the excitement!), a sleek sound system, a huge flat screen tv, WiFi, and four bedrooms to accommodate the Attic family with ease. It was just wonderful, and even The Teen was at ease with his own double bedroom and Wi-Fi at the end of his fingertips. Once we had settled in, we took a short drive up the coast to show Little B the sights of Blackpool which he couldn't quite remember, being a bit too young last time we visited to retain the memories. We tracked down a super local fish and chip shop and brought our fragrant paper-wrapped parcels back to the House of Luxury to eat around the substantial dining room table. It was possibly one of the nicest family meals we've had in ages.
After a blissful nights sleep, we woke early and decided we needed to go immediately to view the sea. Up and at'em! After much parental debate, we decided to leave The Teen sleeping in bed, now I do struggle with this to be honest, it's not easy to come to terms with him not wanting to hang out with us so much these days. But really I suppose it was his holiday too, and I knew he would appreciate the extra private time/shuteye. So I listened to J, took his advice and we headed out the door as a foursome.
The beach at Lytham St Annes is bordered by sand dunes, which immediately made me love it more than Blackpool which is bordered by concrete. And oh, the beach is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge!!! The tide was way out on this morning and the expanse of exposed sand was very, very impressive in its hugeness. It was a bit strange being on the beach and not actually being able to see the sea, but I was still very happy with the vast offering of sand and sky.
After a bit of a cloudy start, we could see that the sky would soon be clearing and fingers crossed we would end up with a bright sunny day.
I absolutely loved being on the beach with the J and the Little People. As it was still early (around 8am), the sun was just rising and it was so quiet and peaceful.
We strolled along towards the pier, chattering and breathing it all in.
I looked and looked and looked for beach treasure but there wasn't an awful lot to be found. Lots and lots of razor shells, a few mussel shells and a gull feather. Not that I'm judging it on that you understand, I really did love this beach, treasure or no treasure.
Once we reached the pier we headed away from the beach to take a look at the small high street. Lytham St Annes is very charming - the usual assortment of small high street shops, but the extra wide pavements made it feel spacious, upmarket and sedate.
I loved that there was lots of seating and little shelters everywhere to encourage you to take a pew and linger a while. I can so imagine how lovely it would be here in the warm summer months, a lovely place to stroll about for sure.
Now I have absolutely zero sense of direction, I just don't possess an inner compass. But J does, and without hesitation he all of a sudden directed us away from the high street down a left hand turn, through some iron gates and into the most beautiful park. How did he know to do that? I have absolutely no idea, but the park was so nice....
.....and once again I could imagine how beautiful it would be in Summer, filled with brightly coloured flowers and dappled sunlight from all the trees.
These are rose beds, all sleepy and brown at this time of year - I really want to return in the Summer!
We wandered in this park {Ashton Gardens} for quite a while, following the paths and taking it all in until tummies started to rumble and we remembered we hadn't had any breakfast. Luckily, the house was only a ten minute walk away, so we were soon back in the warmth, sitting round the table scoffing buttery croissants warm from the oven with fresh juice and coffee.
The one thing we all most appreciated about staying in this house was the space. Oh the space felt like such a luxury for us, living as we do in a rather cluttered, modest, tall-thin terraced house. Every room was large, light and airy, with big windows, white walls and modern furniture. The time that we spent in the house was relaxed and comfortable, plenty of space to spread out and please ourselves.
I loved working on my Granny Stripe blanket whilst we were away, sat by the warmth of the radiator and the light of the large window in the dining room listening to music whilst the Little People slid in and out. I say "slid" because that was literally what they were up to, in fact it occupied a large amount of their leisure and pleasure time in the house (socks and polished floors, I'm sure you can picture it).
11 o'clock now, and back again to the beach, as a family of five this time. We walked a little further than we had earlier as I was desperate to find the St Annes Beach Huts that I'd read about.....
....they are perched on the promenade and looked a little high and dry to be honest - I was kind of expecting them to be closer to the beach than they were in reality. These are mostly for rent (see here for pretty pictures!), lovely little seaside retreats for a day of doing beachy things.
The beach was still sea-less, although we could see the tide was slowly starting to come in around lunch time. Love love love those sandy ripples, so mesmerising to look at and a pleasure to walk on.
The pier at St Annes is mostly covered over, and there were some extensive renovations going on whilst we were there so most of it was closed to the public. One thing that we did find on the pier which was open and thriving was a very cosy café, just the place for a hungry family to settle down for an hour or so.....
.....we managed to do a bit of table hopping and ended up in a prime spot right next to the large picture windows, it was a beautiful view to accompany a very tasty lunch I can tell you. Mmmmmmm toasted paninis and very good Italian frothy coffee, I was in my happy place right there with that lunchtime view.
We were so very, very lucky with the weather during our weekend away, it was cold but not unpleasant, and the sun and blues skies were invigoratingly bright. There were plenty of people taking advantage of the sunshine, but the beach was so impossibly huge at low tide that there was no danger of it feeling remotely crowded.
I loved that the house where we stayed was so close to all this - literally a five minute stroll from the sand. It was so relaxing, meandering slowly home after lunch (not including the mad scramble up the dunes), knowing that a warm, comfortable afternoon back at base stretched ahead.
At some point towards the later afternoon, it occurred to us that we would need food for the evening. After a family debate (restaurant? takeaway? supermarket?) we decided to self cater and went out in search of some essential food supplies, driving via the seafront at Blackpool. This is the very south end of Blackpool beach where it's fairly easy to park the car out of season and take a stroll along the prom. We love this giant revolving mirror ball (apparently the World's largest, with 45,000 mirror tiles)
We spent a while here, marvelling at the loveliness of forty five thousand moving mirrors reflecting the sunlight in a dancing pattern across the concrete. Pretty cool eh?
We were strolling rather briskly along, wrapped up tight against the biting wind whistling in off the Irish Sea. Blimey, it was bitterly cold here, don't be fooled by those lush blue skies!
We lingered a while to watch the roller coaster crawl up then hurtle down The Big One. I am not a fan of pleasure parks, they don't feature on my personal List Of Pleasures at all. Not. At. All. But the scale of this particular roller coaster is oddly fascinating I have to admit. So high! So steep! And such screaming from the passengers! Shudder - very very very glad to have my feet on the ground.
So we were in search of a shop that sold rock (the sweet, sticky kind), for Little B who was obsessing about it over and over and over. That was until he suddenly changed his mind and decided no, he didn't want rock, he actually wanted Candyfloss instead please. Candyfloss, candyfloss, CAnDyFLOSS!!!!!!!!!!!! He was insistent, and we were on holiday, so we indulged and trudged along in the freezing cold looking for a candyfloss seller. A freezing cold mile and a half later, we hit pink.......
.....and three bags of candyfloss were purchased for the Little Peeps to gorge on. One happy Little B there, I can tell you.
Ahhhh, back at base and all was very content and happy in my world of Winter Holidaying. Such a stunning day full of leisure and pleasure, sunshine, blue skies and fresh sea air. I didn't even mind cooking in the enormous kitchen with it's modern eye level fan oven, and magical ice-making fridge the size of a wardrobe. I say 'cook' in the loosest sense of the word - I basically shoved in some deep pan peperoni pizzas, then retrieved them fifteen minutes later. Job done. J and I shared a bottle of vin blanc, with a plate of cheese, cured meats, olives and salty crackers. Then we all settled down on the enormous black leather sofas to watch a film (Despicable Me) before flopping early into bed.
Monday morning now, and here we are back at the sand dunes once more for another early morning, pre-breakfast stroll.
The weather was even more glorious on that morning, and once again we had the expanse of beach to ourselves. Please note the four shadows and know that this Mumma struggles with her eldest boy not wanting to be out of bed at 8am, even though I do get that it's a part of growing up.
Oh blue, blue Winter sky, I love you so much!!
The above photo really makes my heart smile - see that little speck right over there by the pier? That's our six year old child, Little B who scampers and runs like a puppy let off the lead. Wooosh, and he's off. I really totally love the way that children run for the pure pleasure of using their bodies. Love that they do that.
What the heck??? What on earth is that you may ask?!! Well......it's a fully loaded hot chocolate of course, the perfect pre-breakfast beverage for any puppy-running child. We arrived at the pier at 9am and realised the café was open for business, and decided that a very good Italian coffee would be the most marvellous thing after a beach walk on this cold winters morning. The lovely, lovely café lady took a shine to our two Little People, glowing and happy from their beach running, and gave them some truly whopping toppings on their hot chocolates. Little B's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the size of that marshmallow!
Awwww, so long lovely sandy beach, thank you for giving us such happy memories. We will most certainly be back again in the summer, to dip our toes in the water and linger a while on the sands.
We reluctantly packed up and left the lovely warm spaciousness of the holiday house at 10am. We had one final jaunt planned before heading home - a trip to Blackpool Zoo.
We came to this zoo once before, on a wild and wet Summer's day in 2012 when Little B was only 2 years old. It's a lovely zoo, well laid out with lots of great animals to see.
I did feel a tad sorry for them on this below-zero Winters day though, it was soooooo cold! We had a picnic lunch whilst waiting for the sea lion display to start, I thought my fingers were going to fall off, and I definitely stopped being able to feel my feet. The sea lions were great and worth the cold wait in the outdoor arena, such natural performers and wonderful to watch.
We arrived back in the Attic around 3pm, it felt like we had been away for ages. I really love taking short trips away from home, it really does revive the spirits and grants a welcome dose of feel-good.
Lytham St. Annes, you were fabulous. Your sea breezes and sunshine were so good for the soul. See you again in the Summer I hope!
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ps the above vintage picture was pinned up on the wall in the holiday house, I love it very much.
Lovely to have you back. I'm glad that you had a good time in Lytham, there's probably lots of iron in sea air!
Posted by: Caroline H | March 10, 2016 at 08:10 PM
Welcome back! Glad you are feeling better and better. I love going on your trips "with" you through your pictures. Glad you had fun on your school break. It is truly getting to be springy here in beautiful West Michigan, although no flowers yet. Warmer temps and I heard a robin this morning although I haven't seen one yet. Here's to your feeling like your old self in no time!
Posted by: Laura from beautiful West Michigan | March 10, 2016 at 07:00 PM
Hurrah! You're back!! I was thinking of you this morning as I drove to work through spectacular sunlight that was raising mist from all the damp rocks and trees and hillsides around me, sending you good thoughts and hoping everything was well with you. And it is! Or at least is tending in the right direction. I'd never heard of Lytham St. Anne's, but enjoyed your travelogue. I hope the Lytham St. Anne's tourism board (if such a thing exists) appreciates it. Can't wait to see the cupcake blanket against the beach hut backdrop.
Posted by: Anne at Shintangle Studio | March 10, 2016 at 05:57 PM
Went to Blackpool for a weekend once with my Grandmother to see the lights and I remember the coach driver drove us through Lytham St Annes along the sea front and I remember that lovely big big beach. Thank you for such a lovely post of your days there. Like you, I feel my best when at the beach and for me only a 20 mile car ride away.....I do appreciate that I can go see the sea on an afternoon out whenever I want too x
Posted by: Rae | March 10, 2016 at 04:59 PM
Looks lovely Lucy, I went there many years ago but didn't really do the beach!!! Lovely to blow away those winter cobwebs!!!
Don't fret too much about your 'ado' as they're called here in France......it's just their little 'kick' back......Don't make a big thing of it, it's his way of being 'different' because you're early risers!!! Put up with the a few lie ins.... better than a piercing or a tattoo....lol
Concentrate on getting yourself stronger and completely healthy again.....we need you x x x
Posted by: Kathy, FRANCE | March 10, 2016 at 03:57 PM
Lucy, I missed you . I checked nearly every day to see if you had written. I was getting concerned for you.
So glad to have you back. Stay well.
Gayle. X
Posted by: Gayle | March 10, 2016 at 03:07 PM
Did you not have a go in the penny arcade? A bunch of 2p's and my (then) four and two year olds were fascinated for at least, oooh, a whole five minutes!! :-) Sounds like you had a lovely trip. Last time we went there was also a bouncy castle slide on the beach... again, the four and two year olds were delighted! Love Lytham St Annes. xx
Posted by: Lulu | March 10, 2016 at 02:33 PM
Thank you Lucy. My grandparents lived in Blackpool, so I have great memories of a less commercialized prom & of Lytham. Our children have all been there too. We used to have one day in the Tower & one day at the Pleasure Beach which really stretched the budget! When you go back visit Stanley Park which is just across the road from the zoo. There's loads to do - even for grumpy teenagers!
Posted by: Wendy Bassett | March 10, 2016 at 01:43 PM
I live in Southport, just down the coast from Lytham. The sea goes out a long way here too, but, contrary to popular belief, it does come in, right up to the sea wall at times! Not much on the beach here either, although I did once gather a couple of pineapples and some mangoes which had obviously been jettisoned from a ship somewhere! From "my" beach I can even see Anthony Gormley's "Another Place" on a clear day, and the ships sailing into and out of Liverpool. Your post made me reappraise where I live - not a bad place to be really!
Posted by: Kath | March 10, 2016 at 01:13 PM
I love those first and last vintage pictures! So glad you had a good holiday. Feb half-term out-of-season seaside holidays are one of my favourites!
I know entirely what you mean about the Leaving behind the Teenager thing! I struggled with it too, but now he is almost 17, we happily leave him behind even for whole one-week holidays (yes - get me!) and it works out best for everyone and the family dynamics!
Posted by: Claire | March 10, 2016 at 01:05 PM
ahhhhhhh-looks wonderful
oxoxoxoxoxcrafty mema
Posted by: crafty mema | March 10, 2016 at 12:09 PM
I know Lytham well, or did when I lived in Cleveleys which is just a few miles north on the coast. It used to be considered very posh, very upmarket. Back in '67 I think it was, the Dave Clarke Five rented a house there for the summer season. Not a lot of people know that, probably most of your commentors won't even have heard of them. Lovely to see you back posting, you've been missed as has been commented on many times.
Posted by: Edwina | March 10, 2016 at 11:40 AM
Great post!! I'd love to ride that roller coaster...even at my age (64). Sadly those parks are so expensive and lines so long we no longer go. This holiday looks like a restful place to be. I searched your blog as best I could for a pic of that granny sweater you are showing the sleeve of in one of the pics. I know you stitched it. Is there a pic somewhere?
xx, Carol
Posted by: Carol DeLater | March 10, 2016 at 11:39 AM
"we hit pink" and "what the heck" both made me
Laugh Out Loud (LOL)
Back on form Luce - gotcha Bloggin Mojo back.
Love it!
Katie B xxx
Posted by: Katie B | March 10, 2016 at 11:35 AM
Great photos from your holiday Lucy. I am so pleased you are on the mend and Im sure the holiday will have done you a power of good. Take care. Annette x
Posted by: Annette | March 10, 2016 at 09:24 AM
What a fresh breezy post full of adventure and family fun! It sounds like you found a great place to stay. Getting away does make you have a new perspective, doesn't it? I feel the need to do a getaway, but Dayle had hernia surgery 2 weeks ago and is having a slow and painful recovery. Hope we can get to take our April beach trip! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Posted by: Teresa Kasner | March 10, 2016 at 02:35 AM
What lovely photos they really capture the essence of your holiday. The tide goes out a long way in Ryde near to wher I live, but nothing like that.
My daughter went through the phase of not wanting to come out with us. Recently she was staying with us with her family and the highlight was when she was walking along the beach with me and she said I remember all this I had forgotten how good it Is just strolling along the beach. So really they appreciate it, but it's not cool to admit it.
Take care
Posted by: Tracy🤗 | March 09, 2016 at 10:53 PM
Lucy the picture of that hot chocolate is hilarious! I looked and looked at it and could not work out what it was! Ha! How brilliant - might even entice your eldest out of bed next time! :) debbie xx
Posted by: debbie | March 09, 2016 at 10:40 PM
Looks and sounds like a great place to visit. I can remember when our teens didn't want to leave the hotel/condo while on holidays, always sad for mom for sure. Those gardens would be lovely to see in the summer. Thanks for sharing! x
Posted by: Angela-Southern USA | March 09, 2016 at 10:35 PM
Hi Lucy lovely photos and it did feel like we were with you thank you love Jenny x
Posted by: Jenny | March 09, 2016 at 10:34 PM
Hello Lucy,
It's lovely to hear that you're feeling better, and I'm sure your stay in Lytham St Anne's helped you to feel happy again.
We live in West Yorkshire, but meet up with my Dad and sisters for a long weekend at The Dalmeney Hotel in Lytham St Anne's every July. Like your J, we holidayed here every year as children, and have been returning with our own children for over twenty years now. Our eldest son is now grown with a family of his own, and I wanted to say don't worry about your teen. It is indeed part of growing up, and the years ahead are hard, but believe me you have laid down strong foundations and he'll remember all these times with happiness.....our own son now loves showing his little boy all the delights that Lytham St Anne's has to offer! You will have a lovely time if you go back in summer.....the park you visited looks glorious (and there is a fab cafe at the park gates entrance, too!) Oh, and Little B will adore riding on the little steam train that runs around the pitch and put course in high season.
Thank you for sharing your photos and making me smile as I look forward to July xx
Posted by: Karen Dodgson | March 09, 2016 at 10:25 PM
I grew up in St Annes, it's nice to read about it from a visitors perspective.
Posted by: Sue Scott | March 09, 2016 at 10:12 PM
Thanks so much for your holiday post. I feel like I was there with you!
Posted by: Eira Clapton | March 09, 2016 at 10:11 PM
Glad you are feeling better Lucy, this lovely blue skies post has cheered up the most dreadful rainy day. And trust me when I say that leaving the Teen in bed was far better than having him mooch around grumpy and growling
Posted by: Julie | March 09, 2016 at 10:01 PM
Oh, I just love reading your travel posts! I was sitting here trying to remember the last time I walked on a sandy beach, and realized that my children have never done it, and thought, "Oh, we need to do that!" Too bad we live in the middle of America, and the nearest beach is 700 miles away. Someday... :)
Posted by: Jenny B. | March 09, 2016 at 09:50 PM