BLACK UMBRELLAS, BATHING HUTS & THE RAILWAY LINE IN DAWLISH... (My new poem about Dawlish, Devon...)

 Black Umbrellas, Bathing Huts & The Railway Line In Dawlish…

Black umbrellas shade strolling, fashionable women from the daylight,

Whilst others hide beneath theirs upon a bench, at ease 

Under a streetlight along a plain esplanade, yet expansive,  

Matching the curve of the railway tracks, close to the sea’s reach.

Black umbrellas shield the seated women from clouds of white 

Billowing steam blown curiously landward by a jaunty sea breeze, 

As a broad gauge locomotive tarries, its emissions extensive   

On the no-man’s-land between the promenade and a sandy beach.

Black umbrellas and constitutional walking at the seaside resort,

Where bathing huts on wheels lie parked on the sandy shore 

All seem at odds with the timetabled railway intrusions, fraught  

With passengers and freight wagons and the rail workers’ furore… 

Pete Ray

16th February 2025…   

Really like this image from Edwardian times.

When I travelled several times by train from Birmingham to Plymouth as a child, the shock of entering Dawlish, the train squeezing between the promenade and the holidaymakers on the beach was a curious delight…