As we all know, summers went on forever when we were kids so we had lots of time at the beach. Here’s our favourite memories of those halcyon days.
Ice cream: Long before we all had tubs of pistachio and chilli flavoured stuff in the fridge all year round, a trip to the seaside was your best shot at getting some ice cream. A 99, with a bit of unidentified sauce if you were lucky, was the highlight of the day for many of us, especially if the weather took a turn for the worse.
Some places even did the old ‘block of ice cream and wafer’ service, which was grand but a massive let down if you fancied a proper cone.
Digging a hole: A quick check around the office revealed that every single one of us spent many, many hours at the beach digging massive holes with tiny shovels. Looking back on this behaviour as adults we have no idea why we did this, though occasionally we did add a twist and fill it with water, again, for no good reason. Or we’d just sit in the hole. For about three minutes before getting bored. Kids are weird.
Looking for crabs: Inspired by one too my nature documentaries, a favourite way to pass the time at the beach was exploring little rock pools in the hope of finding crabs or other sea life. Usually our search was fruitless and if we did spot anything it would nip us, sending us off crying to our parents. Good times.
Fish and chips: If you weren’t stuffed from too much ice cream, then some fish and chips were a fine way to round off the day at the seaside. In our childish brains, we wondered if the fish we were eating had been swimming about in the water with us earlier in the day. Still, fish and chips, out of paper, beside the sea, is one of the world’s greatest meals, young or old.
Splashing about in the water, briefly: One of the biggest shocks you can get is running into the water at an Irish beach. Even when it is hotter on land than the inside of a toasted cheese sandwich, the waters around Ireland maintain a chill that Vladimir Putin would baulk at.
We all made that excited run from beach towel to water’s edge only to realise that our only hope of a fun day out meant spending as little time in the waves as possible. A quick dip, just to wash the sand off, was usually enough before scampering back to our main project, digging that giant hole for no good reason.
7Up Free is asking people to submit what will uplift their summer. They will be giving away lots of prizes throughout the summer for the best entries. To be in with a chance to win people can enter via Twitter using the hashtag #upliftmysummer or enter via Facebook or the website www.7up.ie. Whether they want a weekly Friday ice cream to brighten their day or tickets to one of the hottest festivals in Europe, the 7Up Free team might just make it happen!
