Beside the Seaside

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Who doesn't love to be beside the seaside? Whether we're building sandcastles, exploring rockpools, strolling along windswept beaches or skimming stones across the waves, we Brits never seem happier than when we're enjoying our coastline. This entrancing companion gathers together writings on every aspect of the British seaside, from the changes to the landscape wrought by natural erosion and man-made development to the astonishing variety of animals, birds and plants that make their homes by the seafront. Not to mention the precipitous rise, sudden decline and current resurgence of the traditional British seaside holiday, complete with donkey rides, beach huts and Brighton rock. But as fond as we are of our beaches, the British seaside is more than just a holiday destination. It also gives vital clues to the history of this island nation. Whether it's the fossils to be found along the Dinosaur coast, the lighthouses that saw some of Michael Faraday's earliest experiments with electricity, or even the Martello towers that were built to defend the Empire, the evidence of our past is there for all to see. A beguiling collection of articles drawn from the paper's extensive archive, I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside is the perfect bedside companion for anyone who loves the feeling of sand between their toes.

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Ruth Petrie is a freelance editor. She selected articles for Cuttings: A Year in the Garden with Christopher Lloyd (2007), The Guardian Book of the Countryside (2008) and Notes from the Garden (2009).