Slapton Sands

Last week we had a last minute late summer break in Devon and we spent a day at Slapton Sands. I've been especially keen to go to the seaside since picking up a fabulous fifties beach outfit at Twinwood Festival, so our little trip provided the perfect opportunity to wear it. 

I love a good novelty print and all things nautical, so when I found this mid century towelling lined top and jacket I couldn't resist getting it! 

I teamed it with a red elephant print scarf to tie up my hair (perfect for windy conditions) and my original 50s St Michael shorts for a paddle in the sea. As you can see from my pose it was a bit chilly, but I was brave and even went for a swim later - living so far from the sea means I don't miss a chance when I get one! I think there's something so fun and irresistible about the seaside. 

The beach at Slapton Sands is stunningly beautiful, but this shoreline has a rather tragic history from World War II. Local people were mass evacuated from the area to provide a battle practice area and the beach was used as training site for D Day to prepare troops for landing at 'Utah' beach in Normandy. In the course of 'Exercise Tiger' training boats were discovered by German E boats and many hundreds of US soldiers sadly lost their lives. You can read more about the operation on Exercise Tiger Rembembered. The details of the incident were not revealed until many years after the war and a tank recovered from the seabed now stands as a memorial to those that died. 

I was very touched to discover that many of the soldiers that died at Slapton Sands are buried at Madingley American Cemetery in Cambridge, just down the road from me. 

Well that was a very two sided post - happiness and sadness mixed into one day at the sea. It just shows how learning about the past, whether through the study of fashion or war, can be so enlightening and a constant source of surprises.