They do like to be beside the seaside…

Ben Bentley chats to Shropshire pensioners who share happy memories of their trips to the Welsh coast

It might only be the first days of spring, but they are already rolling up their trousers, knotting hankies on their heads and singing “Oh we do like to be beside the seaside”.

The idea of a stroll along the prom might seem like a world away, but for a group of more than 100 Shropshire pensioners who are now booking their classic British summer holiday the excitement is tangible.

Yes, as travel agents have reported a rise in bookings in recent weeks, the annual Age Concern trip to the Victorian seaside destination of Llandudno in North Wales is filling up nicely.

“There are about 130 from all over Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin who go and take over the Queen’s Hotel on Llandudno sea front,” says Gill Cartwright, Age Concern services development officer for North Shropshire and one of the volunteers who tag along for the annual week-long holiday.

“It’s lovely. My own mum who is almost 92 went four years ago and she’s been going ever since. She had not been on holiday for 20 years and she had a fabulous time.”

The first few weeks of a new year have always been a time to look forward to summer holidays in Britain and with the weak pound pricing continental holidays out of the equation, destination Llandudno suddenly seems extremely appealing.

While travel agents are reporting a rise in the number of people booking overseas holidays in the wake of abysmal British summers in recent years, the Age Concern tourists are always quite lucky with the weather.

Gill says: “Three years ago it was extremely hot and last year we went and we had the only decent weather of the summer.”

At a meeting of Age Concern members in Ellesmere, volunteer helper Joan Tudor adds: “We’ve never had a year when the sun did not shine.”

Out come the holiday snaps collected down the years, showing pensioners in fancy dress, playing holiday bingo and lazing on stripy deckchairs. The British summer holiday as it was meant to be.

Holiday pictures from previous years bring back fond seaside memories.

Considering one, Age Concern volunteer Pam Bellingham laughs and says: “That’s when we got stuck on the beach. We sat down and none of us could get back up again.”

Pictures of the ladies in fancy dress is punctuated by more than a chuckle.

Pam, dressed as a fallen angel in a pure white dress with a twist (she looks heavily but thankfully prosthetically pregnant), explains: “I put a pillow under that dress. The night before I was up past 10pm sewing that.”

And of course, after a very brief gestation she won the fancy dress competition by a tummy.

Joan Tudor also let her hair down. Or rather let it up. She dressed as a punk rocker for the party.

“One year I wrapped myself up in toilet paper and went as a mummy,” she adds. “And I won. But I could not see a thing.”

Jane Lloyd, 92, is a regular on the Llandudno trip. She says: “I go every time, I love all the friendly people and the fun we have. I love sunbathing and having an ice cream. I’m saving up already to go. I used to go abroad but I prefer a nice British holiday.”

The seagulls are evidently pleased to see the arrival of the party too. And they show it.

“I was sunbathing when one of them did a great big you-know-what all down my front,” adds Jane.

Fellow sunseeker Joyce Morris, 91, adds: “I’ve been three times on the Llandudno trip and I’m looking forward to going again. I’ve never been abroad and I shall never go now. I’ve never gone very far.”

Incredibly, her friend Kathleen Carter had never been on holiday in her life until she went with the group last year. Living and working on a farm most of her life, the idea of going away simply never came up.

“We did not go on holiday as children,” she says. “When we went to school there was no such thing as talking about going on holidays. The first time we went on holiday was to Llandudno. It was good.”

For Ellesmere Age Concern club member Sue Jardine, this will be her sixth time to Llandudno. She enjoys walking along the pier but as a keen artist she says her favourite part of a British holiday is sitting down to sketch and paint the seascape.

And there can be fewer flavours to savour than fish and chips by the sea.

“I like the fish and chips as long as you keep away from the seagulls,” Sue adds. “I know it’s their home, but they are my chips.”

Talk turns back to night time seaside activities: dancing and the prospect of the fancy dress party.

Having scored competition success in outfits that transformed her into Gene Kelly on one occasion and Miss Llandudno on another, it was to her disappointment that dressed up as a cricket umpire last summer she was out for a duck.

“I will have to think about it a bit better this year,” is her resolution.

This lot know how to have fun and a British summer holiday is the place to have it. A younger man enters the room and, quick as a kiss-me-quick hat, Jane Lloyd says: “I’m looking for a toy boy. Are you going to Llandudno?”

* For application forms and for more information about the trip, which takes place in July, contact Age Concern on 01743 233123.