Uppingham by the Sea: A Narrative of the Year at BorthSkrine, John Huntley
History
Uppingham by the Sea: A Narrative of the Year at Borth
Skrine, John Huntley
Uppingham School
But a week is over, and we have all settled into our berths. The boys
have found that there will be dinner every day; the masters that no one
will have to pitch his tent on a sand-dune, or spread a straw litter in a
bathing-machine. The level of comfort was, of course, not uniform. How
should it be? Probably there is a choice of corners in a workhouse or
casual-ward. Some of our party tasted the painful pleasures of the poor
in the scant accommodation and naked simplicity of cottage lodgings. It
was long after our arrival that we discovered a valued friend still
sitting on the corner of his packing-case, and brewing his coffee on a
washhand-stand. The fire smoked all day; but this vice in the apartment
was neutralised by a broken window. Yet he should be quite happy, he
said, if he could get a glazier _and_ a sweep (like smoke and draught,
one would not do without the other), a bolster, an occasional clean
towel, and a little warm water in the morning.
Those who had brought a family with them into camp were more seriously
troubled with the cares of providing quarters, and pondered regretfully
on the peace and roominess of home. Still as we are leaving no one
houseless or dinnerless, we may turn aside to describe at more leisure
the place we lived in and the manner of our life.
The stage on which our little history was enacted is a maritime plain of
irregular semicircular shape, with a sea-front of five miles, and a depth
inland of from two to three miles. This plain, a dead level stretch of
peat, of which part is coming under cultivation, while part is still
marsh, is surrounded by a ring of hills, which rise in successive well-
defined ranges of increasing height, till they culminate in the summits
of Cader Idris on one side and Plinlimmon on the other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account