please empty your brain below
I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea

This is the first line of second verse of The Gnu Song (words by Michael Flanders) and on hearing this as a child it gave me a lifelong absurd fascination with Rustington-On-Sea.
For some years I thought it was a made up humorous name but then I discovered it was real and I believe he did actually take furnished lodgings there.

Despite that I have never visited except for cycling along the coastal path.

Everything I have discovered about it leads me to believe it is the South Coast's answer to Frinton-On-Sea. This was especially confirmed when my mother once stayed at the (now sadly closed) RAF benevolent fund's Convalescent Home there as an RAF widow and described the place. The enormous care home you describe seems to confirm my beliefs. It is on my list of places I must visit one day just to see what it is really like.

Pedantic of Purley | 27.05.24 - 8:33 a.m. | #

For some reason all the links and different fonts are missing from the RSS feed making it look very disjointed.

Debster | 27.05.24 - 9:15 a.m. | #

Brings back happy memories of time in Worthing visiting my Grandad.

David | 27.05.24 - 9:18 a.m. | #

I did once take furnished lodgings down at "Rustington on Sea", albeit only for one night. Slightly disappointed there were no hunting trophies - gnus or otherwise.

In the Edwardian era it was very fashioinable - the Llewellyn Davies family (the inspiration for Peter Pan) had a house there, and JM Barrie was a frequent visitor. The suffragist Millicent Fawcett and her sister, the pioneering medic Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, also had a bolthole there, and so did the composer Hubert Parry (of "Jerusalem" and coronation anthem fame).

And my grandfather, who was Parry's chauffeur.

In the 1930s the parish was a hotbed of Moselyites - to a degree that some parents eschewed the local church school and had their children bussed in to Littlehampton.

Timbo | 27.05.24 - 9:21 a.m. | #

I asked ChatGTP 4 to explain why Flander's delivery of Rustington-on-Sea embeds itself so deeply, and it comes to the same conclusion as young Pedantic, claiming: " 'Rustington-on-sea' is an invented, quirky place name that stands out. It sounds plausible but is absurd, adding to its memorability. "
Its assertion that "Flanders was a master of comic timing and vocal delivery" might be nearer the mark.

JPmac | 27.05.24 - 9:37 a.m. | #

It seems the sort of place where the ghosts of Captain Mannering, Corporal Jones and his platoon would still be keeping watch,

Ian J | 27.05.24 - 9:45 a.m. | #

Perhaps it is a rhetorical question, but in case not, I expect “hard ball games” would include cricket, rounders, baseball, golf, etc. Arguably snooker, pool and marbles, but I expect there would be no complaint if you were so minded.

Some find netball, basketball, football, rugby, tennis, etc to be hard to play, but they employ a soft(ish) ball.

I suspect the threat to windows is the main concern, although I’ve lost greenhouse panes to footballs more than once.

Andrew | 27.05.24 - 9:46 a.m. | #

Thanks for taking us along with you on your walk. It seems ages since I last saw the sea in real life.

Cornish Cockney | 27.05.24 - 11:52 a.m. | #

Ian J - Very much so, although the occasional references in Dads Army to Eastbourne suggest they were actually set further along the coast in East Sussex. (The "West Kent Regiment" cap badges they sported suggesting a location even further east)

Timbo | 27.05.24 - 11:57 a.m. | #

A truly enjoyable read. Thank you.
My favourite type of your various output.

Frank F | 27.05.24 - 8:04 p.m. | #

I must have been on this coast back in 1953 as I remember the Hawker Hunter making one of its flights along the coast parallel to the beaches.

popartist | 27.05.24 - 10:32 p.m. | #











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