^ Absolutely, Trollheart ! And your question gives me just the excuse I need to post:-

https://i.imgur.com/bYmzd.jpg

They run for miles, and are glaring, iceberg-white except where they go off the vertical and a bit of grass gets a chance to grow. Coming by boat from France, they are a welcome sign that you're back in Blighty!

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20150812231034

It's beautiful.

^ yeah! It needs a sunny day to really get the white colour, but I love the way they show the ups and downs of the grassland behind, as if someone had just cut through the hills with a knife.

What's the coast like near where you are, MLM ?

In the Midlands? :D

Clear, I would imagine.

oops ! :o:

Even so, you live on a small island, so the sea can't be that far away.
Fun Fact: the place on planet earth that is furthest from the sea is Urumqi, capital of the Uighur region of China. It's 1, 400 miles to the nearest coastline. My guess is that even the middlest bit of the Midlands is only about 100 miles from the sea.

I suppose every big inland city has a nearest-accessible beach resort. From London, people used to choose between Southend or Brighton, both of which had the added attraction of a pier.


Where do people in Birmingham go for some sea air and fish 'n' chips?

Wales usually. Not far at all, the landscape, villages and beaches are all nice. A guy said to me that he was treated like a twat in Wales because he is English. I've heard some horror stories. Never experienced any hostility myself though. Must have just been acting like a twat.

So someone ****ed him? :D

Yes, I suspect Wales is very attractive, though rather wet. I've also heard that they don't like the English. A friend of mine spent a year there, doing industrial training as a university student. He said that in the pubs, they would speak in Welsh, but when he walked in, conversation would stop dead, then restart in English. Of course he was a glaring full-on hippy at the time which probably didn't sit well with the locals, but it's always made me think of this pub scene:-