Shirley bids goodbye after 50 years trading on Bognor Regis seafront

Shirley Hardy will hand over her kiosk to the third generation of her family at the end of this month.

She and her husband, Colin, are heading for retirement in Weston-super-Mare. They expect to occasionally help out one of their sons in his seafront business in the Somerset town.

But their time serving holidaymakers day in and day out is soon to finish.

Shirley said: "I started working on the seafront with my dad when I was eight and I'm now 62. I've seen some changes in that time. The worst thing that has happened to the seafront was the arrival of the shingle in the 1970s.

"That really did kill the seafront trade. Bognor was known for its lovely sandy beach and it was a credit to us.

"I know the shingle was needed for coast protection but a lot of people don't realise there is still some sand under the stones when the tide is out."

On a positive note, she said the seafront was cleaner than ever. "You used to get tar on you whenever you went on the beach and it would be on your clothes when you sat down. But you can't fault the cleanliness nowadays," she stated.

She also cited Butlins for keeping Bognor alive as a holiday destination, particularly in the winter.

"Butlins have been one of the best things for this town. If you go to a lot of resorts outside the summer, they are dead. That's not the case here because of Butlins."

She has capitalised on this by only closing for three weekends a year when Butlins has its annual shutdown.

Shirley, who has lived in Barnham for many years, said she would be sad to leave Bognor seafront and her many loyal customers among the hundreds she sees each day in the peak season. But the time was right to go.

"My dad died when he was 72 and he kept saying beforehand that he would go on a round-the-world cruise when he retired. But his heart gave out before then and he never did get to enjoy the fruits of his labours," she explained.

Town centre shopowner Paul Wells, who used to run businesses along the seafront, paid tribute to Mrs Hardy's contributions to Bognor.

"She has been a good community worker in terms of the amount she has put into the town over the years," he said.

"When I first started Sands of Time, she was very supportive. What is going to be Bognor's loss is very much Weston's gain."

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