ever thought about buying a beach hut so you can sit outside and watch people watching you. The average price around here is anything from £32,000 to £40,000 depending on locality and what it is close to or not
quintessential english or do they have them over there too?? - i have always liked the idea but hard to transport to Oz now!
Anyone paying £40,000 for a beach hut must want their heads examined. It is not as though one owns part of the beach, and even then have to pay the council for permission to have it on the beach let alone maintain it to a set standard
it’s just the price of fame - a bargain and twice the price!
I belong to a FB group about Folkestone (where I grew up) they occasionally talk about the beach huts. Apparently there is a waiting list and the price is outrageous but I suppose it is just supply and demand. I think they are owned by the council who rent them out.
You grew up in Folkestone?
I was born in Folkestone, lived there til I was 4.
Went back for summer holidays with my granny and grandpa 
I went to Christchurch Primary and Harvey Grammar, left the town when I was 19 to go to Australia, lived near the fire station. My old man was the Headmaster at a couple of Primary Schools
eh bloody 'ell cor blimey Bruce ya almost one of us!! tell me seriously now would ya like to spend ya final days back there?
I remember Sandgate beach, and Hythe, pebbly and deep
I have only been back to the UK twice since the 1970s.
In 1988/9 I returned for my old man’s funeral. Thatcher was in power, the place seems incredibly drab and dirty, I travelled on a filthy, overpriced train from a filthy Charing Cross to Folkestone (Thatcher was running down the railways ready for sale it turned out - there was a train crash at Lewisham when I was there I think). Car park stairwells stank of piss. The place, or at least London and the SE, was truly awful.
If that had been my sole experience I would never have wanted to go back ever but after the funeral I drove up to Glasgow (on the night of the Lockerbie disaster) and was enchanted by Glasgow what a wonderful city it turned out to be.
About ten years ago I visited again for a month and found the place so much improved from my previous visit and had a wonderful time. I visited relations in Sweden - now that is a lovely country!
I have said it before, the UK is a lovely place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. I doubt I will go again but never say never
Edit the train crash was at Clapham not Lewisham - the Lewisham train disaster was when I was a child I think
good to hear the views of another pom in exile! - my very close friends in uk who love to see me and welcome me each time I return say to me now - you should never come back Gummy never you will be aghast and this is from Hants in the south which was once a green and pleasant land before it became London overspill!
I don’t have many relatives in the UK any more, just my brother, a few cousins and an assortment of nieces and nephews though most of the latter live in Sweden.
Many of my pommie friends visit the UK every year and they are older than me but to be honest there are other places I prefer to visit that are much closer hence a certain reluctance to go again.
I lost touch with childhood friends many years ago and have been unable to re establish contact with school and work friends even through my schools old boys network, they seem to have disappeared completely.
and yet and yet - tjhere is sometimes ; sometimes often that urge ; that pul ; that yerning???
They are called beach boxes here.This one near us sold for over 350,000 pounds.
There is only one sand beach in Folkestone which is next to the harbour and virtually disappears at high tide, otherwise you have to go down to Dymchurch for sand, all the other beaches are shingle (pebbles). As it happens I prefer shingle beaches, you had to wear plimsoles but the water is deeper and you don’t get sand in every orifice, my kids are only used to sandy beaches and surfing.
The beach huts are all on the shingle beaches from memory.
Well a garden shed with a sea view must be worth something .
I thought you had to be a Rolling Stone in order to afford one .
Do they have electricity points for a kettle and I suppose you have to walk miles to the WC .
I don’t think they do, Muddy. When I have seen adverts for beach huts here, they are advertised as just being the shell. So owners/renters need to kit them out themselves. I often peek inside those near me if walking past, see what they’ve done. I would think gas stoves would be the thing, or take a huge flask of hot water (I would do the latter). It is possible to rent one here for a small sum but it is the thought of carting everything from the car (plus paying out for parking) that puts me off. And I think Holly would be bored.
If you bought one in Sandbanks Dorset, you need the £40k just for the deposit; that’s if you can find one for sale.
Mudeford Sandspit, Christchurch (denisons.com)
Those ones are lovely though, we used to go over there on the ferry to ride on the little land train and we always admired them and thought what fun they’d be
I do like beach huts but that’s an awful lot of money, I think I’d rather hire one
I’m a sea swimmer so if you can hire one, it’s very convenient for you gear etc. There used to be some nice ones in St Ives you hire out for a week. It was pricey but worth it, I don’t know if they’re still there
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When we had our holiday home in Swanage, we also hired a beach hut for the season as they are all council owned. As time passed and then we moved to the coast for our main home, we sold up and made a fantastic profit.
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