By the sea

There is a sign at the beginning of Chesil Beach that says something like, "The removal of pebbles is illegal."

Quite why the town hall bureaucrats felt the need to muscle in on this spectacular show of nature - when there must be trillions of trillions of pebbles - escapes me.

Chesil Beach runs as far as the eye can see from Portland heading north west.

On closer inspection, however, it is not always such a glorious sight. Parts of it are strewn with all sorts of detritus, although this might be because the beach acts as a natural trap for rubbish tossed overboard by crews around the world.

But when you put that out of your mind you are left with the sounds of lapping waves, the delicious aroma of the sea and silhouettes of fishermen out on the water in tiny boats.

There really is no better place to be than the coast.