Candles on the Cobb

I have been coming to Lyme Regis since I was a teenager to my, now husbands’, family home.  It has a special place in my heart to say the least.  From hiding from the rest of the world here to write a PHD, to bringing our children for their first experience of the sea, and a fair few girlie weekends away.  Lyme is a home from home for our entire family.  But this summer, it became that little bit more special for me.

Having not being able to come for a few years, due to the small detail of a global pandemic, we came back this summer in style!  My family came down with 3 lovely ladies I have met through our youngest’s new school and their wonderful sons.  A week of jumping in the sea from the Cobb, fishing trips, shopping and far, far too much wine (for the mums, that is!) commenced.

But one of the extraordinary nights of the week was the magical Candles on the Cobb.  Thousands of candles light up the iconic Cobb harbour, each candle being in memory of a loved one.  After the last couple of years, this was even more poignant.  Sitting with 30,000 strangers on the gardens above the beach, my family and my newfound family of friends, I was moved to tears.  Despite the teenage boys beginning with the usual ‘this is boring’ to any event that does not involve a ball of some point, as the sun set and the candles lit up the Cobb and night sky, even they fell silent – yes, six teenage boys sitting still and in silence, without a teacher telling them to.  And whilst this calm reflection may have only lasted a mere minute, this is a ‘forever’ memory.

Now don’t get me wrong, the quiet peace did not last long, and the boys were soon running off down to the other end of the beach with the footballs, cricket bats and even swung by ‘Good Days’ to grab a cold drink.  Meanwhile, us adults took a little longer to get going.  Not just the aging bones not enjoying having to get up off the floor where we had been sitting, but the shear emotion we all felt kept us rooted to the spot for that little bit longer.