I AM never one to pass up the opportunity to indulge my inner child and that strange glowing object in the sky proved too good a chance to miss.

With the sun shining for what seemed to be the first time in about six months I snatched a moment to nip down the motorway and mess about in Weston-super-Mare.

The British seaside is often much maligned but a burst of sunlight led to an an out of season treat that proved this sort of resort is alive and kicking.

A trip to a seclude, often National Trust owned, beach is always welcome due to the peace, serenity and beauty they offer but sometimes you want daft and over-the-top entertainment to go with the sand in your shoes.

Coastal havens like this have been labelled as cheap or tacky in the past and the British seaside does have an element of faded glamour to it but I find it comes across as having a kitsch appeal.

It is a little bit of a time warp but in a warm and friendly sort of way rather than being completely out of step with reality.

As if to cement that fact, I was passed by a fleet of donkeys carrying children within seconds of setting foot on the sand - it raised a smile and set the tone for the day.

My girlfriend and I switched to tourist mode, snapping photos at every opportunity, gawping at anything brightly coloured and uttering 'wow' at more or less anything and everything as we ticked off all the clichés with gleeful abandon.

Fish and chips were wolfed down, the tricky and infamous crazy golf windmill conquered, bank notes were exchanged for loose change and pound after pound was slotted into arcade machines in numerous fruitless attempts to win plush Pac Man toys that appeared to be the most desirable objects on earth.

It was breathless fun and it dawned on me that no other country seems to do seaside in quite the same way as us Brits, with emphasis being on the cheerful (not so much the cheap these days) and cramming as much into one seafront as humanly possible.

I wouldn't change these sort of places for anything as they allow you the wonderful chance to act your shoe size while avoiding feeling self conscious or being shamed into being sensible.