Southbourne Beach 1974, Bournemouth. The tide covers the sand completely

A morning at the beach for two little boys in 1974. In those days, the sand was much lower and the sea wall was easily 6ft high down from the promenade to the beach. After getting changed in the beach hut, we happily walk along with our buckets and spades, there is a lot of digging to be done! As the tide comes in, our sandcastles are eroded by the waves until we have to get off the beach and get ready to leave. By this time the waves completely cover the beach, the wind has risen and the red flags are flying. Time to go home.
Note the signs warning of oil on the beach - this was left over from the Torrey Canyon disaster of 1967, and I remember that until the beach replenishment works a couple of years after this film, you could still dig up a dark spade full of oily sand from time to time.
Film shot by Dr Stanley Solomons on Kodak Standard 8mm film in a Sekonic Elmatic II triple turret cine camera