Edgington's Windbreaker

The "Windbreaker" is a useful bit of kit.

It's been in use by my family since the 1960s.

This sun, wind, and beach shelter is made, I think, from canvas, with a wooden framework and metal supports.

The company that manufactured it was called Benjamin Edgington, a well-known tent manufacturer which was taken over by Black's in 1967, and is now part of the J D Sports chain, I gather.

I brought it along with me yesterday, in fact, when I motored down the coast to Helen's Bay.

Helen's Bay, in County Down, is a small village situated on the coast four miles west of Bangor. 

It is named after Helen, Lady Dufferin (née Sheridan), mother of Frederick, 5th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye and 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, owner of the Clandeboye Estate outside Bangor. 

Helen’s Bay is a planned village which derived from the building of the Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) in the mid-19th century. 

Lord Dufferin, the landowner, had aspirations to develop the area as a luxury holiday resort.

Having loaded the Windbreaker, a portable chair, Much Obliged, Jeeves, and some orange juice in the boot, I stopped en route at a petrol station for some sandwiches (chicken and stuffing), and carried on for another ten or twelve minutes to the car park at Helen's Bay.

Grey Point fort and Helen's Bay golf club are here, too.

I didn't wish to be too far from home because the men's tennis final at Wimbledon was being shown on television at about 2pm.

The beach is a mere hop, skip and jump away from the car park; down a gently-inclined tarmac path adjacent to the golf club.

I had arrived early enough to witness an intrepid group of swimmers entering the water.

By the time I was leaving, early in the afternoon, the car park was almost full.