A Day at the Beach!

"I've got a sand and cheese sandwich!"

- Bridget

A Day at the Beach! is a magazine story.

Plot
It is a hot weekend in May and everyone wants to spend the day at the beach, sunbathing and swimming. Stephen and Bridget come over from the Mainland to spend some time with their grandparents. They want to go fishing with a new net that was given to them by their grandfather, the Fat Controller.

Thomas takes Stephen, Bridget, and the Fat Controller to the seaside. Once there, Bridget is amazed to see a donkey giving children rides. Both the children have a ride, but the Fat Controller does not; he jokes that the donkeys were not big enough to carry him. Stephen and Bridget then invite another group of children to play football with them. Bridget scores a goal which annoys Stephen who is the goalkeeper. The Fat Controller tells Stephen not to be such a bad loser as it is just a game. Stephen has to agree.

After the game, they go paddling in the sea. This time, the Fat Controller does join in. He removes his shoes and socks, rolls up his trousers and follows his grandchildren into the sea. None of them stay in the freezing cold water for long. Then they all sit down to eat their picnic that Lady Hatt had prepared for them. Bridget is not happy; their sandwiches have sand in them. As they are inedible, the Fat Controller treats them to fish and chips.

Later they sit on a rock overlooking the sea trying to catch some fish with their new net. It is not long before Stephen begins to get bored, but the Fat Controller urges him to keep at it. Just then, Stephen pulls up his net and there, staring straight back at him, was a large crab. The crab climbs out of the net and hops back into the sea. Finally they go back to the station and waited for Thomas to collect them. They had had a great day.

Characters

 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Thomas
 * Annie
 * Clarabel
 * Lady Hatt

Locations

 * Tidmouth Beach
 * The Mainland

Trivia

 * Lady Hatt is referred to as "Lady Topham Hatt".