My coast: Stephen Fry

A walk along the strandline is enough to raise the spirits and inspire the muse of actor, comedian and writer Stephen Fry. By Rene Wyndham

'I was born in Hampstead, so my first real memories of the sea are of when I went to Cornwall as a child - by steam train, would you believe. I remember digging in the sand, drinking sea water, getting wet sand in my mouth, being scared of waves and loving ice cream.

 

'I love so much of the Norfolk coast, which is where I live, especially between Brancaster and Salthouse. Though Waxham and Sea Palling further east are also wonderful. There are so many other spots in Britain that I enjoy visiting. Kent has some glorious coastline, as does Yorkshire, and I like the north-east coast of Scotland as well. I seem to be sticking to the east side, which is hardly fair. The west has glories, too, though I confess I don't know Lancashire or the northern part.

 

'When I go to the coast, I take my iPhones with me. I have rather a large number, I'm afraid - plus a laptop or two. Generally, I love gadgets but you can keep those universal ‘all-in-one' remote controls, which I'd happily hurl into the sea! When I am at the coast, I love to walk and listen to music. I rarely swim in the North Sea, I have to confess - but I do walk other people's dogs. Must get some of my own...

 

'When the walking bug gets me, I can walk miles every day, but I can easily slip in a slough of laziness, too. Sailing, no. Though I'll happily be on someone else's boat. Just don't ask me to crew more than once in a while.

 

'The sea is so important in our language, especially for metaphors. One of my favourite quotes is, "There is a tide in the affairs of men" from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

 

'All sorts of thoughts come to me when I wander by the sea. I can't specify; there are too many. The sea allows the mind to do all the sifting and wondering and doubting and connecting that it must. Poets have often walked along the strandline - Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" comes to mind as the perfect reflective poem about the sea, but there are many others. Shakespeare's sonnet about the waves making it "to the pibbl'd shore" is another. The sea raises my bipolar spirits. How it does it I don't know. Just by being huge and limitless and ageless, and simultaneously restful and stimulating.

 

'I think the sea is part of who we Brits are. Fish and chips is our favourite food (I believe it has overtaken chicken tikka masala again, after being briefly knocked off its perch); Nelson is our favourite hero. Our power derived from the Royal Navy and our wealth from our Merchant Marine. We are a seafaring and a sea-loving people.'

 

Stephen Fry returns to ITV this month in a third series of the drama 'Kingdom', which is filmed on location in Norfolk.

 

---

  

You might also like...

 

Read Ben Ainslie's sailing memories from Cornwall

 

Move to a seaside resort with our guide

 

Plan a mini break to the UK

Subscribe - SAVE over 43%