I have to admit to being a little disappointed when I first saw the hired beach huts on Bournemouth's seafront. "Have you got anything a bit more, er, peaceful?" I asked the chap in the Seafront Office. "Or anything closer to the beach, perhaps?"
When I'd booked the hut (sorry, chalet) on the phone, I'd pictured myself hanging out in a quiet little corner of seaside Arcadia, toes sinking into yellow sand. But the municipal hut on offer sat in a long straight line, a few metres east of the pier (downwind of Harry Ramsden's and a musical merry-go-round). Like all Bournemouth's huts, it opened out on to a concrete promenade; a Tank Engine-style land train trundles past every 20 minutes or so.
I soon learned that Bournemouth doesn't do peaceful, and its pre-war timber chalets wouldn't survive five minutes if they were any closer to the sand. But by the time I'd unlocked the door of number 2154 at Durley Chine, part of Bournemouth's Blue Flag beach (recently voted Britain's best), I was coming round to the idea that this is what traditional beach-hutting is all about.
A far cry from the media-hyped contemporary beach hut (over-priced real estate, ponced up with driftwood, shells and marine-theme decor), these huts are basic, erring on the side of scruffy. The interior decoration is minimal (cream-painted tongue and groove, a bit of old lino flooring, cheap curtains). Ditto the facilities: a single-ring gas stove (rather rusty), four plastic deckchairs, a fold-down table, a row of hooks to hang clothes and towels, and French doors opening out on to the promenade. But with five miles of golden sand, safe bathing, sub-tropical gardens, and a treasure-island children's play area within walking distance, what else do you need?
Traditional beach-hutting is about brewing cups of tea a few yards from the sea, about changing into swimming cozzies without an embarrassing public struggle with knicker elastic; to a certain extent it's about joining a community (I borrowed a kettle and matches from a friendly neighbour). And all for £10 a day (cheaper than parking the car).
Most of Britain's 750,000 beach huts are privately owned, but Bournemouth is not the only seafront to offer rented council huts or private hire at daily or weekly rates. These short lets are hugely popular: at some resorts, high-season weeks sell out in advance at the speed of Glastonbury tickets. But outside school holidays, a beach hut could be yours for the day.
Bournemouth and Avon Beach, Dorset
Strung out along its five-mile seashore, from Alum Chine to Southbourne, Bournemouth has one of the largest populations of beach huts in the country: some 1,800 in all, of which 500 are leased or rented by the local council. Choose from red, blue, yellow or recycled plastic (an experiment in low-maintenance, eco-friendly hutting, which proved too expensive to develop - there is only one of the latter). A few miles east of Bournemouth, Avon Beach is a privately-run mini resort with fine yellow sand, a 1920s beach cafe and shop (buckets, spades and sun loungers for hire) watersports, and 100 beach huts, overlooking Christchurch Bay and the Isle of Wight. Most are offered on annual leases, but six are available by the day on a first-come-first-served basis or weekly in advance.
How much? Bournemouth's day huts cost from £6.50 per weekday (£20 in high season) and from £32.50 per week (01202 451781). At Avon beach, they cost from £14 a day (01425 272162).
Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
They have no gas or electricity, but the huts on Wells beach are among the oldest in the country (circa 1900) and as near as it gets to the Arcadian dream. Set against a backdrop of sand dunes and Corsican pines, within a coastal nature reserve, they are quaintly ramshackle, raised on stilts, and available in various shades of weathered paintwork. A part of the nearby Holkham estate, most are privately owned, but five are available to rent (choose from yellow-green, red and white or fishing-boat blue). They are barely furnished (two deckchairs and a wind-break), but each has an elevated deck and steps down to the sand; there are public loos in the car park at the nearby Pinewoods Holiday Park, and the harbour at Wells, with its shops and seafood restaurants, is within walking distance.
How much? Between £8.50 and £19.50 a day, depending on the season (01328 710439).
Sidmouth and Beer, Devon
Sheltered beneath the red sandstone cliffs of Jacob's Ladder beach, at the western end of Sidmouth's mile of sand and pebble, a row of 25 municipal huts are rented out by Tom Griffiths. Each small white-painted hut is furnished with two deckchairs and a table, and there's a small private sit-out area. They tend to attract regular renters and, according to Tom, one couple from south London have been coming every year since 1938. Sidmouth's Regency seafront is nearby, and there are boat trips and a beach kiosk.
On the beach at nearby Beer, a double-decker line-up of 24 green and cream huts offer the usual two deckchairs (plus the luxury of a canvas footstool), and though stoves are not allowed, there's a a time-warped tea hut on the beach.
How much? Sidmouth huts cost from £12 a day, or £45 a week from Rock Cottage (01395 514253). Beer's huts cost from £7 a day, or £35 a week from Chapple & Son (01297 20756).
Southwold, Suffolk
The hut connoisseur's favourite, Southwold's "classic" beach huts, form a long line of cute 10-by-eight footers painted in faded ice-cream pastels, with teeny gated verandas and glazed French doors. All 230 huts are privately owned, but around 25 of them are let through a local estate agent. Most provide deckchairs, a table, a small cooking stove, crockery, cutlery and, in many cases, a few decorative home comforts (the odd picture on the wall). Water comes from a communal standpipe and there's shops and takeaways on Southwold's busy promenade.
How much? From £20 a day or £70 a week (HA Adnam on 01502 723292).
Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea, Lincolnshire
It's not the poshest of locations, but Lincolnshire's rented beach chalets are among the best equipped in the country (four deckchairs, a table, crockery, a sink and tap and an electric kettle). All you need is a tea-towel and a spoon. Along the two-mile stretch of Blue Flag beach between Mablethorpe and villagey Sutton, there are 103 huts, the best being on the prom at Queen's Park, where the brick and wood chalets have double doors at each end (facing the sea in one direction, and the paddling pool, putting green, boating lake and mini railway in the other).
How much? From £7.50 a day or from £28 per week (01522 526450).
Isle of Thanet, Kent
Lined up along the coast between Minnis Bay and Ramsgate (including Stone Bay, Dumpster, Louisa, St Mildred's, Viking and Westbrook), there are around 450 basic municipal beach huts (including a new breed of flat-packed chalet built by prisoners at HMP Kirkham in Liverpool). They vary in style from bay to bay: at Viking in Broadstairs, they are terraced concrete numbers on two levels; at Westbrook, they are traditional wooden six-by-eights. All are painted in Thanet LeisureForce corporate colours (blue or sunshine yellow) and offer the usual gas ring and two deckchairs. Available weeks are scarce, but outside high season and bank holidays, early birds can usually bag a beach hut for the day.
How much? From £30.50 a week or £14 a day (01843 296111).
Llanbedrog, North Wales
Lined up in the sandy foreshore of Llanbedrog beach, on the Llyn peninsula, there are 60 National Trust cabins, half of which are available to rent on a weekly/daily basis. Painted in jolly colours, they offer the most basic hut facilities (like a bench to sit on) but Llanbedrog, a sheltered bay with a strip of fine sand edged with trees, is a great base for walks along the coast to Carreg-y-Dyfaid and Warren Beach at Abersoch. There is also a handy car park (free to National Trust cardholders) and a cafe (open in high season).
How much? From £10 a day, £25 a week and £235 for the season, which runs until September 11 (Joan Smith on 07815 559468).