After a busy summer season, Your Leisure’s Foreshore team prepares for winter. As the season draws to a close, the team starts the preparations for the huts to be removed from the bays and stored for the winter. This Herculean task sees 196 Your Leisure huts removed by its approved contractor Great West Autos and 650 private hut owners have been booked in by the Your Leisure Customer Support Team to have contractors remove their huts all overseen by the dedicated team of Bay Inspectors.

With the summer weather holding late into September, this gave the Foreshores team the opportunity to continue with its programme of improvements across the isle. Thirty-six Your Leisure huts on Stone Bay and twelve huts at Dumpton were repainted with the new seascape-inspired colour scheme plus required remedial work carried out. Plus, twenty-nine huts at Westbrook, forty-six at St. Mildreds, fifteen at West Bay and twelve at Minnis Bay have been upgraded. This work has been carried out whilst also managing the day-to-day repairs including, replacing roofs, felt, door furniture, water leaks, cutting/replacing padlocks and building/installing new doors. The improvement works will continue throughout the winter period ready for the start of the 2024 season.

The operations of the Your Leisure Foreshores team is a huge one with plenty of hard work but enjoyment to be had. We took a look at a day in the life of Roger Wood, Bay Inspector at Westbrook Bay.

Roger said; “The day starts as soon as I arrive on the Bay, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
I then open the bay office, log onto our mobile device, put out our dog bowls with fresh water, bay office sign, and beach toys in our borrow box. Then, armed with a cleaning kit dog poo bags etc, commence a brisk walk to the main barrier for the bay, checking for any damage to the beach huts, looking for remnants of BBQs/Bonfires from overnight parties etc. Having checked our barrier is secure, I then check the life rings situated around the bay, stop off at the porta loo, giving it a quick clean on route. Our beach shower area is swept and washed down every morning ready for swimmers to use. It’s important to have a routine to make our bays as welcoming as possible to all and our job as Bay Inspectors is to try and keep a safe environment for everyone.

A typical day also includes being a bit of a local tourist information office. Bay Inspectors are a focal point and always happy to help visitors to bays whether they have a beach hut, are local or here for the day.

Questions range from the usual beach-related queries, “Where are the nearest toilets?”, “Where can I get a coffee?”, “where can I hire a deck chair or windbreak?” to the more tourism-focused ones, so I have to keep up-to-date with what’s going on around the isle and get to recommend great places to visit and eat.

At the end of the day, I repeat my routine and then it’s time to go home put my feet up and have a nice cuppa in peace and quiet; I love my Job.”

Your Leisure would like to say a huge thank you to all of its Beach Hut customers and the Foreshores team.

If you would like more information regarding Beach Huts, or to make a booking for weekly hire, please visit www.yourleisure.uk.com or email beachhuts@yourleisure.uk.com