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I Was There: Seafront Ranger on working through the scorching summer of 2013

Wayne Lilley, 44, from Poole in Dorset, is one of three Senior Seafront Rangers who cover six miles of beaches in Bournemouth, often managing a team of up to 150 staff in peak season, from cleaners to children’s entertainers. He tells us about the British summer 2013 – one of the hottest on record.

“I have been in this job for 15 years and have never known a summer like it. I mean, 2006 was busy, but this was a cut above. I remember 2006 had intermittent weather, but was hot. It was nothing on this one. This year it was full-on from April through to about the start of October.

In previous years the job is often day-to-day – you’re just waiting for the sun. You can’t even plan because the weather changes so much. People will often go abroad, and it’s often only weekends and half-terms when it was busy.

But I think people stayed in the UK this year because the weather was so nice and it is perhaps not as expensive in difficult financial times. We saw coaches coming from all over the UK – from London, and the north of England. They were parked all down the roads. Some days you couldn’t see the sand for people. It was non-stop and packed from April through to the end of September and we loved it.

At the beginning of the summer you’d get a lot of people skiving off work when it was hot in the midweek because they don’t know when it would end and wanted to enjoy the sun. But with the continuous sun we had people eventually paced themselves. But when they came out they were out for the full day and stayed out, where before it was a case of grab it while it’s there.

We had noticeably more families out and a lot more people on the beaches, who stayed for longer. Usually the sun goes in so people go home, but this summer it stayed out long into the evening, and people stayed out on the beach into the night. There was a great vibe, and families were really happy.



This year the families could go into the Bournemouth Gardens where there were events like face painting, and kid’s shows. On the seafront we had family films, events, and live bands and there’s also the Oceanarium, which puts events on. There are also fairground rides, and the Bournemouth Eye balloon ride. There is lots to see and do, and loads more people got to experience it than usual.

I would say the best day was the Bournemouth Air Festival at the end of August. Work-wise it was demanding, and we gave it our all. It’s a massive team effort for all of us, the police and fire service. But this year we had no dramas at all and it was the icing on the cake. It was packed, a great show – and ultimately people were happy.

We have beaten most records this year. Sales all round have been up in everything – you name it, they have all broken records. Deckchairs, windbreaks and parasol rentals were up 82%. Beach hut hire increased by 17%. Use of the Cliff Lifts was up 21% - which, roughly speaking, is about 182,000 paying customers – and with 284,500 visitors, the Pier Toll was also up by approximately 20%.

On one of our busiest weekends, July 6 and 7, there were 200,000 people on the beach, with 80,000 ice creams sold and 5,000 deckchairs hired. These are mind-boggling numbers. I don’t know specifically about hotels but I can only assume with the number coaches coming down they were packed, too.

Financially Bournemouth has done very well this year. It’s so important to a town like this. We are a family tourist destination and people need to be interested. Unfortunately we are in the hands of the gods with the weather and it does play a major part. But Bournemouth is a good place to visit.

It is now mid-October and we are naturally thinning off our staff, but we still have deckchairs out ready to rent for half-term, and the pier is still fully open. Everything is running until the end of half-term and will stay open until the weather falls away and the services aren’t needed. We are still at 17 degrees Celsius and wearing shorts. It’s our uniform and we won’t let it go until the cold weather sets in.

Winter is our rest. We are back to planning for next year, fixing beach huts and organising events. During winter we run cycle awareness days that aren’t weather dependent and I help with charity events on the seafront. But if it is like it was this year again next year then happy days. We enjoy it when it is busier, the days go quicker and you find lots of challenges. This summer has been a slog but we enjoyed it.

I think it’s the best job in the world – life’s a beach as we often say – and I wouldn’t swap it for anything."