With so much to do – from festivals to farm visits, picnics in parks, and country walks – we’ve come to the conclusion that summer holidays are best enjoyed on home turf. So our 3-G tribe (3 grandparents, 2 sisters, 2 husbands, 5 children) headed to Dorset, between Dorchester and the Jurassic Coast.

We had an idyllic time. No doubt because we spent half our time on the sandy beach at wonderful Weymouth – a quintessentially English seaside town whose wide sheltered bay is graced with Georgian architecture.

Calamari and chips were consumed, deckchairs were hired, the kids enjoyed donkey rides, aeroplane chairs, the helter-skelter, and trampolines. There was bucket and spade action, swimming in the sea, my nephew was buried in the sand. My daughter and her cousin were given cash and allowed to head off for an hour together, investing in ice creams and bungy trampoline thrills.

But we all loved the thrice-daily Punch and Judy show best. One of the last traditional seaside shows left in the UK, we went every afternoon without fail, laughing and shouting at the antics of Joey the Clown, Punch, Judy, the policeman, the crocodile and the sausages. That’s the way to do it!

Images by Nadine Mellor