Did you know there are eight Darling Buds of May-themed beach huts along the promenade at Southwold in Suffolk? I’m talking about the names of the huts – some of which are obviously linked to the TV series and others are more tenuous – and I’m going to share them with you today.
I’ve walked past them hundreds of times and thought to myself; “there’s a lot of beach huts themed around The Darling Buds of May here.” But I never really counted them, until now!
It might just be because I’m such a huge fan of DBOM that these particular beach huts stood out to me – you can probably find any theme in the beach hut naming along that seafront if you look for it!
My interest was first piqued when I spotted the two huts most obviously influenced by The Darling Buds of May, which are located beside each other: “Just Perfick” and “Ma’s Bar”.
These are close to the Kiosk on the promenade, numbers 101 and 102. Which name came first, I wonder? And are they owned by the same family? I’d love to know when they where named and whether the owners were a fan of the show.
Strolling along to the dunes end of the seafront, you can easily find the vibrant yellow hut “Summer’s Lease”. This is one of my favourite huts along the whole seafront and it’s always beautifully maintained.
Those of you who are familiar with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 will recognise the term, which comes just after the words ‘the darling buds of May:
Shall I compare thee to a summers day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate; rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
These first three huts are the most clearly Darling Buds of May-themed for me, but I went looking for more and found this ‘Woodlands” hut just along the row from “Summer’s Lease”.
I’m going to count that as one of the DBOM huts because so much of the story takes place in the Larkin’s woodlands.
A rather tenuous link is related to David Jason, the actor who played Pop Larkin in the 90s TV series. This hut is called “Lovely Jubbly”, which is the famous catchphrase of David Jason’s character Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses.
Did Pop Larkin ever say this in The Darling Buds of May?
And if you’re happy to accept that, maybe you’ll count “Albert Rd” in this list of DBOM-themed beach huts, as it reminded me of Uncle Albert from Only Fools and Horses. A very vague link, I know, but I’m taking inspiration from everywhere!
Just a couple more – I promise! This one is called “Lolly & Pops”, so I’m happy to count that as a character name from The Darling Buds of May.
If I had a beach hut, I’d probably name it after Charley, and it would be decorated in rainy blue colours, in honour of the time the Larkins went to Brittany.
I visited Brittany myself recently to find all the filming French locations of the original series of The Darling Buds of May, so be sure to check out those blog posts too – including the Beau Rivage hotel, the Pardon church (not actually in Fougeres!) and Charley’s little train.
This last beach hut is on the list because it’s called “Raise the Sales”, which is what Charley and Pop tried to do when they were at the auction. Their attempt to make a bigger profit at the auction was scuppered by a new ‘No Smoking’ sign, uhoh.
I hope you liked my silly stroll along the seafront spotting beach hut names that are vaguely themed on The Darling Buds of May. And if you head to the beach this summer, perhaps you’ll find some similar names at your local seafront too.
Please leave me a comment below and let me know if you do – and where, so I can visit them too!
Check out my tour of the Kent filming locations of the original TV series of The Darling Buds of May too – it makes a lovely day trip during the spring and summer.
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