My Favourite Holiday: Cressida McLaughlin’s magical memories of Dorset

CRESSIDA McLAUGHLIN is a bestselling London-born author.

She studied at the University of East Anglia and now lives in Norwich with her husband, David.

Author of The Canal Boat Café, her new book The Once In A Blue Moon Guesthouse (Harper Fiction £7.99) tells of goings-on in the aforementioned seaside accommodation.

It’s out on June 29.

DORSET has always held a special place in my holiday memory-book.

For several years when I was young, my family went to a small village called Burton Bradstock for our two-week summer holiday, staying in a pink, thatched cottage on the top of the cliff. There was a crumbly, unstable walk down to a sandy beach.

Walking down the hill into the village led to a playground with an impressive seesaw and a chintzy teashop with a garden shaded by tall trees, where you shared your raspberry jam with a host of wasps.

Our cottage was owned by an old lady who lived in the adjoining building, and had a terrifying Chihuahua that barked relentlessly.

She kept sheep, and offered to let me and my sister help hand-feed the lambs but we could never drag ourselves out of bed early enough.

I remember sun-soaked days on the beach, collecting seashells.

The towering cliffs had benches on top and the total darkness at night gave a view of the stars which was unbelievable to someone from London.

Fast-forward 20 years, to Hastings, my husband and I visiting the south coast together for the first time.

I’d also holidayed there as a child, and while some aspects of the town were looking tired, there was something quaint and beautiful about the tall, seafront houses, the pier, the crazy golf course.

We found a boutique hotel where the rooms were themed around different countries.

We stayed in Japan, which had a futon and a spa bath, and we had champagne breakfasts in the sun-trapped garden.

Campion Bay, the setting for The Once In A Blue Moon Guesthouse, is a combination of those two holiday locations, the beach with the towering cliffs and the picturesque seafront.

It’s seven years since we went to Hastings and around 25 since I was in Burton Bradstock, but the memories came flooding back.

I hope I’ve been able to capture some of the magic of those places in my book.