Daisy rides again

Once an endangered species, yet still gracing beaches up and down the land, the seaside donkey remains the epitome of an English summer, believes Vicky Liddell

- Vicky Liddell

ON a sunny day in early summer, the Georgian-fronted esplanade at Weymouth in Dorset is looking its elegant best. Beyond the flapping windbreakers and Punch and Judy show, a string of stoical donkeys carries swaying children across the sands, as they have for more than a century. Beach donkeys are as essential an ingredient of the British seaside as sticks of rock or fish and chips, but, 20 years ago, it looked as if the tradition could become extinct, with an increasing number of businesses closing as their owners retired. In the past decade, however, there has been a remarkable revival. Now, more than 900 of the animals ply their trade around the coasts—200 of them in Blackpool alone.

Melanie Llewellyn-Rush took over the reins of the award-winning West Hill Donkeys of Weymouth in 2011 after the previous custodian retired. Her current tribe comprises 29 donkeys, with a male/female mix and two on maternity leave. Every day from March to October, depending on the weather, the donkeys take up their positions beneath umbrellas and, after an invigorating roll in the sand, work from 11 am until 5.30 pm —with a one-hour break for hay and the occasional apple or carrot.

‘The donkeys are always keen to come to the beach and are queuing at the gate in the morning,’ says Mrs Llewellyn-Rush. ‘They look quite disappointed when they aren’t chosen—donkeys don’t like being bored.’