Consensus

Exactly two months ago, someone called 'Janet B' put a review on TripAdvisor titled 'My favourite place on earth!' They do not acknowledge any inspiration for their accolade; they probably are not aware that around 25 years ago there was an episode of the radio show 'Any Questions', in which the last question to the panel was "What's the best place on earth?"

One of the pannelists was a barrister and raconteur called Bob Marshall-Andrews - at the time, also a Labour MP. He began his answer, "It's a pub", and continued with a paean in praise of the same place that Janet B enjoyed. Bob pointed out that it was scruffy, threadbare, disorganised, lacking many modern facilities, but full of people who wanted to argue about politics, while enjoying simple food and good beer. I can't remember if he mentioned the spectacular view of St Brides bay, from its central, cliff-top position, or the beautiful beach 75 metres below, backed by towering cliffs with exposed rock-forms of endless variety and complexity - they certainly help

The last question on the programme is supposed to be light-hearted and non-political, but Bob subverted that somewhat - declaring that the bar in his 'best place' was full of people with views that were decidedly 'old Labour': that is to say at odds with the Blairite leadership of the party of which Bob was a non-conformist member; he was particularly prescient about the folly of the Iraq war

The beach, and "pub" - properly the Druidstone Hotel - has been a place of pilgrimage for us for 37 years, since our son put his feet in salt water for the first time in one of the rock pools there. It holds many happy family memories and the cliffs create a natural cathedral, as awe-inspiring and consciousness-raising to me as any human construction. We came once more and gave thanks for our week in paradise - or at least the best place on earth - and made our way back around the coast to the car

As always, I have dozens of pictures of the cliffs, the rock, the sea, the view. None of them do it justice, you'll just have to come here. We were lucky to hit the bottom of the tide. The exposed rocks are teeming with life across a large area. This is both a tiny glimpse of that abundance and an abstract riot of colour