Bright Lights

In June 2009 I went on holiday to South Yorkshire, which I enjoyed immensely.
However, only five minutes away from where we stayed was the flashing, shining example of the British seaside town - Scarborough.
We journeyed to this town in search of its seafood (I should do some food reviews someday) and upon arriving we were greeted with the ear grating sounds of jingling coins and the 8-bit soundtracks of video games blaring out of tacky arcades. The dirt and neglect extended to the streets on which they lay and onto the beach, which was strewn with rubbish and oil.
Then there was the food. Everything was saturated in oil, or had no oil at all. Or any liquid, it was completely moistureless microwaved cardboard. When will people cotton on to the fact that the sea is an open larder (mussels and winkles and cockles were to be found on the rocks on the edge of town) and, like other countries, start offering sophisticated, local food rather than stupid so-called "fish" and chips?
Moving inland I found no change, all the shops were either big retail chains or small shops selling rock and souvenirs, or which there were hundreds.
I blame development. Or rather, lack of development to put it another way. These towns would have been havens of quiet, full to the brim of beautiful culture, unspoilt by tourist attractions and the like. But money is to be made in such places, and one day you end up with a place you literally pour your money into with reckless abandon, thinking it pleasure as you see your coins fall and push a few other coins a millimetre forwards, in the hope of more coins, in the full knowledge that you are playing a losing game. And then people get content with these places as they are, and see no reason to develop it into its full potential. Instead they leave it half finished, with pretty flashing neon-covered collecting pots of money dotted around the place.
However, south of Scarborough there is a stretch of abandoned beach. On this beach winds sweep up the dry sand and send it whirling through the air, forming into dancing cyclones that twist and turn, as seen from above on the white cliffs. The sun paints the sky a medley of purple and red as it sets, and rabbits begin hopping around on the beach. The stars appear as the sun sets, perhaps the only time i've seen the two sources of celestial light in the sky at the same time.
Who needs neon when you've got these?