Sand, sea and the West End
Photo: BrEndanhuntEr / iStockPhoto.com
Life’s a Beach
Stunning stretches of blond sand, a global hotchpotch of
people sunbathing, swimming, paddling, playing and
picnicking, the maritime horizon and mighty mountains
reflected in the City of Glass — you could easily be fooled
into thinking that Vancouver’s urban beaches are an utter-
ly contemporary phenomenon. A quick dip into the city’s
history reveals that the shores of Ay-Yul-Shun (“soft under
feet”, as the Squamish First Nation referred to English Bay
Beach) have been a seaside hot spot for almost 150 years.
It’s true that back then a large boulder separated male and
female bathers and strict rules required “bathing dress
covering the body from the neck to the knees.” But all the
English Bay beaches are where locals congregate for rest,
relaxation and recreation. The south shore even takes cen-
tre stage in one of the city’s cultural tributes to history, the
annual Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival — proof
that, then as now, in Vancouver all life’s a beach.
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