Seaside Day at Newstone House Brings the Coast Indoors

Sunlight cut through the Potting Shed windows last week as Newstone House staff set up an indoor “beach” for residents and visitors. A recording of waves played quietly in the background. A light sea-salt fragrance helped recreate the smell of the coast while paper seagulls, stirred by a fan’s breeze, moved above the tables.

Lunch was classic seaside fare: fish and chips served in newspaper. After the meal, the activities team staged a Punch and Judy show. Residents joined in with familiar songs, while others chose to wade into a small paddling pool or build sandcastles in a second pool filled with sand.

The afternoon followed the same theme. Tea was poured from flasks and slices of cake handed round picnic-style. A penny arcade machine offered small prizes, echoing the amusement arcades many residents remembered from their own holidays.

Later, the Punch and Judy puppets moved room to room so that residents who could not attend the main event still took part. Each visit came with a 99-style ice cream cone and the traditional line: “That’s the way to do it!”

“We wanted to bring back the sights, sounds and even the smells of the seaside,” said Shelby, Companionship Team Leader at Newstone House. “Recreating those small details — sandcastles, fish and chips, the penny arcade — opens up stories and conversations we wouldn’t otherwise hear.”

The day was one of a series of themed activities organised by the Newstone House team to encourage reminiscence and social interaction.